ATACMS fires for the Objective Force.

The Army is going through a transformation process that will culminate in a future combat system (FCS)-equipped Objective Force in 2008. The ground force will not be characterized by 70-ton vehicles arrayed on a linear, contiguous battlefield against a clearly defined and templated enemy. Instead, the Objective Force often will fight on a nonlinear, noncontiguous battlefield againstan adaptive enemy who uses asymmetric tactics.

The tactical and operational levels of war will become blurred as operations become more network-centric and information previously reserved for corps and higher levels will become readily available at much lower levels. The extended area of operations (AO) in which the Objective Force will operate and the increased emphasis on precision munitions will force the employment of Army tactical missile system (ATACMS) munitions at levels lower than in the past.

In the Objective Force, ATACMS no longer will be solely a corps deep (operational) fires asset--it also will be employed at the close combat (tactical) level. Future ATACMS munitions will have increased range and accuracy, maximizing lethality and minimizing collateral damage. This article discusses the evolutionary application and increasing importance of ATACMS fires to the Objective Force.

Combat History. The first ATACMS missile fired in anger was on 18 January 1991 against an SA-2 surface-to-surface missile site located 30 kilometers inside Kuwait. Although Lieutenant Colonel (now Major General) Michael D. Maples' 6th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery that fired the ATACMS was on the road when it received the mission, the battalion took a mere 13 minutes to fire the missile. The Block I missile's payload (950 submunitions) dispensed directly over the target area with catastrophic effects. By the end of Desert Storm, 32 ATACMS Block I missiles had been launched against targets ranging from missile sites to command and control ([C.sup.2]) nodes.

Combat-proven, ATACMS munitions have been integral assets available to commanders for more than a decade albeit usually reserved as operational fires by the corps commander. Operational fires attack targets whose destruction or neutralization would be significant to the success of a campaign or major operation.

The Objective Force will continue to use ATACMS for deeper targets but also for close combat.

Units of Action (UAs). To accomplish the full-spectrum operations today (offense, defense, stability and support), the Army draws upon nine ground combat formations: Special Forces groups, Ranger regiment, airborne infantry, light infantry, Stryker brigade, mechanized infantry, armor, armored cavalry and air assault formations. In the future, UAs of the FCS-equipped Objective Force will account for the mission sets of all but the Special Forces, airborne and Ranger combat formations.

Focused on engagements, UAs will be highly tailorable, full-spectrum, brigade-sized combined-arms units with organic capabilities that optimize strategic responsiveness and battlespace dominance. Although the UA will have the responsiveness and deployability to achieve a 96-hour deployment goal, it is being designed with the durability, endurance and stamina to fight battles and engagements for the duration of a campaign, focused on decisive points and centers of gravity. UAs normally will fight under the command and control of a UE.

The organic artillery fires for each UA will consist of a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) battalion. The NLOS battalion will provide the UA destructive, protective/suppressive and special purpose fires. The current construct of this battalion consists of NLOS cannons; NLOS launch systems (NLOS-LS) with precision attack munitions (PAMs) and loiter attack munitions (LAMs) (Figure 1); unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); and multi-mission radars (MMRs) (see Figure 2 on Page 22).

The NLOS battalion will have increased capabilities over the traditional direct support (DS) FA battalion. Specifically, PAM and LAM from the NLOS-LS will be able to range armored vehicles at 60 kilometers and light armored vehicles at 100 kilometers.

However, the NLOS battalion will lack the longer-range artillery necessary to support the UA with fires across the full range of target sets. Much like an armor or infantry brigade of today, if a UA requires additional support, it will have to get that support from its higher headquarters: the UE.

Unit of Employment. The UE will be a highly tailorable, higher-level organization that integrates and synchronizes Army, joint and multinational forces for full-spectrum operations at the higher tactical and operational levels of war. UEs will employ multiple UAs to achieve tactical decision.

It is at the UE level where one finds the first system capable of firing ATACMS, the high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS). (See Figure 3.)

HIMARS will provide the UA longer range shaping and counterstrike fires. It will fire ATACMS munitions that will range out to 145 to 300 kilometers with several precision missiles and minimize collateral damage. (See Figure 4.)

Why is ATACMS so important to the Objective Force? The close, deep and rear operational framework of AirLand Battle fighting doctrine may be of limited utility as we look to future contemporary operational environments (COEs). The nonlinear, non-contiguous nature of many operations characterized by increased AOs for the Objective Force will blur the distinction between tactical and operational fires based on range or battlefield construct. The UA most likely will have an AO radius in excess of 75 kilometers with its UE's AO radius likely to be up to 250 kilometers.

In the Objective Force construct that has lightly armored FCS platforms weighing less than 20 tons, combat fires must achieve greater destruction at extended distances to reduce the heavy reliance on maneuver or the direct fire fight to achieve a decisive outcome. The objective of tactical/close combat fires is to destroy or neutralize enemy forces, suppress enemy fires and disrupt enemy movement with the FCS force from a greater distance than ever before. Close combat fires involve lethal and nonlethal effects to be decisive.

