Army announces initial delivery of Precision Strike Missile Increment 1

The Army today announced Early Operational Capability delivery of the Precision Strike Missile Increment 1, following successful production qualification testing last month at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

PrSM Increment 1, considered the Army’s next-generation Long Range Precision Fires weapon, is launched from M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. It is “capable of neutralizing targets at standoffs greater than 400 kilometers,” (248.5 miles) according to the Army.

Army acquisition chief Doug Bush said in a statement Friday that PrSM will “provide Joint Force commanders with a 24/7, all-weather capability that will counter the enemy’s ability to conduct combat maneuver and air defense operations.”

“The rapid development and delivery of this capability is a prime example of the Army’s aggressive use of new acquisition authorities from Congress that allow us to move at much greater speed to get improved equipment to soldiers,” he said.

The conference version of the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill, agreed to by House and Senate lawmakers this week, includes a provision directing the Army secretary to brief the congressional defense committees on the PrSM program by Feb. 29, 2024. The briefing is to include:

• Analysis of the industrial base capacity to meet “steady-state and wartime surge requirements” in five years.
• Options for accelerating PrSM munitions beyond current future years defense program projections.
• A plan to reach procurement of 400 PrSM munitions per year in the shortest amount of time.
• Funding profile and technology risk assessment of accelerating PrSM Increment to reach initial operating capability by FY-27.

Bush had said during a congressional hearing in April that PrSM could be “a very good candidate” for multiyear procurement in the future.