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https://www.twz.com/land/smaller-rockets...ht-by-army
Zitat:Smaller Rockets To Provide Key Artillery Firepower Boost Sought By Army
Smaller artillery rockets can greatly increase the magazine depth of existing launchers and blanket large areas in destruction.
The new Joint Reduced Range Rocket (JR3) was showcased at the Army’s recent Project Convergence-Capstone 5 (PC-C5) test exercise at the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California, earlier this month. Raytheon (now formally known as RTX) also notably fired at PC-C5 a JR3 from a new uncrewed launcher vehicle it has been working on in cooperation with Forterra and Oshkosh Defense. The Army also released a picture from PC-C5, seen at the top of this story, showing its existing crewless Autonomous Multi-domain Launcher (AML), which is derived from the HIMARS, firing what looks to be a JR3. The AML and Raytheon’s new design are based on 6×6 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) and FMTV A2 truck chassis, respectively.
The range the Army is targeting for the new JR3 is unclear, but existing LCRRPRs have a maximum reach of around 10 miles (16 kilometers).
There is also the 4×4 Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires (ROGUE-Fires) derived from the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), which Oshkosh Defense developed primarily for the Marines. ROGUE-Fires variants armed with Naval Strike Missile (NSM) anti-ship cruise missiles and Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles are already in Marine Corps service. A version of ROGUE-Fires that can fire munitions from the same pods as the MLRS and HIMARS launchers is in development, as well, and Oshkosh is now pitching it to the Army.
Smaller rockets would also allow MLRS, HIMARS, and other launchers, crewed or uncrewed, to conduct high-volume shoot-and-scoot attacks. Even a single launcher vehicle loaded with dozens of rockets would be able to saturate a relatively large area.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has provided particularly pronounced evidence of the immense continued value of rocket and other artillery on modern battlefields. Ukrainian forces have made particularly good use of Western-supplied MLRS and HIMARS launchers firing guided rockets and ATACMS missiles against an array of different targets, including air bases and helicopter landing zones.
Smaller rockets could also provide a valuable lower-cost alternative to guided 227mm types and short-range ballistic missiles, in general, for use against certain targets, especially ones at shorter ranges. The average unit cost of a 227mm precision-guided rocket, regardless of specific variant, is around $160,000, according to Army budget documents. The price of each new PrSM, as well as that of the latest variants of ATACMS, is closer to $1.5 million.
As it stands now, the Army is at least pushing ahead with plans to add smaller rockets to the arsenals of its existing MLRS and HIMARS launchers. Work now on the JR3 training rockets could provide one potential pathway to that new operational capability.