The ATACMS or the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System is a surface-to-surface missile (SSM) manufactured by the U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin. It has a range of up to 190 miles (300 km), with solid propellant, and is 13 feet (4.0 m) high and 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter. The ATACMS can be fired from the tracked M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), and the wheeled M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). An ATACMS launch container has a lid patterned with six circles like a standard MLRS rocket lid, but contains only one missile – the identical pattern makes it more challenging for espionage to single it out as a high-value target. This highly-advanced rocket artillery or tactical missile system is in service with the US Army since 1991, now the US Army wants a better solution of this missile to eliminate modern threats.
The US Army has placed an order with Lockheed Martin for the supply of 54 of the latest Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) missiles at a total cost of $77.4 million. The delivery date of these missiles is not disclosed, only that they are needed for an additional test cycle under the PrSM program. The Shephard portal writes about it.
The authors of the publication write that, as of now, the Pentagon expects to complete work on the first generation of Precision Strike Missiles (Increment 1 PrSM) by September 30, 2025. And this is actually 2 years later than originally planned – according to the previous plans of the Pentagon, the PrSM was already supposed to be put into service in 2023 , to replace the MGM-140 ATACMS operational-tactical missile complex.
In December 2021, the US Army already placed an order for an “installation batch” of 110 PrSM missiles, necessary for the test cycle.
If we add to the already issued order for another 54 units of Precision Strike Missile, the Americans will need to fire more than 160 missiles to complete the tests and adopt the first generation of their newest OTRK. Also, the US military has already requested an additional $213 million for 2023 to continue work on PrSM.
Separately, it should be added that the American military already expects to receive three versions of the Precision Strike Missile complex by 2030: Increment 1 – for firing at a range of 500 km at stationary targets, Increment 2 – for firing at the same range at moving targets, Increment 3 ER – for firing at a range of up to 700-800 km. The first prototype of the Increment 2 modification should go on flight tests in 2024-2025.
The platform for launching the Precision Strike Missile will be the M142 HIMARS, one launcher will hold 2 missiles of this type.