By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
The Army says it has passed another test as it moves toward improving its long-range precision strike capability.
On Feb 12, the Army and Lockheed Martin completed another qualification flight of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), launching two of the weapons from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System at White Sands , Missile Range in New Mexico.
According to an Army news release, the missiles “engaged multiple targets, including a surrogate SCUD missile, radar and rotary wing platforms. Both PrSM Increment 1 missiles performed nominally for range, time of flight, accuracy and height of burst.”
The test came in the wake of several other demonstrations of the PrSMs capabilities, including the first soldier-led test in December. In that one, the Army said the PrSM missiles successfully engaged four simulated rotary wing targets within a helicopter staging area.
“The recent tests verify operational capability and volume of fires at various ranges, proving PrSM can launch of rapid succession,” said Carolyn Orzechowski, Lock Martin’s vice president of Precision Fires Launchers and Missiles.
The PrSM will replace the Army’s Tactical Missile System (the MGM-140 ATACMS). It’s described as a next-generation, precision-strike missile with a range of more than 499 kilometers (roughly 310 miles). That range became possible when the US withdrew from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, accusing Russia of failing to comply with its obligations.
Lockheed says the weapon has an open architecture design for affordability and flexibility, and is compatible with both the HIMARS and the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).
PrSMs could be used to attack enemy formations from safer distances before ground forces close in. The Army is said to be working on a new seeker for the missile which could improve its ability to change course in flight to hit moving targets and possibly disrupt efforts to jam or disrupt targeting. There’s also talk of using ramjet technology that could extend the missile’s range to 620 miles.
PrSM is one of 35 key systems the Army wants to field by 2030, at which point the service would declare itself fully modernized. The Army has dubbed long-range precision fires as its number one priority. In addition to the PrSM, the Army is developing a long-range hypersonic missile and a mid-range missile that would be used to destroy ships.
Later this year, the Pentagon will decide whether to go ahead with full-rate production of the PrSM.
