Lockheed Martin has successfully completed a production-qualification short-range flight test with the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), the company announced on 16 November 2023.
The test firing, recently conducted from a High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher in conjunction with the US Army at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, was the shortest-range test flown to date. While not PrSM’s primary mission range, the short-range flight test was mounted to demonstrate the system’s continued accuracy from launch to impact at its most stressful, dynamic environment as it manoeuvres at hypersonic speeds to align to the target. The test thus verified the missile’s structural integrity and trajectory control at this short range.
“This demonstration is the first of several production qualification tests moving PrSM closer to fielding and delivery of early operational capability (EOC) missiles this year,” Jay Price, vice president of Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, was quoted as saying in a Lockheed Martin press release. “PrSM is a critical capability and the top long-range precision fires modernisation priority for the US Army,” Price added.
The test follows a third production contract to produce additional EOC missiles awarded to Lockheed Martin in September 2023.
PrSM is the US Army’s next-generation long-range precision strike missile, capable of neutralising targets out to more than 400 km. The weapon features an open-systems-architecture design for maximum affordability and flexibility, is modular for future growth and is compatible with both HIMARS and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).
