SIMI VALLEY, CA — New road-mobile missiles that are under development will fundamentally change the Army’s offensive capabilities, the head of the Service said December 7.
The types of systems in the works were previously banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia. The treaty was brokered in 1987 in the waning years of the Cold War. It prohibited the United States and Russia from deploying land-based nuclear or conventional missiles — both ballistic and cruise — with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km.
However, Washington accused Moscow of cheating, and the United States withdrew from the arms pact in August. The move made it possible for the Army to pursue road-mobile, conventional weapons with greater ranges that will be play an “instrumental” role in the Service’s multidomain operating concept, Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy told reporters at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley.
“What”s changed, in particular, is our long-range precision fires portfolio,” he said.
“There are two systems now that you can implement.” One is an extended-reach Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, which will replace the Army Tactical Missile System and have twice the range,” he said.