Lockheed Martin delivers first Precision Strike Missiles to US Army

Lockheed Martin has delivered the first Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) Increment 1 to the US Army, providing long-range precision fires capability and achieving a major modernization milestone. Initial deliveries followed a successful production qualification test at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in November.

PrSM Inc 1 is the US Army’s next generation long-range precision strike missile capable of neutralizing targets beyond 400km. The new surface-to-surface weapon features open systems architecture design for maximum flexibility, is modular for future growth and is compatible with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).

The Australian government has announced it will acquire 42 HIMARS launchers at a cost of $1.6 billion and plans also to procure the PrSM which, Defence says, is expected to have a maximum range of more than 500km.

“To support the accelerated acquisition of a long-range strike capability, Defence is developing detailed plans for a Guided Weapons Production Capability (GWPC) to manufacture HIMARS-compatible missiles in Australia from 2025,” Defence said in a statement in August 2023.

PrSM Increment 2 will have a multi-mode anti-ship seeker and will be known as the Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile (LBASM); Increment 3 would see the integration of new payloads. PrSM Increment 4 is intended to fly more than 1,000km, at least double the target range of Increment 1, and is currently being competed by a Lockheed Martin team and a combined Raytheon-Northrop Grumman team.

To meet the Army’s PrSM Early Operational Capability (EOC), Lockheed Martin is using digital tools such as augmented reality, ARISE advanced modelling and simulation, data analytics, and software factory to advance development and improve producibility, quality and performance

Subsequent deliveries of PrSM will continue as Lockheed Martin ramps manufacturing efforts and produces additional EOC missiles to fulfill current contracts supporting the Army’s modernization priorities.