Extended Range GMLRS flies 135 km in final engineering development test

Lockheed Martin conducted its second flight test beyond 135 kilometers of an extended-range version of the Army's Guided Multiple Rocket Launch System on May 27, the company announced Tuesday.

This was the fourth and final test of the engineering development test phase, and the program will next enter system qualification testing and operational testing, according to Lockheed. The rocket was launched from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a rocket launcher mounted on a 5-ton truck.

"ER GMLRS successfully demonstrated its enhanced capabilities and extended range in a 135+ km flight test, following a successful flight at the same distance on March 25," Lockheed wrote in a press release. "The demonstration confirmed the rocket's performance in flight trajectory, range and accuracy from launch to target engagement with warhead effects, validated interfaces with the HIMARS launcher and system software performance."

The current GMLRS can fire about 70 km, and Lockheed has said the extended-range version is designed to fly up to 150 km. Even with the added range, the extended range version should not be "significantly" more expensive than the current model, a Lockheed executive told Inside Defense in March.