The US Army has recently received the first batch of long-range Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), marking a milestone for the service’s missile program and a significant upgrade in its tactical long-range strike capabilities and conventional deterrence.
The new missiles will provide Joint Force commanders with a 24/7, all-weather capability to counter adversaries’ ability to conduct combat maneuvers and air defense operations. Defense News reported the delivery follows successful production qualification testing at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
The report says that the PrSM is a top US Army program and a key technology in the service’s long-range precision fires portfolio, created as part of its new wave of modernization priorities identified in 2017.
Reports indicate the missile can launch from both the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).
Defense News notes that the US Army plans add-ons including an enhanced seeker and technology to increase lethality and extend range. The report mentions that Lockheed Martin and a Raytheon Technologies–Northrop Grumman team will compete for a subsequent phase of the PrSM program.
The US Army awarded Raytheon Technologies-Northrop Grumman a US$97.7 million contract in February 2023 to advance its design for a Long Range Maneuverable Fires program, planned to become the PrSM Increment 4 effort, while Lockheed received a US$33 million contract to develop the increment’s capability around the same time.
The PrSM is slated to replace the aging Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which entered service in 1991. Breaking Defense notes in an article this month that the PrSM is designed to strike targets 500 kilometers away, far greater than the legacy ATACMS’s 70-300 kilometer range.
While Breaking Defense notes that the US Army has not disclosed exact ranges for the PrSM, it says that the missile has been tested against targets less than 85 kilometers and more than 400 kilometers away.
The report also mentions that while the PrSM is not primarily intended for targets less than 85 kilometers away, those targets present the most stressful flight environment as it maneuvers at hypersonic speeds to align with the target, testing the missile’s structural integrity and flight control.
An August 2020 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report states that the PrSM launcher could hold two missiles in a pod, compared to just one for ATACM, and is equipped with an anti-jam GPS antenna.
Breaking Defense notes in a November 2023 article that when the Pentagon released its 2024 fiscal budget, the US Army was planning to acquire 3,986 PrSM Increment I missiles.
Breaking Defense says that since the US sent older ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, the goal is most likely to increase PrSM production to backfill and eventually replace the ATACMS in the US inventory.
The report also says that the US Army is eying improved PrSM versions including the PrSM Increment 2 with the Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile (LBASM) seeker, the PrSM Increment 3 with enhanced warheads and a PrSM Increment 4 with a 1,000-kilometer range.
The PrSM will be a critical asset in the Pentagon’s “missile wall” strategy in the Pacific.
The PrSM could conceivably enable Taiwan to move from a defensive “porcupine strategy” entailing large numbers of small, mobile, concealed and dispersed assets that can survive initial Chinese strikes in the event of an invasion to a “pit viper” strategy entailing limited counterstrikes against targets on the Chinese mainland.
Asia Times has previously covered the US missile wall strategy, which centers around land-based missiles deployed on allied territories relatively close to Taiwan and China.
However, US allies may be reluctant to participate in America’s “missile wall” strategy for various reasons, not the least the risk of getting dragged into a US-China shooting war.
In November 2023, Asia Times reported that the US will deploy land-based Tomahawks, SM-6s and possibly the PrSM to the Pacific region in 2024. That planned missile deployment highlights US concerns over China’s military expansion and assertiveness in the region.
The PrSM may also provide Taiwan with counterstrike capabilities, addressing the limitations of its defensive porcupine strategy premised on repulsing a potential Chinese invasion rather than strategic-level deterrence.
In September 2023, Army Times reported that Taiwan had allocated funding to procure 29 HIMARS launchers, 864 precision-guided rockets and 84 ATACMS missiles. HIMARS would give Taiwan’s military survivable shoot-and-scoot capability to bombard Chinese beachheads in the event of an invasion while ATACMS would allow Taiwan to hit targets along China’s mainland coast.
However, China has already strengthened its defenses in anticipation of such attacks. Last month, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that China has significantly fortified a dozen airbases in its southern region with hardened and camouflaged shelters, extended runways and new fighter jet aprons.
These upgrades would potentially allow China to quickly establish air superiority in the event of a Taiwan invasion and make these bases critical targets for the US and Taiwan.
The WSJ report notes that China has deployed formidable air defenses and electronic warfare capabilities along its mainland coast, which may degrade the effectiveness of older munitions such as ATACMS.
The next-generation PrSM could thus bolster the US and Taiwan’s conventional deterrence posture, enabling the allies to continue holding critical Chinese targets at risk while giving space for synergizing conventional and extended deterrence.