GMLRS Unitary Rocket Phase I Tests Completed

Released on Thursday, March 23, 2006

Lockheed Martin successfully conducted four separate flight tests of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) Unitary rocket recently at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, concluding the first phase of the Production Qualification Testing requirement series for the contract.

Test objectives included demonstrating the capability of GMLRS Unitary rockets in point detonate and proximity modes at short and long range against tactically representative targets. These missions were the last in a series of GMLRS Unitary Phase I Production Qualification Tests (PQT) of the GMLRS Unitary Rocket.

Phase II improvements to the GMLRS Unitary will include fuzing and software upgrades to enhance effectiveness and Insensitive Munitions (IM) upgrades to provide the Soldier added safety in a hostile environments.

Guided MLRS Unitary integrates a 200-pound class unitary warhead into the GMLRS rocket, giving battlefield commanders the ability to attack targets up to 70 kilometers away with high precision. This low-cost, low-risk program will greatly reduce collateral damage by providing enhanced accuracy to ensure delivery of the warhead to the target.

Lockheed Martin received a $119 million contract to conduct System Development and Demonstration (SDD) for a GMLRS variant with a single warhead in October 2003. The SDD contract includes 86 rockets, 71 of which are flight articles, with the balance supporting test and other activities. The contract also provides test hardware to support 26 flight tests for an initial configuration and 39 flight tests of a follow-on configuration.

The SDD phase of this program was preceded by a successful system demonstration in 2002 of a Quick Reaction Unitary Rocket and a nine-month Component Advanced Development program. The Guided Unitary SDD program will continue through 2007.