It is easily conceivable that the UE will need ATACMS fires to range the enemy, helping to ensure the UA avoids the direct fight, wherever possible. Furthermore, ATACMS will give the UE commander flexibility in the application of fires that are readily available and precise.

Flexibility. To be relevant, fires must move combat power (lethal effects) throughout the battlefield with the weapons platform (launcher) displacing fewer times. Range provides the commander greater flexibility.

In distributed operations, the range of a weapon system cannot be thought of in terms of straight-line perpendicularity to the forward line-of-own troops (FLOT). The Army must be able to shift and apply combat power rapidly anywhere within an AO.

Fires and maneuver are complementary elements. Each can create battlefield conditions that enhance the application of the other. Fires can suppress and destroy enemy forces and restrict the enemy's ability to counter friendly actions, thereby, setting the stage for successful maneuver operations. Units can use maneuver to dislocate enemy units where fires can achieve maximum effectiveness and efficiency.

One without the other lessens the chances of success. Combined, they make destroying larger enemy forces feasible and enhance the protection of friendly forces. ATACMS munitions clearly will have the increased range required to move combat power and, thus, achieve synergistic effects throughout the Objective Force AO.

Availability. Ground-based fires are arguably more readily available than any other type. In bad weather, aircraft are grounded and ships seek deep water to avoid beaching. In fact, during Operation Allied Force (Kosovo 1999), of the 6,766 sorties planned, 3,766 (55 percent) were flown because only 21 of the 78 days had good enough weather. Also, aircraft experience some limitations in darkness.

In addition, faced with strong enemy air capabilities, the Air Force's number one priority is to establish air superiority while the Navy's priority is to protect the fleet. At the same time, the ground force commander likely will be facing that same strong enemy and need availability of fires.

Asymmetric threats in built-up areas will dictate the use of immediately responsive and continuously available fires in all types of terrain and weather against time-sensitive targets without fear of collateral damage. ATACMS missiles will provide those fires in all weather and under all conditions.

Precision Munitions. The imperatives to decrease collateral damage, reduce the logistical footprint and increase per-round effectiveness are all driving the use of precision munitions. During Desert Storm, only seven percent of the munitions available were precision. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, at least at the beginning of the campaign, more than 70 percent of the available munitions have been precision. Of note, in the first five days of ground operations in Iraq, US forces have fired 126 ATACMS.

The employment of munitions in the proximity of friendly forces or noncombatant populations demands increased accuracy--a clear requirement for ATACMS munitions.

ATACMS Close Combat Enablers. Several new capabilities are enabling the use of ATACMS in close combat.

Enhanced Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance ([C.sup.4]ISR). Networked command and control systems will give commanders at all levels access to intelligence and targeting information never before imagined (Figure 5 on Page 24). The networked system will be responsive, decentralized and agile and support lethal as well as nonlethal fires and effects. It will give the commander access to the warfighter information tactical network (WIN-T) with near real-time information providing a common operating picture (COP) for situational awareness at all levels and precise. timely targeting. Subscribers will enter and exit a net seamlessly as the need for timely, accurate and effective fires stretches across service, organizational and geographical boundaries.

Access to sensor suites--both organic and external, ground-based and airborne--will allow commanders increased influence at every organizational level. Information from organic, Army, joint, theater and national sensors will give commanders the ability to influence the battle within timelines never before achievable.

Advanced technologies, such as those used to achieve the COP, will allow commanders to leverage intelligence, tactical intuition and experience from multiple levels and attack enemy weaknesses at a time and place of their choosing. The lengthy deep operations coordination cell (DOCC) process of clearing fires associated with ATACMS missiles will be replaced by transparent, rapid networked fires functions. This will enable ATACMS to attack in near real-time--time-of-flight of the missile.

GPS Technologies. The incorporation of global-positioning system (GPS)aided munitions lends itself to missiles supporting the close fight on the nonlinear battlefield of the future. The onboard guidance package will deliver a munition to well within required accuracies to limit collateral damage. ATACMS munitions will have a number of variants that will afford Army commanders an organic capability to affect the close combat fight.

Improved Sensors. An enabler to fires accuracy is the suite of sensors available today and the reduced target-location errors (TLEs) they bring to the battlefield. It will no longer be feasible to saturate an area with area munitions when one precision-guided missile will suffice. Future commanders at every level will have access to national, theater and UE-level sensors. Tactical exploitation of national capability (TENCAP), Rivet Joint, joint surveillance and target attack radar system (JSTARS), U2-R, Phoenix battlefield sensor system (PBSS), etc., and organic UAVs ultimately will provide intelligence to all commanders.

The Phoenix is the next-generation radar replacing the Q-37 Firefinder. It will have a range of four to 200 kilometers, an azimuth of 1,600 mils (fixed), hostile impact prediction and location accuracy up to 0.25 percent of its range plus be able to track 50 in-flight projectiles simultaneously.

