The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $10.5 million contract to develop a new modular pod for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets. The new pods will replace the depleting inventory of M26 rocket pods and support the increased production of GMLRS rounds.

M270A1 GMLRS (Picture source: U.S. Army)

The modular pod is designed to allow for reloading of individual rocket tubes as they are expended, whereas the original GMLRS pods are discarded after use. The pod will be able to fire the GMLRS Unitary and Alternative Warhead variants, as well as the developmental Extended-Range GMLRS rockets and future rounds. “The new pods will be compatible with both the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and MLRS M270 family of launchers,” said Gaylia Campbell, vice president of Precision Fires and Combat Maneuver Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “These new pods will improve reload operations and assure our warfighters have adequate rounds available to them when they are most needed.”

The modular pods will be produced at Lockheed Martin’s Precision Fires Center of Excellence in Camden, Ark. Ground testing will begin this fall, with a planned flight test before the end of the calendar year. The first deliveries of the new modular pod are anticipated in the fall of 2021.

The M270 MLRS Launchers are armed with a total of 12 227mm rockets able to deliver their 640 M77 bombs up to 30km. The launchers can also be armed with other kinds of artillery rockets and missiles.