Army Makes Massive Precision-Strike Missile Buy

The following piece, written by Jim Morris, first appeared on Warrior Maven, a Military Content Group member website. 

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Lockheed Martin has won a contract valued at up to almost $5 billion to build more Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) for the US Army.

The deal is known as an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, a deal that is used when exact quantities needed are unknown but there is a frequent need for the product. The contract will allow the Army to efficiently order more missiles.

For Lockheed, the contract means a significant increase in production.

“Lockheed Martin is committed to delivering this deterrent capability in support of the Army’s vision for a lethal and resilient force,” said Carolyn Orzechowski, Lockheed’s vice president of Precision Fires and Missiles. “Our team remains focused on advancing the production at speed and scale, ensuring the warfighter receives this crucial capability to maintain peace through strength.”

The PrSM will replace the Army’s Tactical Missile System (the MGM-140 ATACMS). It’s described as a next-generation, precision-strike missile with a range of more than 499 kilometers (roughly 310 miles). That range became possible when the US withdrew from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, accusing Russia of failing to comply with its obligations.

Lockheed, Boeing, and Raytheon all planned on bidding on the missile system, but Boeing and Raytheon dropped out of the competition in 2020. The first batch of PrSMs was delivered to the Army in December 2023.

This past December, there was a successful test of the PrSM that was conducted entirely by soldiers. A team at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico launched two PrSM Increment 1 missiles from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in what was called a limited user test. According to an Army press release, “both missiles traveled the predicted trajectory and designated range, successfully engaging four simulated rotary wing targets within a helicopter staging area.”

PrSMs could be used to attack enemy formations from safer distances before ground forces close in. The Army is said to be working on a new seeker for the missile, which could improve its ability to change course in flight to hit moving targets and possibly disrupt efforts to jam or disrupt targeting. There’s also talk of using ramjet technology that could extend the missile’s range to 620 miles.

PrSM is one of 35 key systems the Army wants to field by 2030, at which point the service would declare itself fully modernized. The Army has dubbed long-range precision fires as its number one priority. In addition to the PrSM, the Army is developing a long-range hypersonic missile and a mid-range missile that would be used to destroy ships.