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.
[13]
In January 2015, Lockheed Martin received a contract to develop and test new hardware for Block I ATACMS missiles to eliminate the risk of unexploded ordnance by 2016.
[1][2] The first modernized Tactical Missile System (TACMS) was delivered on 28 September 2016 with updated guidance electronics and added capability to defeat area targets using a unitary warhead without leaving behind unexploded ordnance.
[14][15] Lockheed was awarded a production contract for launch assemblies as part of the SLEP on 2 August 2017.
[16]
In October 2016, it was revealed that the ATACMS would be upgraded with an existing seeker to enable it to strike moving targets on land and at sea.
[17]
In March 2016, Lockheed Martin,
Boeing, and
Raytheon announced they would offer a missile to meet the U.S. Army's Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) requirement to replace the ATACMS. The missile will use advanced propulsion to fly faster and further, out to 500 kilometres (310 mi) (limited by the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty),
[18] while also being thinner and sleeker, increasing loadout to two per pod, doubling the number able to be carried by M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS launchers. One contractor is to be downselected in 2018-19 to begin production in 2021-22.
[19][20][21]
In 2017, The US Army has given Raytheon the go-ahead to proceed into the technology maturation and risk reduction (TMRR) phase for its Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) effort, now called DeepStrike.
[22]
