Pentagon’s No.1 weapons supplier Lockheed Martin Corp has announced a successful test of its next-generation long-range missile designed for the U.S. Army’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) program at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. All test objectives were achieved.
During the flight test, the PrSM was fired from Lockheed Martin’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher and flew approximately 240 kilometers to the target area, according to a company news release.
“Today’s success validates all of the hard work our PrSM team has put into the design and development of this missile,” said Gaylia Campbell, vice president of Precision Fires and Combat Maneuver Systems at Lockheed Martin. “This test flight is the most recent success in a long line of product component and sub-component testing successes conducted as part of our proven development discipline to assure total mission success for our U.S. Army customer.”
Test objectives included confirming the missile’s flight trajectory performance, range and accuracy from launch to warhead event, validating all interfaces with the HIMARS launcher, as well as testing system software performance.
“We are building reliability into our PrSM at every level,” said Campbell. “We are confident that our years of demonstrated experience in delivering unmatched Precision Fires capabilities for our U.S. Army customer and our commitment to ensuring affordability will result in the best PrSM option.”
The next-generation precision-strike surface-to-surface weapon system will deliver enhanced capabilities for attacking, neutralizing, suppressing and destroying targets at depth on the battlefield and give field artillery units a new long-range capability while supporting brigade, division, corps, Army, theater, Joint and Coalition forces.
The PrSM program will become the new alternatives of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). “Prism” will replace the existing aged inventory of non-Insensitive Munitions and Cluster Munition policy compliant ATACMS.
According to Army’s officials, the PrSM will destroy/neutralize/suppress targets at ranges from 250-plus miles using missile-delivered indirect precision fires. PrSM provides field artillery units with long-range and deep strike capability while supporting brigade, division, corps, Army, theater, joint/coalition forces and Marine Air-Ground Task Forces in full, limited or expeditionary operations.