Turkey will join USA in fielding Army Tactical Missile System

Turkey is to join the US Army in deploying the Lockheed Martin Vought Systems Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).

The US defence contractor says that Turkey has agreed to buy 72 ATACMS missiles, worth $48 million. The foreign-military-sales transaction is the first outside the USA for the surface-to-surface ATACMS. The US Congress cleared the deal earlier this year.

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will complete delivery of the weapons in April 1998. Turkey previously fielded a dozen Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) launchers, which can also fire ATACMS missiles.

Turkey is eventually expected to buy as many as 120 ATACMS missiles worth $130 million.

The US Army, meanwhile, plans to use the ATACMS as a target for anti-theatre-ballistic-missile weapons now under development.

The longer-range version of ATACMS was recently tested at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico as a surrogate theatre ballistic missile.

Test data collected, are scheduled to be used to determine, which type of weapon the ATACMS most resembles.

Source: Flight International