The U.S. side said it had received the first new short-range ballistic missile called the "Precision Attack Missile," which will gradually replace the current "strategic missile" of the U.S. military. It is one of the 24 modernization projects carried out by the US side to improve its fight against possible enemy forces.
Deliveries of the rocket began in November last year after mass production tests at the White Sands missile test site in New Mexico, USA. Before the official deliveries of the following year, the missiles of this series will provide the American side with initial combat capabilities. According to military estimates, each missile now costs less than three and a half million dollars.
The US Army and its main contractor, Lockheed Martin, have announced that short-term tests of the missile were successfully completed at the White Sands missile test site in mid-November. Doug Bush, Deputy Secretary General for Army Procurement, Logistics and Technology, said, "Precision attacks can give coalition commanders all-weather, all-round combat capabilities against enemy mobility and air force." ”
Lockheed Martin has released a publicly available video showing the missile in appearance similar to the soon-to-be-replaced ATACMS. According to information from the US side, by September 2025, the US military will receive 54 sets of such missiles.
The contract for this type of rocket was signed last year, but it is not clear whether the Biden administration will give Ukraine the ATACMS** requested by Kyiv. However, Ukraine received one such long-range missile in October last year and equipped it.
The HIMARS US Strategic Missile System (ATACMS) can strike targets at a range of up to 300 km.
ATACMS remains a hot spot, especially after the Ukrainian military used a 300-kilometer missile attack on Russia, which is very nervous. After the launch of the first missile, Ukrainian Zelensky said the missile's power was "confirmed."
According to a recent intelligence report released by the British defense intelligence agency (formerly Twitter), the ATACMS attacked military airfields in Berdyansk and Luhansk in Russia on October 17, causing damage or damage to "multi" helicopters.
Because of this, the ATACMS has proven its combat effectiveness in the recent war, which has given Ukraine the long-awaited long-range attack force, thus filling the lack of platforms such as the "F-16 fighter jet" and allowing Ukraine to achieve a great victory in this war.
How can we make the U.S. ** team have stronger combat effectiveness!
PRSM is one of a series of modernization plans announced by the U.S. side in 2017, which will be the key to the U.S. team's long-range precision strikes.
This system plays a key role in the U.S. team's response to long-range attacks by China and Russia. U.S. commanders in the European and Indo-Pacific theaters are desperate to have a long-range means of attack.
The military says the missile's warhead has been "optimized" to achieve the same effectiveness as the AtaCMS, although its exact characteristics and size are not yet known (it may be smaller than the AtaCMS's warhead, so special adjustments are still needed). It is clear that PRSM has increased the overall long-range attack level of the US team. The military also intends to introduce more characteristics and updates to the missile, both now and in the future.
PRSM differs from ATACMS in that in ATACMS, a transmitter and two larger fluid guides are used. Lockheed Martin says the company has adopted an open network architecture that can be easily adjusted.
The scope of this system is greater than that of the ATACMS system. The military only said that the maximum distance of the system was 400 kilometers, but did not disclose the exact number. However, in a purchase plan selected by the Ministry of Defense, published at the beginning of the year, it was stated that the range of this plan would be expanded to 500 and perhaps to 650 km.
In addition, the platform can utilize existing M142 High Mobility Artillery Launchers (HIMARS) as well as M270 Multiple Rocket Launcher (MLRS) launchers such as ATACMS. One M270 is capable of carrying 4 PRSMs at a time, and one M142 is capable of carrying 2 PRSMs.
The army is currently adopting an upgraded version of the PRSM, 1, with a high-power warhead. Despite the high accuracy of navigation, the missiles are capable of striking only stationary objects.
The new Type 2 missile is expected to be equipped with a multimodal pager capable of striking moving targets. The missile will focus on anti-ship attacks using the LRASM missile, but the missile can also be used against other targets. The military is also developing and introducing delta 3 and delta 4.
With the U.S. withdrawing from Russia in early 2019, the U.S. team was able to build missiles at longer ranges. This agreement provides for the development of missiles in the range from 499 to 5000 km.