Lockheed Martin GMLRS ready to enter next testing phase
Lockheed Martin has conducted the fifth and final Production Qualification Test (PQT) for the new Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) Alternative Warhead. The company reports that the tests, conducted at White Sands Missile Range, were a success.
The long-range test saw four rockets fired from a HIMARS launcher and destroy their respective targets approximately 65km away.
The test is the final milestone before the Developmental Test/Operational Test (DT/OT) phase, which incorporates soldiers into the system testing. The DT/OT phase will begin this summer and will conclude with the Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (IOT&E) exercise in the fall of 2014.
Ken Musculus, vice president of Tactical Missiles for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said: ‘This next phase of testing will be critical in determining operational effectiveness. We are committed to the customer and their success on the battlefield, and these tests ensure production of a trustworthy and effective solution.’
Lockheed Martin received a $79.4 million contract from the US Department of Defense (DoD) in April 2012 to develop the Alternative Warhead Program (AWP). Under the terms of the contract, the Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase of the programme runs 36 months, focusing on system performance, warhead qualification and producibility.
The Alternative Warhead is designed to engage the same target set and achieve the same area-effects requirement as the GMLRS submunitions warhead, but without the lingering danger of unexploded ordinance. The Alternative Warhead is being developed by ATK under subcontract to Lockheed Martin.
The AWP is part of a US DoD plan to create a GMLRS variant which meets its cluster munition policy. The Lockheed Martin GMLRS Alternative Warhead programme will also be compliant with the provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions international treaty.
More from Land Warfare
-
![UK plans to adopt “phased approach to restarting” British Army Ajax programme]()
UK plans to adopt “phased approach to restarting” British Army Ajax programme
The introduction of Ajax vehicles into British Army service was stopped after health issues during an exercise. However, an investigation reported “no single causal mechanism of the symptoms reported by our soldiers but rather a combination of multiple factors”.
-
![Australia backs up investment promises with US$2.1 billion for Bushmaster and HIMARS]()
Australia backs up investment promises with US$2.1 billion for Bushmaster and HIMARS
The Australian government is ordering another 268 Thales Bushmaster medium protected mobility vehicles along with HIMARS for a second long‑range fires regiment.
-
![Battle management C2 systems are driving the next phase of integrated air defence]()
Battle management C2 systems are driving the next phase of integrated air defence
Battlefield and wider air defence C2 systems integrating a range of agnostic sensors have risen in prominence, from Turkey’s Aselsan developing Steel Dome to Northrop Grumman providing its own system to Poland and the US Army.
-
![Ireland targets improved anti-drone capability before mid-year ahead of EU presidency]()
Ireland targets improved anti-drone capability before mid-year ahead of EU presidency
With Ireland's EU presidency set to commence from July this year, the ramped-up efforts to procure a counter-uncrewed aerial system and radar capability under its Military Radar Programme are on track to meet targeted roll-out dates.
