This will make the PrSM more flexible and make it more capable of conducting time-sensitive strikes on critical targets, further reducing the chance that opponents will be able to relocate their assets or otherwise react. This is well in line with a broader Army push to acquire extended-range artillery systems to ensure that its units outrange potential near-peer opponents, especially Russia, which has invested significantly in new, long-range artillery systems in recent years. You can read more about this larger strategy, which includes the development of ground-based hypersonic missiles and super-long-range guns , in this past War Zone piece .

However, the biggest advantages that the PrSM will have over ATACMS may just be its additional range and speed, allowing it to engage threats at greater distances and do so faster than ATACMS. The Army wants its new missile to be able to hit targets out to at least 310 miles away, just shy of 125 miles more than the maximum range of ATACMS.

The Army has stipulated the PrSM contenders both fit inside pods that meet the common dimensions so that they can be rapidly integrated into these existing launchers. In regards to HIMARS, two of the new missiles will be able to fit inside its launcher, compared to just a single ATACMS, which will give units just that much more magazine depth. This commonality will also make PrSM an attractrive option for other HIMARS and MLRS operators, including the U.S. Marine Corps .

It seems very likely that PrSM's range will grow even more following the collapse this year of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF, between the United States and Russia. This agreement had prohibited the fielding of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles, even with conventional warheads, with ranges between 310 and 3,420 miles, which had a direct impact on the PrSM's range requirements. Brigadier General Rafferty has said in the past that data from both Lockheed Martin and Raytheon indicates that they could readily modify their designs to fly out to around 340 miles, but he added that the Army wants to first make sure they can demonstrate that their designs can reach the original 310-mile range requirement.

“It would fundamentally change the geometry of the battlespace. … You can rapidly deploy and you can put into a position in the very near future [a missile] to be able to have the range of 550 to 600 kilometers [340 to 372 miles]," Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy said at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Dec. 7. McCarthy was talking broadly about new missiles for the Army, in general, but his comments further indicate that these are ranges the service is now actively looking at. He also specifically cited the PrSM as a starting place for a future weapon with this kind of extended range.

The Army has said in the past that it hopes to begin fielding the PrSM in 2023. With Lockheed Martin's first PrSM test now complete and Raytheon's first launch coming soon, we may start to learn more about the capabilities of these weapons, including what their actual maximum range will be.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com