US Army to upgrade its rocket artillery systems

The U.S. Army is upgrading its existing rocket artillery systems in a new deal with Lockheed Martin.

Pentagon’s No.1 weapons supplier Lockheed Martin Corp has signed a deal with the Army to upgrade the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).

The deal, which was a modification to a previous contract, was worth almost $33 million and covered work for recapitalizing the Army’s M270 MLRS into the M270A2 configuration.

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The MLRS is a highly mobile automatic system that fires surface-to-surface rockets from the M270 family of launcher weapons platforms. The MLRS Family of Munitions (MLRS MFOM) can be fired in less than one minute by the three-man crew, which was demonstrated very successfully in Operation Desert Storm.

M270A2 is an upgraded variant of the M270 tracked launcher, which features Common Fire Control System (CFCS); a new 600hp engine, upgraded transmission and launcher-loader modules; and Improved Armored Cabs (IAC).

The A2 configuration upgrades will allow firing of the extended-range 227mm Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS-ER) rockets.

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Executive Editor

About author:

Colton Jones
Colton Jones
Colton Jones is the deputy editor of Defence Blog. He is a US-based journalist, writer and publisher who specializes in the defense industry in North America and Europe. He has written about emerging technology in military magazines and elsewhere. He is a former Air Force airmen and served at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

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