Lockheed Martin Corp., Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $37,749,997 modification (P00041) to contract for recapitalization of the Multiple Launch Rocket System into the M270A2 configuration. The M270A2 Launcher version will be an upgraded version of the M270 with improvements such as the installation of new Launcher Loader Modules (LLM), the installing of the Improved Armored Cab (IAC) and the installing of a Common Fire Control System (CFCS). Work will be performed in Camden, Arkansas with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2026. Fiscal 2019, 2020 and 2021 missile procurement, Army funds in the amount of $37,749,997 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) is a mobile, survivable and highly effective with an outstanding track-record of combat proven reliability. Ongoing modernization efforts toMLRS launcher will ensure capability and support for the U.S. Army and partners nations through 2050. Recently, the U.S. Army awarded more than $400 million in production contracts for both M270 and HIMARS launchers. The M270 launcher has decades of combat-proven reliability protecting service members and is now modernized with upgrades that will provide interoperability with partner nations and fire the next-generation munitions like the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) and Extended-Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS).
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an American armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher. The first M270s were delivered to the U.S. Army in 1983. The MLRS has since been adopted by several NATO countries. Some 1,300 M270 systems have been manufactured in the United States and in Western Europe, along with more than 700,000 rockets. Production of the M270 ended in 2003, when a last batch was delivered to the Egyptian Army. In early March 2021, Lockheed announced they had successfully fired an extended-range version of the GMLRS out to 80 km (50 mi), part of an effort to increase the rocket’s range to 150 km (93 mi). Later in March the ER-GMLRS was fired out to 135 km (84 mi).
The M270A2 is a Joint All Domain Operations (JADO) enabling, heavy-tracked mobile launcher, transportable via C-17 and C-5 aircraft. The launcher and its munitions are designed to enable soldiers to support the joint fight by engaging and defeating artillery, air defense concentrations, trucks, light armor and personnel carriers at greater distances than previously capable. The enhanced MLRS M270A2 launcher can engage and relocate at high speed, dramatically reducing an adversary’s ability to locate the system. 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, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), ATACMS and GMLRS to domestic and international customers.
