WASHINGTON – Instead of picking ONE missile to be its thousand-mile Mid-Range Capability (MRC), the U.S. Army has chosen to mix two very different Navy weapons together in its prototype MRC unit: the new, supersonic, high-altitude SM-6 and the venerable, subsonic, low-flying Tomahawk. Breaking Defense reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
17 Nov. 2020 -- Lockheed Martin won a contract worth as much as $339.4 million to integrate the two missiles -- both built by Raytheon -- into Army fire-control systems, vehicles, and support equipment.
Lockheed builds the current wheeled HIMARS and tracked MLRS launchers, which can handle current and future Army weapons, but neither the service nor the company would say whether they could fire either SM-6 or Tomahawk, citing security concerns. They are set to enter service in 2023.
The subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile is the long-serving mainstay of long-range strike. The supersonic SM-6 is the latest version of the Navy’s Standard Missile family, whose primary role is to shoot down incoming enemy aircraft and missiles, and strike surface targets on land and sea.
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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
