LONG-RANGE FOR THE MODERN AGE
TARGET ACQUIRED
An M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System fires during an exercise in September at Rocket Valley, South Korea, conducted by the 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-U.S. Combined Division to train in field artil- lery operations. The Army’s long-range missile system will need to be sleeker and more modular, with greater range, if the U.S. is to regain its dominance in long-range precision fires. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michelle U. Blesam, 210th Field Artillery Brigade Public Affairs)
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, in which the United States and Russia forswore ballistic missiles with ranges above 500 kilometers, or 310 miles. Te U.S. Department of State, however, protested in 2014, 2015 and 2016 that Russia had tested new mis- siles that violate the 500-kilometer limit. Te ability to add a more power- ful flight motor suggests the U.S. could match Russia if needed.
• Compatibility with current launch platforms. ATACMS is fired from the Multiple Launch Rocket System family of
High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
• A slimmer profile. Depending on the munitions it’s
loaded with, each
ATACMS missile can weigh between 3,000 and 3,600 pounds. Each is 13 feet long and roughly 2 feet in diam- eter. All told, it’s large enough that only two missiles can fit on a Multiple Launch Rocket System, and only one can fit on the more mobile HIMARS. Te Army wants to fit more missiles on each platform and get more firepower in the air faster.
Current prototype designs can fit twice the number of missiles on each launcher and hit targets up to 309 miles away, ver- sus the 185-mile maximum range and one missile per pod of ATACMS. Ray- theon Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. are both developing prototype missiles under 36-month contracts awarded in 2017 to move prototypes through the technology maturation and risk reduc- tion phase. Te contracts are expected to conclude with several guided flight tests in 2019, followed by selection of a single contractor to field the missile by the late 2020s.
launchers, and the truck-mounted
Meanwhile, to keep ATACMS via- ble until a new long-range precision weapon is ready, Lockheed is adding new guidance technology and replacing cluster-munition warheads with single warheads under a maintenance and sus- tainment contract. (Lockheed acquired the smaller producer that fielded the original missile in the 1990s.)
In contrast to modernization efforts in the past—like the Future Combat Systems program, canceled after DOD decided $18 billion had not bought enough progress—where some technical components in the design were not yet
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mature, much of the technology to achieve the Army’s goals for long-range precision fires is already viable. J.R. Smith, director of advanced land war- fare systems for Raytheon, told Jane’s in a June 2017 interview, “We are not trying to invent anything new. When you start looking at everything that is involved here—GPS receivers and guid- ance electronics, the control actuation system, warhead design—all this is well understood.”
Te challenge, now, is not only to recap- ture the technical superiority that the United States had then, but to do so while walking the fine line between taking too much risk with untested technologies and not taking enough but instead set- tling for incremental improvements.
For more information, go to https://www.
army.mil/standto/2018-01-17.
For a historical tour of Army AL&T over the past 56 years, go to the Army AL&T maga- zine archives at
http://asc.army.mil/web/ magazine/alt-magazine-archive/.
—MS. MARY KATE AYLWARD
Army AL&T Magazine
April - June 2018
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