Army Readies Long-Range Missile Tests — Post INF

The Army has moved flight testing of its new long-range missile from this summer until after the drop-dead date for US withdrawal from the INF treaty with Russia. That will mean the Pentagon will kick off testing of longer-range weapons banned by the Cold War-era pact.

Tests of the Precision Strike Missile, now slated for the November-December time frame, will fall well after the Aug. 2 deadline Russia has to return to compliance with the treaty. Any tests after that date can hit ranges beyond the previously-allowed 499 km for ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles.

Current plans call for the Army’s PrSM to exercise only up to 499 km, but the weapon’s potential range is really “only limited by the INF Treaty,” as chief of Army Futures Command, Gen. Mike Murray, has said.

Read the full article and more in Breaking Defense.