The US Navy’s Program Executive Office, Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) has successfully completed series of guided flight tests of 155mm long-range land attack projectile (LRLAP).
During the tests, conducted as part of land-based flight qualification during the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase, the guided projectile has undergone nine launches and successfully hit targets, placed approximately 45nm from the launch site.
The demonstration validated the projectile’s gun launch, rocket motor ignition, guidance acquisition, navigation to target and warhead detonation.
PEO IWS Navy Surface Ship Weapons major programme manager captain Mike Ladner said that the team has completed live fire test and evaluation (LFTE) data collection, marking a step ahead in completing the development programme.
The trials have also addressed several significant objectives including requirements of the LFTE, a coordinated test programme between the Zumwalt-class destroyer and the Surface Ship Weapons Program Offices with the Office of Secretary of Defense oversight to assess the lethality of the system.
"Additionally, flying the tactical software was a major step in reducing the remaining technical risk in the programme," Ladner added.
Additionally, the projectile demonstrated its tactical software including multiple round simultaneous impact (MRSI) capability, which enables the ship to fire several rounds and adjusts the projectile trajectory to synchronise time of arrival at the targets.
The testing also assessed the potency of the round to lifecycle stresses and stimuli such as temperature, vibration and humidity.
The LRLAP rocket-assisted guided projectile will support land-attack operations onboard the US Navy’s DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers.
Image: Illustration of the Zumwalt-class vessel DDG 1000 launching a missile. Photo: US Navy photo illustration/Released.
