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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
FY97 Annual Report

MULTIPLE LAUNCH ROCKET SYSTEM (MLRS)
EXTENDED RANGE (ER) ROCKET

	Army ACAT II Program 3090 rockets Total program cost (TY$) $187,274M Average unit cost (TY$) $.06M Low-rate Production 2QFY97 Prime Contractor Lockheed Martin Vought Systems

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The Extended Range (ER) rocket is an enhanced version of the current rocket fired from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). The ER rocket is expected to have a range of 45 kilometers or greater, compared to the fielded rocket's 31.5 kilometers. The ER rocket, like the current rocket, is designed to be used against soft, stationary targets. As with the current rocket, an MLRS launcher will carry twelve ER rockets.

Extended range is achieved by reducing the number of bomblets (from 644 to 518) and increasing the propellant in the rocket. The overall length and diameter will not change. The bomblet pattern size is also being increased, which will decrease the bomblet density. A zero-force detent modification is intended to help maintain accuracy at the extended ranges. Zero-force detent is a modification that adds a small explosive charge to cut away the rocket's restraining bolts, providing a "soft" launch.

In addition, a modification of the bomblet is expected to reduce the number of hazardous duds on the battlefield. Both the current and ER rockets deliver Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) bomblets. The modified ER bomblet has a redundant fuzing system with the addition of a self-destruct device. The bomblet modifications are not expected to affect the bomblet's lethality.

The ER rocket provides commanders an operational fires capability for precision engagement of the enemy throughout the depth of the battlefield beyond the range of currently fielded cannons and rockets. It delays, disrupts, neutralizes or destroys high payoff targets such as multiple rocket launchers, towed artillery, air defense units, and command/control/communications sites. The ER rocket's ability to engage the enemy at extended ranges supports the Joint Vision 2010 dominant maneuver force by helping the commander shape the battlespace.

The need for the ER rocket is based on the experiences of Operation Desert Storm and the continued threat of the proliferation of longer range artillery systems. ER-MLRS is an ACAT II program. Engineering and Manufacturing Development began in November 1992, and a full rate production decision was scheduled for late FY99. LRIP was approved in May 1996, contingent on additional testing discussed below.

The Army has recently started a program to add a Global Positioning System (GPS) - aided inertial guidance system to the rocket. If successful, this guided rocket would then be cut into the ER production line after some limited period of ER production and after operational testing of the GPS variant. Under this proposed plan, there would be no Milestone III full-rate production decision in the ER program. However, ER rockets will be fielded, operational testing is still required.

Early developmental testing for ER-MLRS included the firing of 126 rockets in a production prove-out test (PPT). This test-fix-test program was intended to refine the ballistic algorithm and select the best configurations for the submunition fuze and center core burster, which determines the pattern size and density. This phase was followed in January-April 1996 by Government-conducted pre-production qualification testing (PPQT) of 24 prototype rockets. DOT&E observed these firings.

Developmental testing in FY97 has focused on improving the performance of the submunition self-destruct fuze, as explained in the next section. These corrections are to be verified in a Design Verification Test (DVT) of six rockets early in FY98. Production qualification testing (PQT) of 24 LRIP rockets will be conducted in late FY98.

IOT&E is scheduled for FY99 and will include the firing of 36 rockets against a towed artillery battery with surrogate personnel targets. The rockets will be fired in operationally realistic, 12-rocket ripple missions as requested by DOT&E. Modeling will be used to relate observed test results to effectiveness requirements against the other targets in the MLRS requirements document.

The ER-MLRS TEMP was approved in May 1996, contingent upon corrections to the LFT&E strategy and the incorporation of software management metrics. These corrections were approved in August 1996, and the TEMP is being executed as written.

The program has two critical operational issues (COIs): munition effectiveness against specified targets, and a hazardous dud rate of less than 1 percent. DOT&E's operational assessment at the time of the May 1996 LRIP decision showed that the LRIP exit criteria for effectiveness were not being met for two of the three required targets, but could likely be achieved if an obvious range bias is corrected. A new version of the ballistic algorithm, intended to address this bias, is scheduled for verification testing as part of the DVT test in FY98.

The hazardous dud rate at the end of PPQT testing was about 2.6 percent, compared to an LRIP (and Milestone III) requirement of 1 percent. Improvements and additional testing of the submunition self-destruct fuze are continuing. The LRIP requirement of 0.88 for rocket reliability was exceeded and demonstrated to be 0.98.