By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The Army is ground-firing combat-tested Navy SM-6 and Tomahawk attack weapons in close coordination with the Navy as a critical way to massively expand the service’s ground-attack envelope, mission capabilities and Concepts of Operation.
The development, which has been underway in recent months through the Army’s “Typhon” missile system, has involved prototyping, test-firing and technological adaptations of the SM-6 interceptor and Tomahawk cruise missile.
“It’s about outranging the enemy” is a key strategic mandate used by Senior Army officials telling Warrior about the importance of its weapons programs being tested and developed for the Long Range Precision Fires modernization effort. LRPF is one of the Army’s critical top six modernization priorities.
Army test-firings have been successful as recently at June 2023, when the Army’s Rapid Capabilities And Critical Technologies Office Mid-Range Capability Prjoject Office collaborated with the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force and the Navy’s PEO Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons unit.
SMRF Driven By Threat
A significant Congressional Research Service report from July 2023 called “The U.S. Army’s Strategic Mid-Range Fires (SMRF) System (Formerly Mid-Range Capabilities [MRC] System),” details the threat equation driving the US Army enhancement.
“Reported improvements to Russian and Chinese artillery systems present a challenge to the U.S. Army. These improved, longer-ranged artillery systems, new employment techniques employing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for target acquisition, and the proliferation of special munitions (such as precision, thermobaric, loitering, and top-attack munitions) have renewed concerns about the potential impact of Russian and Chinese artillery on U.S. combat operations and ground combat systems,” the CRS report says.
The SMRF effort to integrate land-fired SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles adds substantial increased attack flexibility to the Army’s existing LRPF arsenal which includes Extended Range Cannon Artillery 155m range extension and Precision Strike Missile. ERCA has demonstrated it can fire standard artillery more than twice the range beyond 62km by redesigning an upgraded larger caliber cannon and fire-control system. Naturally this greatly expands the attack possibilities, precision strike and stand-off range available to ground attack commanders. The Precision Strike Missile is yet another critical long-range fires program able to destroy targets at high speeds up to 300 miles. PrF is designed to counter Russia’s violation of the INF Treaty and re-introduction of extremely lethal mid-range ground missiles able to hold Europe at risk from Russia by traveling distances up to 600 miles.
SM-6 and Tomahawk Attack Technologies
The tactical possibilities and concepts of operation are extremely significant, given the ranges, guidance systems and flight trajectory capabilities of the SM-6 and Tomahawk. The Army has been deeply immersed in software, fire-control and technological adaptations necessary to integrate the two Navy weapons into ground launched batteries, and the exact ranges and guidance technologies may not as-of-yet be fully known.
However, it is possible that ground adaptation by the Army can preserve or even build upon very successful Navy improvements to its SM-6 and Tomahawk. In recent years, for example, the Navy’s SM-6 has been modified with software upgrades to fly with an “active seeker,” meaning it can adjust in flight to moving targets and re-direct as needed. This is made possible because, with its own built-in active seeker, an SM-6 can now send its own “forward” ping from the missile itself without needing to rely upon a ship-based illuminator for guidance to a target. This SM-6 enhancement, which has been operational now for many years, is the kind of technological improvement the Army is likely to incorporate given its own emphasis upon precision-guidance weapons, in-flight course corrections and attacks on moving or otherwise difficult to strike targets.
The situation with the Navy’s Tomahawk is similar to the SM-6 in certain respects, as the weapons has also been massively upgraded in recent years. The weapon can reportedly hit ranges of 900-miles and can now adjust course in flight to destroy moving targets at sea. This enhancement, a now operational Tactical Tomahawk, is also something the Army is likely to incorporate if possible. An ability to target and destroy moving enemy mechanized formations from distances up to 900 miles could be paradigm-changing for the Army. While the service is making rapid progress on course correcting “shaped trajectory” 155mm artillery and range-doubling technologies such as ERCA, standard artillery is likely maxed out at ranges of 70km or so. Ground rockets such as Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System and other ground rockets such at ATACMs likely max out at 100 to 300 km respectively. Therefore, a ground-fired Tomahawk, should it operate in an operational capacity at all comparable to its Maritime Navy capabilities, would introduce substantial new attack options, tactics and concepts of operation for Army ground commanders.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and 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.
