Hunt For New Lower-Cost Strike Missile With 1,000-Kilometer Range Underway By U.S. Army
Summary
The U.S. Army is actively developing a new cost-effective strike missile called the Affordable High Speed Strike (AHSS), designed to engage targets at distances exceeding 1,000 kilometers using either traditional ballistic or air-breathing propulsion technology. The weapon system is intended to be launched from both new autonomous unmanned vehicles currently in development and existing platforms like the M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS, providing the Army with flexible, mobile, and survivable strike options. The AHSS program primarily aims to target high-value enemy assets such as air bases, air defense systems, and missile launchers, fulfilling an offensive counter-air mission role that has traditionally been associated with aerial assets rather than ground-based systems. The Army's fiscal year 2027 budget proposal formally acknowledges AHSS as a distinct program separate from the existing Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) family, despite sharing some conceptual similarities with PrSM's planned Increment 4 variant. AHSS represents just one component of a broader Army long-range strike strategy that already includes the Typhon system firing Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles, and the upcoming Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), known as Dark Eagle, with a maximum range of approximately 2,175 miles.
Key Takeaways
- 1. The AHSS missile program seeks to deliver an affordable 1,000-kilometer-range strike capability that can be deployed from mobile, survivable ground-based platforms including HIMARS
- 2. Two distinct design concepts are being explored: a conventional ballistic missile configuration and a more advanced air-breathing propulsion design potentially using ramjet or scramjet technology
- 3. The Army envisions AHSS fulfilling offensive counter-air missions, an unconventional role for ground-based systems, targeting enemy aircraft, missile launchers, and supporting infrastructure
- 4. AHSS is explicitly separate from the PrSM program, though both efforts overlap in range goals, reflecting the Army's strategy of pursuing multiple complementary long-range strike solutions simultaneously
- 5. The broader U.S. Army long-range strike portfolio is rapidly expanding, encompassing AHSS, PrSM variants, the Typhon launcher system, and the hypersonic Dark Eagle missile system