Twice the Firepower at Extended Range

Raytheon’s DeepStrike™ system delivers overmatch at a fraction of the cost

Emerging enemy threats—primarily, the use of long-range rockets against infantry and armored formations at extended ranges—put the traditional U.S. and coalition advantages on the battlefield at risk.

This threat, coupled with an aging U.S. long-range rocket inventory, could jeopardize combat forces in a future conflict. A threat of this nature hasn’t existed in such a way since the height of the Cold War.

“Near-peer” adversaries are quickly evolving into pure peer threats, equipped with weapons and capabilities that they didn’t have even five years ago.

Using advanced long-range weapons, an enemy attack on allied forces could begin with a volley of long- range rockets deep into our territory.

To overcome and defeat this threat, Raytheon is developing a long-range missile system, DeepStrike, for the Army’s Long-Range Precision Fires requirement. DeepStrike will allow the Army to field twice as many missiles compared to the aging ATACMS system on its existing launch vehicles.

Thin and sleek, it will fire two missiles from a single weapons pod at half the cost per missile compared to ATACMS. The new missile also flies farther, packs more punch and has a more accurate and robust guidance system than ATACMS.

“Raytheon can develop, test, and field this new capability and we are working with the Army to deliver our LRPF solution sooner than original estimates,” said J.R. Smith, Director of Raytheon Missile Systems’ Advanced Land Warfare Systems directorate. “LRPF provides soldiers on the battlefield overmatch against adversaries.”

The DeepStrike missile system is primarily meant to attack a wide range of fixed ground targets deep beyond enemy lines.

Because current missiles have limitations in range and other important LRPF requirements, a simple life-extension program cannot address long-term threats.

Along with increased firing capacity, the DeepStrike system boosts range over existing weapons by 40 percent. Earlier this year, Raytheon entered the technological maturation stage of the LRPF program. Drawing from its experience producing advanced weapons systems, Raytheon will deliver initial DeepStrike system rounds for Army evaluation within the next 24 to 30 months.

Delivering new capabilities on this timeline will enable the U.S. Army and its allies to maintain to superiority against adversaries—a concept known as overmatch.

Source: https://breakingdefense.com/