GMLRS+ rocket flight test demonstrates Aerojet scalable effects warhead

Posted by Courtney E. Howard SACRAMENTO, Calif., 5 Dec. 2011. Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE:GY) company, demonstrated its scalable effects warhead on Lockheed Martin's Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System-Plus (GMLRS+) rocket during a flight test at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The new warhead, with a user-selectable range of detonation yields, was set to low-yield output prior to the 49-kilometer (30-mile) flight and direct hit on the target, demonstrating the ability to control blast effect with an affordable design.

"This successful flight test represents a significant advancement in capability for the warfighter," says John Myers, Aerojet's vice president, Tactical Systems. "We continue to invest in affordability and capability improvements for the GMLRS program with our Lockheed Martin partner."

The White Sands Missile Range test was the second Lockheed Martin/Aerojet-funded, Precision Fires Program Office-supported GMLRS+ launch. On Aug. 9, a GMLRS+ round with Aerojet's improved production motor completed a 120-kilometer mission, demonstrating an improvement in range of approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) over the then-current GMLRS round.