Army orders precision artillery rocket

DALLAS, June 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army is on the way to deploying a new precision rocket system to travel with its ground forces.

The Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a $125 million contract for rockets for the company's Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System -- Unitary, or GMLRS, which was recently moved into the low-rate production phase.

"The rapid pace of this program's development echoes our rapid success in this back-to-back set of program advances," Al Duschene of Lockheed's Missiles and Fire Control division in Dallas said in a statement Thursday. "The many positive comments we have received from soldiers about GMLRS' battle-proven surgical strike capability inspires our team to maintain its high level of performance."

The rocket artillery system delivers ordnance against ground targets up to 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) away with an advanced rate of accuracy that Lockheed said in a statement Thursday will enable Army units to use far fewer rockets and avoid collateral damage.

The system appears tailor-made for current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, where Army units find themselves in close contact with hostiles in urban areas. Lockheed has developed the multi-function fuse system that allows the gunners to set the missile's 200-pound warhead for a variety of bursts. The fuse allows the missile to detonate either on direct impact, air burst or on a delayed basis.

The GMLRS can be deployed from the Army's current MLRS M270A1 and HIMARS launchers.