Lockheed Martin successfully tested its next-generation Extended-Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS) munition in an 80-kilometer flight demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. During the flight test, the ER GMLRS round was fired from the U.S. Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS®) launcher, built by Lockheed Martin, meeting test objectives. The MLRS Family of Munitions (MFOM) includes a variety of precision-strike rockets and missiles, with on-going evolutionary development to meet the needs of the warfighter. The demonstration confirmed the missile’s flight trajectory performance, range and validated interfaces with the HIMARS launcher and system software performance.
Extended-Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS) is a new developmental variation of the Guided MLRS family, ER GMLRS offers an extended range out to 150 kilometers in all weather conditions. ER GMLRS shares significant commonality with legacy Guided MLRS, and is deployable by HIMARS and the MLRS M270 family of launchers. Fired from both the MLRS M270 family of launchers and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers. 6 Guided MLRS rockets per launch pod, with 2 pods carried by the M270 launchers and 1 pod carried by the HIMARS launchersThe rounds incorporate a larger motor and have enhanced maneuverability due to tail-driven control.
“Our new Extended-Range GMLRS significantly increases the range of the current system, offering the choice of munitions for longer distances and improving options with the same reliability and accuracy our customers have come to expect,” said Gaylia Campbell, vice president of Precision Fires and Combat Maneuver Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Our team is dedicated to conducting extensive developmental testing as part of our discipline to assure mission success for the U.S. Army with more flexibility for multi-domain operations.”
Lockheed Martin has produced more than 50,000 GMLRS rounds and is under contract to produce more than 9,000 new GMLRS unitary and alternative-warhead rockets, more than 1,800 low-cost reduced-range practice rockets and integrated logistics support for the U.S. Army and international customers. The systems are produced at its Precision Fires Center of Excellence in Camden, Arkansas. For more than 40 years, Lockheed Martin has been the leading designer and manufacturer of long-range, surface-to-surface precision strike solutions, providing highly reliable, combat-proven systems like MLRS, HIMARS, ATACMS and GMLRS to domestic and international customers.
