The NLOS-LS was originally part of the Future Combat Systems program.Army asks to cancel NLOS-LSBy Kate Brannen - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Apr 23, 2010 15:00:02 EDT
After completing a review of its precision fires portfolio, the Army is recommending the Defense Department cancel the Non-Line of Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) program.
Army senior leaders decided on the move at a Thursday meeting, according to sources. Because NLOS-LS is an acquisition category 1 program, Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter will have the final say.
Originally part of the Army’s Future Combat Systems program, NLOS-LS is also intended for the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship. It is being developed by Netfires LLC, a joint venture between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, which builds the system’s container launcher unit.
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The NLOS-LS Precision Attack Missile failed to hit its target four out of six times during a flight-limited user test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., between Jan. 26 and Feb. 5. The Army determined that fixing the system’s problems would delay the program more than a year and keep it from being included in the first brigade set of Increment 1 equipment of the Brigade Combat Team-Modernization program, Maj. Gen. Keith Walker, commander of the service’s Future Force Integration Directorate, told reporters in Fort Bliss, Texas, earlier this month.
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In the Army’s budget request for 2011, each Precision Attack Missile costs $466,000. Once the missile reached full-rate production, both the service and industry expected that number to fall. Raytheon said in a March letter to the Army that the company planned to reduce the average unit production price to $198,000 for the Army’s acquisition objective of 9,942 missiles.