The contract includes the ATACMS Quick Reaction Unitary and the Block IA Missiles. ATACMS is the world's premier long-range missile artillery round designed specifically for destroying high-priority targets at ranges up to 300 kilometers. Able to deliver a wide variety of warhead options, it can operate in all climate and light conditions while remaining beyond the range of most conventional weapons.

"Combat-proven ATACMS adds to the concept of 'joint fires interdependence' by offering the right munition to achieve the right effect at the right time, regardless of the color of the uniform you're wearing," said Col. Gary S. Kinne, Training and Doctrine Command Capabilities Manager for Rocket and Missile Systems at Fort Sill, OK.

"The Army's first surface-to-surface, long-range, all-weather, precision attack capability used in combat, ATACMS provides the Joint Force Commander an immediately available, lethal asset to attack time-sensitive and high value stationary or fixed targets in both open and constrained environments (complex/urban terrain). ATACMS will continue to provide a Joint complementary option by its inclusion in the air tasking order for planned attack and defeat of high value targets and/or in a support role to provide Joint suppression or destruction of enemy air defenses.

"Its precision reach affords the ability to provide responsive, long-range lateral supporting fires as well as shaping fires that set the conditions for decisive victory. This flexibility enables support of non-standard and direct support missions in addition to the more traditional role of general support to a corps or Joint Task Force. Evolving tactics and techniques will enhance its utility well into the foreseeable future."

During the first Operation Desert Storm, ATACMS became the first tactical surface-to-surface missile ever fired in combat by the U.S. Army. ATACMS is an evolutionary family of missiles which scored numerous successes again in Operation Iraqi Freedom, during which 456 missiles were fired.

"ATACMS is performing excellently for our Warfighters," said Jim Gribschaw, director of Precision Fires at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "A veteran of many battles, ATACMS is indispensable to the present fight, and gives commanders the ability to accurately engage the enemy at depth on the battlefield. And ATACMS' pinpoint accuracy helps minimize collateral damage."

The Army TACMS Unitary missile is a responsive, all weather, long-range missile, with a high explosive, fragmentation, multifunctional warhead fired from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) family of launchers, including the MLRS 270A1 launcher and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. This system will have a much more efficient logistical footprint, while it will expand the traditional target-set for Army TACMS.

ATACMS is fired from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) family of launchers, including the original M270, the M270 Improved Position Determining System (IPDS), the M270A1 and the new High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers. The M270, M270-IPDS and M270A1 launchers can carry two ATACMS missiles, or 12 MLRS rockets, in a full load. HIMARS carries a single ATACMS missile, or six MLRS rockets, and is C-130 transportable.

Each ATACMS missile is approximately 13 feet long, two feet in diameter and has a range of up to 300 kilometers. A single ATACMS missile can defeat company-size targets beyond the range of current Army cannons and rockets. The first launch of an ATACMS missile was April 26, 1988, at White Sands Missile Range, NM.

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