The US Army Aviation and Missile Command has awarded a $445m follow-on contract to Lockheed Martin to provide guided multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) unitary rockets.
Under the contract, the company will supply 735 GMLRS unitary rocket pods (six rockets per pod) and 508 reduced-range practice rocket pods for the US Army and US Marine Corps, as well as GMLRS pods for foreign military sales (FMS) customers.
The all-weather GMLRS is a quickly deployable, long-range rocket that offers precision strike beyond the range of traditional weapons.
The rocket system is designed to destroy high-priority targets at ranges of about 70km, and can be deployed in both urban and non-urban scenarios.
The US Army’s GMLRS product manager lt col Drew Clanton said the enemies of US armed forces fear the precision strike that GMLRS delivers.
“US forces can increase their stand-off distances without losing accuracy, which is paramount to our efforts to destroy threats while limiting collateral damage,” Clanton added.
The delivery of the rockets is expected to start in December 2012.
