The need for ER and GMLRS rockets 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 Acquisition Category III program. Engineering and Manufacturing Development began in November 1992, and a full-rate production decision was scheduled for late FY99. An LRIP was approved in May 1996, contingent on additional testing discussed below.

A new Acquisition Program Baseline was approved in March 1998 that restructured the MLRS rocket programs. All Army procurement actions for low rate initial production were completed in FY98 with delivery of items ongoing. Full-rate production of the extended-range rocket will not occur. The LRIP quantities will be used to meet an urgent need for extended range capability by U.S. Forces, Korea (USFK). The total procurement of extended-range rockets will be 4,332. Delivery of the FY97 procured quantities to USFK was begun in FY99 using standard M-77 DPICM submunitions in the warhead as an interim measure until the self-destruct fuze high-rate production equipment is validated. Once the self-destruct fuze is in high rate production, remaining quantities of extended-range rockets will be built incorporating the M-85 grenade with the self-destruct fuze. This is anticipated to occur in May 2000.

GMLRS is an international program with France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Developmental testing of the ER rocket in FY99 included a test firing of six rockets with M-77 bomblets to demonstrate improved accuracy with a new version of the ballistics algorithm. Earlier testing had revealed a range bias in which most rockets landed past the target. FY99 firings were conducted in November at White Sands Missile Range at 34.6 and 35.4 kilometers. Results are summarized in the next section. These firings were conducted as part of the MLRS M270A1 System Integration Test and contributed to the evaluation of the M270A1 launcher.

Testing in the GMLRS program included completion of the five-flight ATD program. These ATD flights were to demonstrate a guidance and control package capable of achieving a 2-mil accuracy with inertial-only guidance, and a 10-meter Circular Error Probable with GPS-aided inertial guidance. Accuracy of the two inertial-only ATD flights was 1.8 and 12 mils, respectively. Accuracy of the two GPS-aided flights was 140 meters and 2.1 meters, respectively. The fifth ATD rocket had a catastrophic launch failure. The first flight tests of GMLRS prototypes begin in FY00.

GMLRS IOT&E is scheduled for FY03, and will include the firing of 24 rockets against a towed artillery battery with surrogate personnel targets. The rockets will be fired in operationally realistic, multiple-rocket ripple missions as requested by DOT&E. Modeling will be used to relate observed test results to effectiveness requirements against other targets in the MLRS requirements document. IOT&E will also include a ground phase to demonstrate the command and control necessary for effective employment of the overall GMLRS system.

The ER-MLRS TEMP was approved in May 1996. Changes to the TEMP are being processed to align the T&E program with the new acquisition plan described in the March 1998 Acquisition Program Baseline.

The ER program has two Critical Operational Issues: munition effectiveness against specified targets and a hazardous dud rate of less than 1 percent. At the time of the 1996 LRIP decision, DOT&E determined that 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 was corrected. The six rockets fired in November 1998 met the required accuracy and did not have the range bias errors seen in previous testing. Accuracy will continue to be checked during ER production verification testing, which consists of 24 rockets per year.

The hazardous dud rate at the end of pre-production qualification testing in 1996 was about 2.6 percent, compared to a requirement of 1 percent or less. Subsequent testing has demonstrated a reduced hazardous dud rate of 0.7 percent among almost 3000 bomblets over a range of distances and temperature conditioning. These results should reduce risk for the GMLRS rocket, since its DPICM bomblets will use the same self-destruct fuze. Risk for the GMLRS rocket should also be reduced by the demonstration in the ATD program of the technical feasibility of achieving the required GMLRS accuracy.

The GMLRS TEMP, approved by DOT&E in March 1998, has a rigorous T&E program that takes advantage of modeling and simulation to evaluate targets and conditions not tested in IOT&E. Live Fire Test and Evaluation will use existing M-77 data and M-85 data from IOT&E firings against a towed artillery battery target. For the first time in a fire support program, the TEMP includes targeting and command and control in a critical operational issue.

Early and active DOT&E involvement in the GMLRS program led to the opportunity to shape the development of the Critical Operational Issues. This will provide better linkage from T&E to the key user requirements and help ensure end-to-end evaluation of the total system.