U.S. Army fire-support experts are reaching out to industry for help in developing enabling technologies for a long-range tactical missile able to hit stationary and moving targets about 200 or more miles away.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., issued a broad agency announcement this week (W31P4Q-17-R-0028) for the potential $148 million New and Innovative Technologies for Long Range Fires Technology Development and Demonstration project.
It seeks to develop component and systems-level technologies for a new generation of tactical missiles that can be fired from the Army”s Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). The longest-range missile that MLRS can fire today is the Lockheed Martin MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has a maximum range limited to 300 kilometers, or about 189 miles.
The project seeks to enhance the range, precision, and lethality of Army long-range fires against stationary and mobile land and sea targets, at ranges beyond 300 kilometers. The Army Contracting Command is issuing the solicitation on behalf of the Weapons Development & Integration Directorate of the Army Aviation & Missile Research, Development & Engineering Center (AMRDEC).