HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - The U.S. Army has selected Mach Industries to develop a prototype for the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 4 program, a long-range strike weapon initiative designed to engage moving maritime and relocatable land targets at ranges of 1,000 kilometers or greater.
Mach Industries is one of five companies awarded separate Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements on Sept. 29 to develop competing missile prototypes. The other recipients are Anduril, Castelion, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, and RTX, according to the Army's Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Fires.
The prototype missiles must be compatible with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The Army plans to conduct an initial competitive flight demonstration and down-select in fiscal 2027, with companies demonstrating sufficiently mature designs eligible for follow-on agreements and a further flight demonstration in fiscal 2028.
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Development details
The competition builds on earlier Increment 4 development efforts. Lockheed Martin, working with L3Harris Technologies, reported completing a direct-connect test in June 2026 demonstrating the transition from rocket-booster propulsion to ramjet propulsion for its proposed missile. Lockheed Martin said the test validated a critical propulsion event ahead of planned flight testing. Castelion, another competitor, has been linked in published reporting to a ground-launched version of its Blackbeard missile, which it is also testing in an air-launched configuration for the U.S. Navy.
The other competitors have disclosed fewer details about their specific Increment 4 designs. The Army's competition aims to advance prototypes that meet the program's extended-range and moving-target requirements.
Mach Industries' selection builds on its Pike development, a long-range strike platform the company says uses rocket-assisted launch before transitioning to sustained jet-powered flight. Mach describes Pike as designed for production at scale, emphasizing manufacturability, rapid design iteration, and distributed operations without runway infrastructure.
The company says it develops propulsion systems, solid rocket motors, energetics, and airframes in-house to accelerate prototype development and production.
The Army's solicitation also addresses open architecture and Indo-Pacific operations, according to published reporting on the program. These considerations add integration and operational demands to the competition beyond range and launcher compatibility.
