The U.S. Army Selects 5 Companies to Develop the PrSM Missile with a Range of 1000 Kilometers

The U.S. Army has selected 5 companies to develop prototypes for the PrSM Increment 4 program, reviving the competition for next-generation long-range missiles.

Anduril, Castelion, Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Mach Industries have received Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements to build prototypes for the missiles, according to "Breaking Defense."

The Increment 4 missile program aims to strike moving maritime and land targets at a range of no less than 1000 kilometers, nearly double the range of the baseline PrSM missile currently used by the Army, and the announcement did not disclose the value of the other transaction agreements.

According to the announcement, each company is tasked with developing prototypes for missiles that can be launched from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) M142.

The Pentagon has awarded Raytheon, a subsidiary of RTX, a multi-year interim contract worth $20.7 billion to accelerate the production of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles.

According to the request for proposals issued by the U.S. acquisition office PAE Fires in April, the system must also have an open systems architecture, allowing operators to connect new devices and software to the platform, and be capable of operating in the Indo-Pacific region "in accordance with the provided operational scenario."

The five companies will participate in a trial competition during fiscal year 2027, after which the U.S. Army will conduct the final selection process for the program, according to the Army.

In fiscal year 2028, the companies will conduct a final trial competition, and the final selection process may take place in fiscal year 2030, according to the request for proposals.

The recent announcement, made last week, comes after the U.S. Armed Forces reopened the competition for phase four of the PrSM program when it published the new request for proposals in April.

The Army had previously awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin and the RTX-Northrop Grumman team in 2023 to begin developing the missile.

In June, Lockheed Martin promoted its model of the PrSM Increment 4 program after a test conducted at one of L3Harris's propulsion facilities.

The United States began testing a new low-cost missile named Anthem, developed by the startup Covenant in the defense industry, aimed at providing a long-range offensive weapon.

Lockheed Martin stated in a statement at the time that the missile "demonstrated a seamless delivery process from the booster to the jet engine," representing a "pivotal achievement in advanced propulsion."

The recent announcement came two weeks after the U.S. Army awarded Lockheed a $1.2 billion contract to develop its PrSM Increment 2 system, which provides initial operational capability; it is a missile equipped with a multi-mode seeker capable of hitting moving maritime targets.

The PrSM Increment 2 capability is designed to cover a distance of up to 500 kilometers in combat operations, and it is noted that the U.S. Army used the capabilities of PrSM Increment 1 for the first time in combat during March, in the context of the Iran War.

Since then, reports have emerged indicating that the United States has used nearly all of its PrSM systems.