The American arms concern Lockheed Martin announced the successful testing of a new high-precision missile GMLRS-ER for the M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS MLRS. A distinctive feature of the new ammunition is its flight range increased to 150 km.
After test launches, company representatives reported that the new missile showed almost double the flight range compared to the currently produced version of GMLRS. At the same time, shooting accuracy was maintained.
Testing of a new extended-range missile began two years ago, but the first launches were unsuccessful. Over the past time, Lockheed Martin has eliminated the errors, and now the GMLRS-ER will be put into production.
The first export customer is a new NATO member, Finland. Helsinki plans to receive 25 transport and launch containers with new missiles, 6 units each. The total contract amount is approximately $90 million.
It cannot be ruled out that the manufacturer will want to test new missiles in real combat conditions in Ukraine. Russian air defense has learned to resist launches from HIMARS MLRS, and now these American installations lost its initial effectiveness. In the past XNUMX hours alone, four missiles were intercepted.