Missile test

A new precision-guided 155mm naval artillery shell was recently tested by

and

at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

The companies successfully fired two Long-Range Land Attack Projectiles (LRLAP) with full-scale rocket motors to prove the technology is on track for guided flight tests in June.

LRLAPs are precision-guided projectiles fired by the US Navy's Advanced Gun System (AGS), a fully automated, 155mm, stabilised gun mount. The LRLAP is designed for land attack warfare to support ground and expeditionary forces beyond the line of sight.

‘Without extended range, precision-guided munitions, the US Navy is limited in its ability to provide critical, long-range fire support from ship to manoeuvre forces,’ said Jim Schoppenhorst, vice-president and general manager for US Combat Systems at BAE Systems. ‘This test shows that the 155mm LRLAP is on schedule to provide DDG 1000 with extremely capable precision-guided munitions.’

BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin are in the final stages of designing and demonstrating the LRLAP system. The team is preparing to qualify and verify the technology following a review of its design in 2010.