The U.S. Army recently fired its newly fielded Precision Strike Missile from the Pacific island of Palau, successfully engaging a moving target at sea for the first time outside of American-based testing sites. The first set of Precision Strike Missiles, or PrSM, were delivered to the Army in December 2023 to replace the legacy Army Tactical Missile System. Soldiers from the 3rd Multidomain Task Force and the 1-181 Artillery Regiment of the Tennessee National Guard launched two PrSMs during the Valiant Shield exercise in Palau, marking a significant milestone in the Army’s long-range fires capabilities.
The Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher, still in prototype form, was used to launch the PrSM and will be able to operate in a convoy with autonomous way point navigation and remote launcher turret operations. The PrSM missile, critical for the Army’s deep-strike capability, is capable of launching from both the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and the M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System to hit targets at standoff locations greater than 400 kilometers. Lockheed Martin led the development of the PrSM after RTX struggled to get the weapon ready for flight tests during the program’s technology maturation phase. Lockheed received contracts for early operational capability production, followed by additional contracts for increased lethality and extended range.
The U.S. Army is planning add-ons for the PrSM, including an enhanced seeker to better defeat moving targets at sea. America’s withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia has allowed the development of the missile to exceed the current range requirement of 499 kilometers. The goal in the near term is to pursue a maritime, ship-killing capability for the PrSM.
