MGM-140 ATACMS


The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System is a surface-to-surface missile manufactured by the U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin. It has a range of over, with solid propellant, and is high and in diameter.
The ATACMS can be fired from multiple rocket launchers, including the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, and M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. An ATACMS launch container has a lid patterned with six circles like a standard MLRS rocket lid.
The first use of the ATACMS in a combat capability was during the Persian Gulf War's Operation Desert Storm, where a total of 32 were fired from the M270 MLRS. During the Iraq War's Operation Iraqi Freedom more than 450 missiles were fired. As of early 2015, over 560 ATACMS missiles had been fired in combat.

Variants

MGM-140A – Block I

Previously M39, INS guided missile contains 950 M74 anti-personnel/anti-materiel submunitions with a range of.

MGM-140B – Block IA

Previously M39A1, missile adds GPS guidance, carries 275 M74 submunitions and has a range.

MGM-164 ATacMS – Block II

A Block II variant was designed to carry a payload of 13 Brilliant Anti-Tank munitions manufactured by Northrop Grumman. However, in late 2003 the U.S. Army terminated the funding for the BAT-equipped ATACMS and therefore the MGM-164A never became fully operational.

MGM-168 ATacMS – Block IVA

Originally designated Block IA Unitary, the new Block IVA variant substitutes a unitary HE warhead for M74 bomblets. It uses the same GPS/INS guidance as the MGM-140B. The development contract was placed in December 2000, and flight-testing began in April 2001. The first production contract was awarded in March 2002. The range has been increased to some, limited more by the legal provisions of the Missile Technology Control Regime than technical considerations.

Future

In 2007, the Army terminated the ATACMS program due to cost, ending the ability to replenish stocks. To sustain the remaining inventory, the ATACMS Service Life Extension Program was launched, which refurbishes or replaces propulsion and navigation systems, replaces cluster munition warheads with the unitary blast fragmentation warhead, and adds a proximity fuze option to obtain area effects; deliveries are projected to start in 2018. The ATACMS SLEP is a bridging initiative to provide time to complete analysis and development of a successor capability to the aging ATACMS stockpile, which could be ready around 2022.
In January 2015, Lockheed Martin received a contract to develop and test new hardware for Block I ATACMS missiles to eliminate the risk of unexploded ordnance by 2016. The first modernized Tactical Missile System was delivered on 28 September 2016 with updated guidance electronics and added capability to defeat area targets using a unitary warhead without leaving behind unexploded ordnance. Lockheed was awarded a production contract for launch assemblies as part of the SLEP on 2 August 2017.
In October 2016, it was revealed that the ATACMS would be upgraded with an existing seeker to enable it to strike moving targets on land and at sea.

Precision Strike Missile

In March 2016, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon announced they would offer a missile to meet the U.S. Army's Long Range Precision Fires requirement to replace the ATACMS. The missile will use advanced propulsion to fly faster and further while also being thinner and sleeker, increasing loadout to two per pod, doubling the number able to be carried by M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS launchers. Lockheed and Raytheon will test-fire their submissions for the renamed Precision Strike Missile program in 2019, with the selected weapon planned to achieve Initial Operational Capability in 2023; the initial PrSM will only be able to hit stationary targets on land, but later versions will track moving targets on land and sea. With the United States withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the range of the PrSM will be increased beyond the '499 km' limitation previously placed upon it by the treaty.
After entering service in 2023, the Spiral One upgrade will incorporate a multi-mode seeker in 2025 with the ability to home in on radio-frequency emissions from land and ship radars and an infrared imaging mode to strike precise points. Spiral Two will focus on enhanced lethality and Spiral Three will increase missile range to.

Operators

Current operators