Lockheed Martin and the US military said they had completed tests of a new surface-to-surface missile, which should replace ATACMS. Like the latter, it can be run from the HIMARS launcher.
Missile tests
On November 16, the US military and Lockheed Martin announced the testing of a new Precision Strike Missile (PrSM). The tests took place at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This missile should replace ATACMS in the future.
During the tests, one PrSM missile was launched. The standard HIMARS launcher was used for this. The test was the shortest of all that this weapon system passed. The distance to the target it hit was only 85 km.
However, according to the company’s representatives, this test was extremely important, because during it the missile had to manoeuvre at hypersonic speeds and dynamically change its trajectory. During this, its design experienced considerable loads.
What will the new missile change
The PrSM is a high-precision, next-generation, long-range U.S. Army strike missile capable of neutralising targets at a distance of more than 400 kilometres. The new surface-to-surface weapon has an open system architecture design for maximum accessibility and flexibility, and is modular for future growth and compatible with HIMARS and M270.
This is not a new weapon. The competition for its development took place back in 2016. Since then, Lockheed Martin has conducted a lot of tests. The goal was to develop a missile capable of covering 500 km faster than anything the Americans have now. Seven years later, the company is moving towards the adoption of the system by the US military.
“This demonstration is the first of several production qualification tests moving PrSM closer to fielding and delivery of Early Operational Capability (EOC) missiles this year,” said Jay Price, vice president of Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “PrSM is a critical capability and the top long-range precision fires modernization priority for the U.S. Army.”
According to news.lockheedmartin.com
Follow us on Twitter to get the most interesting space news in time
https://twitter.com/ust_magazine
