{"id":22041,"date":"2021-06-16T19:59:14","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T19:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/06\/16\/us-army-fires-autonomous-launcher-in-pacific-focused-demo\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:59:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:59:38","slug":"us-army-fires-autonomous-launcher-in-pacific-focused-demo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2021\/06\/16\/us-army-fires-autonomous-launcher-in-pacific-focused-demo\/","title":{"rendered":"US Army fires autonomous launcher in Pacific-focused demo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This simulation shows how the Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher could be used as a force multiplier in future battles. (Courtesy of the U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

UPDATE – This story previously misidentified the location of the demonstration. The demonstration took place at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Army fired an autonomous launcher<\/a> in a June 16 demonstration at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, focused on how it might be deployed to take out enemy ships<\/a> and other defensive systems in multidomain operations<\/a> in the Indo-Pacific theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A concept video shows C-130 transport aircraft landing on a strip in an island in the Pacific Ocean. The Autonomous Multidomain Launcher, or AML, comes off the C-130\u2032s ramp while a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, <\/a>drives out of the other aircraft. The two launchers deploy as a manned-unmanned team to strategic points on the island. One launcher fires a simulated Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM<\/a> \u2014 the future Army Tactical Missile System replacement \u2014 to hit an enemy ship detected in the nearby ocean. The other fires an extended-range version of PrSM<\/a> to take out an air defense system located on an enemy-occupied island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the missiles destroy their targets, the launchers head back to the bellies of the C-130 and the aircraft takes off while U.S. fighter jets deploy during the window of opportunity created by the destruction of those enemy targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the demonstration, according to Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, who is in charge of the Army\u2019s long-range precision fires modernization effort, the AML repeated the process and subsequently deployed to two other islands following the first scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1.25-hour mission was led by soldiers from the HIMARS platoon in the18th Field Artillery Brigade based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the Army fired seven rockets simulating the PrSM\u2019s future range capability from roughly 500 kilometers to well over that distance, and the service also demonstrated a shorter-range rocket capability in the third island scenario to reflect a more tactical fight in support of divisions and corps, Rafferty told reporters in a phone call directly after the demonstration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AML is an adapted HIMARS with technology to include leader-follower autonomy, autonomous waypoint navigation and drive-by-wire capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\t