Home Americas Lockheed’s extended range GMLRS nails 80-kilometer flight demo

Lockheed’s extended range GMLRS nails 80-kilometer flight demo

ER GMLRS launch at White Sands Missile Range
ER GMLRS increases the range of the current surface-to-surface system munition. Photo: Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin says it has successfully tested its next-generation extended-range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS) munition in an 80-kilometer flight demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

During the flight test, the ER GMLRS round was fired from the US Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher, meeting test objectives.

The demonstration confirmed the missile’s flight trajectory performance, range and validated interfaces with the HIMARS launcher and system software performance, the company said.

Lockheed did not specify when the test took place, but the announcement comes several days after the US State Department approved a possible purchase of up to 25 ER GMLRS to Finland that would be worth an estimated $91.2 million.

“Our new extended-range GMLRS significantly increases the range of the current system, offering the choice of munitions for longer distances and improving options with the same reliability and accuracy our customers have come to expect,” said Gaylia Campbell, vice president of Precision Fires and Combat Maneuver Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Our team is dedicated to conducting extensive developmental testing as part of our discipline to assure mission success for the US Army with more flexibility for multi-domain operations.”

US Army file photo of a GMLRS launch

ER GMLRS is a surface-to-surface system used to attack, neutralize, suppress and destroy targets using indirect precision fires. GMLRS munitions have greater accuracy than ballistic rockets with a higher probability of kill and a reduced logistics footprint. The current GMLRS family of munitions consists of three fielded variants: dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) and the alternative warhead (AW) variants to service area targets; and the unitary variant with a single 200-pound-class high-explosive charge to service point targets with low collateral damage. GMLRS is employed with the M270A1 Multiple Launch Rocket System and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers.

Lockheed Martin has produced more than 50,000 GMLRS rounds and is under contract to produce more than 9,000 new GMLRS unitary and alternative-warhead rockets, more than 1,800 low-cost reduced-range practice rockets and integrated logistics support for the US Army and international customers. The systems are produced at its Precision Fires Center of Excellence in Camden, Arkansas.