Lockheed Martin to upgrade Army's early model tactical missiles into safe, low-cost munitions
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., 15 Jan. 2015. Fire support experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. are upgrading U.S. Army long-range tactical missiles to reduce the weapon's costs and threats of unexploded ordnance.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., have announced a $78.2 million contract to the Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control segment in Grand Prairie, Texas, to upgrade early model ATACMS missiles to modern front-line versions.
Lockheed Martin engineers will convert Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) Block 1 tactical missiles to into modern area attack munitions, Army officials say.
The contract calls for Lockheed Martin to take hardware from ATACMS Block 1 missiles and develop an enhanced and affordable weapon system capable of eliminating targets without the risk of unexploded ordnance.
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ATACMS is a surface-to-surface missile that is 13 feet high and two feet in diameter, with a maximum range of about 100 miles. The munition uses satellite guidance through the Global Positioning System (GPS), and carriers a variety of explosive warheads.
The program’s first phase will include flight tests, followed by production beginning in 2016. ATACMS is the U.S. Army’s tactical long-range precision strike surface-to-surface weapon.
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More than 560 ATACMS missiles have been fired in combat and the system has demonstrated high rates of accuracy and reliability, Lockheed Martin officials say. Each ATACMS missile is packaged in a Guided Missile Launch Assembly pod and is fired from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) family of launchers.
On this contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Camden, Ark., and in Grand Prairie, Texas. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control online at www.lockheedmartin.com/us/mfc, or the Army Contracting Command at www.acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
