The Army has not disclosed the project’s total expected cost or development schedule. It has also left the missile’s propulsion system and flight profile open.
The weapon could be developed as a high-speed, ramjet-powered cruise missile or as a ballistic missile. Both configurations were shown in preliminary concepts presented during the Space and Missile Defense Symposium from Aug. 11 to 13.
U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command prepared the concepts. One design featured a flattened body, frontal air intake and four control surfaces, while the other showed a more conventional ballistic configuration.
AHSS must be compatible with the Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions. Its main platform is expected to be the Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher, an uncrewed launcher known as CAML.
The missile’s transport-launch containers are also expected to share common features with those used by M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS launchers. The Army has not released requirements for the guidance system, warhead or other performance characteristics.
AHSS appears to be separate from the Precision Strike Missile family, although the Army used the same ramjet missile rendering previously associated with PrSM Increment 4. Planned PrSM Increment 4 and Increment 5 variants are expected to reach about 1,000 kilometers and more than 1,000 kilometers, respectively.
Australia, which is participating in PrSM development, is also expected to join the AHSS project. The Army intends the missile to perform a broad range of strike tasks, including what it described as “offensive counter-air missions.”
