US RAPIDLY speeds-up new long-range missile production as Trump continues MILITARY UPGRADE

In 2017, the Association of the United States Army made the Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) programme one of the highest priorities for capability modernisation.

The army is seeking to complete the new Precision Strike Munition (PrSM) programme by 2023.

The deadline marks a sudden increase in the pace of production as the army was previously not planned to have the new programme ready before 2027.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for more government spending on the US military as part of his plan to radically reimpose the strength of the American army.

An executive at Lockheed Martin, Frank St John said: “We are on what I will call an accelerated schedule to produce the missile technology for the army.”

Lockheed Martin has been contracted for the research and development of the munitions.

The company works primarily with global aerospace, defence and security technologies.

According to the LRPF cross-functional lead Col John Rafferty, the current Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is beginning to show its age and its range capabilities.

The ATACMS was designed during the 1970s and built in the 1980s.

While the US military has put large amounts of funding into upgrading its navigation, lethality and propulsion, according to Mr Rafferty, “we’ve taken it as far as we can”.

The army requires its new surface-to-surface missile to have a range of 499 kilometres which is about 40 percent further than the current system’s range of only 300 kilometres.

Mr Rafferty said: “PrSM was originally a 2027 programme so that just shows you what can be done with focus and leadership.”

In addition to Lockheed, Raytheon is also preparing to make a bid for the final contract.

Raytheon is a defence contractor that primarily works in weapons and military and commercial electronics.

Until 2007, the company had also been involved with corporate and special-mission aircraft.

On Monday, Raytheon announced its Deep Strike, another name for the PrSM, had successfully been integrated with truck-mounted launchers.