Raytheon successfully tests warhead for new DeepStrike missile

The Raytheon Company tested an advanced warhead for the new DeepStrike surface-to-surface missile this week.

The weapon is slated for its first flight test later this year.

“This test, on the heels of our successful preliminary design review for DeepStrike, shows how quickly we are moving to deliver this much-needed capability to ground troops,” Thomas Bussing, vice president of Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems, said. “With our advanced technology and expertise in missile design and development, Raytheon is uniquely positioned to provide the Army with the best possible, long-range surface-to-surface missile.”

The DeepStrike missile will be part of the U.S. Army’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) program. The PrSM program will replace the Army Tactical Missile System, which was designed in the 1970s. In the test, experts at the National Technical Systems testing facility detonated the warhead inside a controlled environment and determined it exceeds Army performance requirements based on the mass and distribution of fragments.

The DeepStrike missile can hit fixed land targets 60-499 kilometers away and improve responsiveness compared to current systems. The long-range precision strike missile will fly farther, faster, cover more range, and double the firepower at half the cost of current missiles. Among its advancements, it features an innovative, two-in-the-pod design. It also has a modular, open architecture that simplifies system upgrades.