Tag Archives: MLRS

Ground Forces

The first ATACMS

Lockheed Martin has delivered the first Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile to the U.S. Army from the company’s new production facility in Camden, Arkansas.

The Block IA Unitary delivers a monolithic high explosive warhead using GPS guidance and has a range of 186.4 miles/300 kilometers
The Block IA Unitary delivers a monolithic high explosive warhead using GPS guidance and has a range of 186.4 miles/300 kilometers

Lockheed Martin is under contract to deliver 124 new ATACMS missiles to the U.S. Army and an international customer. The ATACMS program is in full-rate production at Lockheed Martin’s Precision Fires Production Center of Excellence in Camden.

Concurrent with production efforts, Lockheed Martin is nearing completion of a development contract with the U.S. Army that further enhances existing ATACMS missiles. The modifications include upgrades to the missile electronics, and complete the qualification of a height-of-burst proximity sensor, which provides increased area effects on targets.

«ATACMS has demonstrated unparalleled system performance and reliability for our customers», said Scott Greene, vice president of Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. «These latest ATACMS rounds will support Army readiness, and provide a critical new precision engagement capability to our international customers».

ATACMS is the U.S. Army’s only tactical long-range, deep precision-strike surface-to-surface weapon system. ATACMS missiles can be fired from the entire family of Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) launchers, enabling battlefield commanders the capability to operate in contested environments.

Lockheed Martin has produced more than 3,800 ATACMS missiles, with more than 20 years of on-time deliveries. More than 600 ATACMS missiles have been fired in combat, and the system has demonstrated extremely high rates of accuracy and reliability while in theater. Each ATACMS missile is packaged in a Guided Missile Launch Assembly pod.

Ground Forces

Successful in Tests

Lockheed Martin’s modernized Tactical Missile System (TACMS) missile continued its streak of successful flight tests with two recent flights at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. These tests represent the third and fourth consecutive successful trials of the modernized TACMS.

A TACMS long-range missile takes flight from a Lockheed Martin M270A1 launcher during a test
A TACMS long-range missile takes flight from a Lockheed Martin M270A1 launcher during a test

In December 2016, a modernized TACMS successfully engaged and destroyed a target in a 44-mile/71-kilometer test. And in early February 2017, a fourth modernized TACMS destroyed a target at White Sands at a range of more than 124 miles/200 kilometers. In both tests, the TACMS missiles were launched from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher.

«With our third and fourth consecutive successful modernized TACMS flights, I believe we have demonstrated that our production quality and new technology are ready to move forward», said Scott Greene, vice president of Precision Fires & Combat Maneuver Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. «These modernized TACMS missiles will allow our warfighters to quickly and accurately address imprecisely located targets on the battlefield».

The missiles used in these two tests were produced at Lockheed Martin’s Precision Fires Production Center of Excellence in Camden, Arkansas.

As part of the U.S. Army’s TACMS Service Life Extension Program, the modernized missile includes new state-of-the-art guidance electronics and added capability to defeat area targets without leaving behind unexploded ordnance. The TACMS modernization process disassembles and demilitarizes TACMS Block 1 and 1A submunition warheads, replacing them with new unitary warheads and bringing them into compliance with Department of Defense policy on cluster munitions and unintended harm to civilians. The modernization process also resets the missile’s 10+ year shelf life.

In December 2014, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army signed a $74 million contract to take existing TACMS missiles from inventory and modernize them.

The TACMS platform provides maximum flexibility to quickly integrate new payloads and capabilities to meet current and future demands.

With unsurpassed performance and an unwavering commitment to production excellence, TACMS is the only long-range tactical surface-to-surface missile ever employed by the U.S. Army in combat. TACMS missiles can be fired from the entire family of Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) launchers.