MGM-140 ATACMS
The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATacMS) is a surface-to-surface missile (SSM) manufactured by Lockheed Martin. It has a range of over 160 kilometres (100 mi), with solid propellant, and is 4.0 metres (13 ft) high and 610 millimetres (24 in) in diameter.
The ATACMS can be fired from multiple rocket launchers, including the M270 MLRS, and HIMARS. An ATACMS launch container has a lid patterned with six circles like a standard MLRS rocket lid.
The first use of the ATACMS in a combat capability was during Operation Desert Storm, where a total of 32 were fired from the M270 MLRS. During the Operation Iraqi Freedom more than 450 missiles were fired. As of early 2015, over 560 ATACMS missiles had been fired in combat.
In 2007, the Army terminated the ATACMS program due to cost, ending the ability to replenish stocks. To sustain the remaining inventory, the ATACMS Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) was launched, which refurbishes or replaces propulsion and navigation systems, replaces cluster munition warheads with the unitary blast fragmentation warhead, and adds a proximity fuze option to obtain area effects; deliveries are projected to start in 2018. The ATACMS SLEP is a bridging initiative to provide time to complete analysis and development of a successor capability to the aging ATACMS stockpile, which could be ready around 2022.
