By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The US Army’s breakthrough Precision Strike Missile is slated to reach what’s called “Early Operational Capability” by as soon as next year, a welcome development for the service as it has been refining and testing the new weapon for several years.
Designed as a first-of-its-kind high-speed, long-range surface-to-surface ground attack weapon, the PrSM is engineered to bring longer-range and precision to ground rockets and artillery which typically operate at shorter ranges.
A published essay from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Acquisition, Logistics & Technology describes the weapon in terms of “deep-strike” capability.
“The mission of the Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) Missile is to attack, neutralize, suppress and destroy targets using missile-delivered indirect precision fires. LRPF provides field artillery units with long-range and deep-strike capability,” the ASALT essay stated.
The ranges of the PrSM are arguably paradigm-changing. Standard Army artillery can travel roughly 30km, the Army’s fast-arriving Extended Range Cannon Artillery can travel more than 62km, and the Army’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) are precision-guided land-fired rockets able to travel at least 80km. The PrSM, however, is slated to travel at least 400km or longer to targets, bringing new stand-off ranges and tactical options for ground commanders.
The most recent PrSM test, conducted by the Army and Lockheed Martin, placed the weapon in what developers explained as a stressful, dynamic environment during a short flight. A Lockheed Martin essay says the “qualification test” verified the missile’s “trajectory control.”
“The short-range flight (qualification test) represents the most stressful, dynamic environment for the missile as it maneuvers at hypersonic speeds to align to the target. This test verifies structural integrity of the missile and trajectory control,” the Lockheed essay said.
The PrSM, which developers say fired from a HIMARS launcher during the qualification test at White Sands Missile Range. N.M., is also engineered with cutting edge “seeker technology.” The particulars of this kind of seeker technology are not likely to be available for security reasons, yet the ASALT essay does describe the missile as “all weather,” indicating it may use various types of guidance and targeting technologies capable of remaining on target through fog, rain, snow or other obscurants. Yet another key question would pertain to its ability to track and destroy moving targets. This may be yet clear, however it would certainly seem feasible given that the Army is also developing land-fired Tomahawk and SM-6 weapons, both of which can adjust in flight to hit moving targets. The technology exists and it would make sense if it were built into the fast-arriving PrSM.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