Sensor "fusion" will combine sensors to address sensor weaknesses in the Objective Force. The result will be a more refined target location and better effects on target. Sensors will be linked directly via the network and enhanced battle command system to shooters or, occasionally, in direct sensor-to-shooter links to further reduce engagement timelines for time-sensitive or fleeting targets.

Fires featuring ATACMS munitions have long shaped the battlefield, and their contributions to increased force effectiveness are undeniable. As it is with current forces, ATACMS will remain a critical combat power munition of the Objective Force, regardless of the organizational and material structure.

Given the capabilities of the developing ATACMS munitions and the UE's 250-kilometer non-contiguous, nonlinear battlespace, ATACMS will be effective when other UA or UE munitions can't range the target or air assets can't respond fast enough or in all weather conditions.

ATACMS also will include increased accuracy for missile fires in close combat. However the Army first will have to break the "mental paradigm" that ATACMS is only for deep (operational) fires. Clearly, the Objective Force will need ATACMS in relatively close proximity to troops in contact.

Figure 1: Precision Attack Munition (PAM) and Loiter Attack Munition (LAM). PAM and LAM will be fired from the non-line-of-sight launch system (NLOS-LS).

PAM Properties

* 55 Inches Long

* 7 Inches in Diameter

* Weighs 100 Pounds

* Speed of 270 Meters per Second (mis) Sprint and 150 m/s Terminal

* Range of 500 Meters to 40 Kilometers #

PAM Characteristics

* Fire and Forget--With a 270-meter diameter footprint, will have an uncooled infrared and semi-active laser (SAL) seeker to locate and engage targets autonomously or engage them cooperatively with external laser anointing.

* Jam-Resistant Digital Targeting--Global position system (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS) will enable precision attack of stationary and moving targets.

* Flexible Lethality--Will have a shape-charge warhead with frag-wrap for soft and hard targets.

* Not Platform-Dependent--Will be able to be launched vertically container/launch unit (C/LU) on the ground or in an unmanned

LAM Properties

* 55 Inches Long

* 7 Inches in Diameter

* Weighs 100 Pounds

* Speed of 200 m/s cruising and up to 70 kilometers-plus per minute loitering. *

* Flight Altitude: 200 to 225 Meters Above Ground Level

LAM Characteristics

* High-Capability Seeker--Will have a light amplification for detection and range (LADAR) seeker that has automatic target recognition (ATR) to identify/locate targets and provide high/low resolution images (150-/500-meter footprints) for battle damage assessment (BOA).

* Common Jam-Resistant Digital Targeting--Will have GPS/INS for accurate search and target location; data link will provide targeting coordinates and BDA and allow in-flight missile re-tasking.

* Flexible Lethality--Will have a smaller shape-charge warhead with frag-wrap for light armored and soft targets.

* Common Vertical Launch Compatibility--Will have a booster rocket and mini-turbo jet motor to allow launch from the same C/LU as PAM.

# Threshold Capability

Figure 2: Multi-Mission Radar (MMR). The MMR will be part of the NLOS cannon battalion.

Counterfire Mission: Detect, locate and classify rockets, cannons and mortars.

* Minimum Range of 1 Kilometer and Maximum of 30 Kilometers

* Azimuth of 1600 mils (Fixed)

* Track 100 In-Flight Projectiles, Providing Hostile Impact Prediction

* Location Accuracy of 0.3 Percent of Range

Air Defense Fire Control Mission: Track and identify fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and cruise missiles, providing precise targeting data.

* Range of 15 Kilometers

* Azimuth of 1600 mils (Fixed)

* Track 50 Targets Simultaneously

* Location Accuracy of Targets within 15 Meters at 10 Kilometers

Air Defense Surveillance Mission: Track and identify fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, UAVs and cruise missiles, providing long-range, 360-degree surveillance.

* Azimuth of 360 Degrees

* Elevation of 28 Degrees

* Minimum Range of 1 Kilometer and Maximum of 100 Kilometers

* Track Targets at 360 Degrees at an Elevation of -10 to +55 Degrees

* Tracking Accuracy of 200 Meters

Air Traffic Control Mission: # Track and identify fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, UAVs and cruise missiles, providing air traffic controllers airspace deconfliction information.

# Has the same azimuth, elevation, etc., specifications as for the Air Defense Surveillance Mission.

Figure 3: High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). HIMARS will be part of the unit of employment (UE).

* Minimum Range of 10 Kilometers and Maximum of 300 Kilometers

* Rate-of-Fire of 1 Rocket or Missile Every 8 Seconds

* Caliber of the Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Family of Munitions (MFOM)

* Reload in Less than 8 Minutes

* Fire All Current and Planned MFOM, Including Guided MLRS, ATACMS Block IA and Quick-Reaction Unitary Missile

* Respond from Hide Point to Firing Point to Reloading Point in Less Than 14 Minutes

* Deploy on 1 C-130 Aircraft Sortie, Including Rocket/Missile Pod

* Accuracy is Munition-Dependent

Figure 4: ATACMS Munitions

Block I and IA (Current)

* Target Set: Air Defense, Logistical Sites, Command and Control Nodes, Radars and Helicopter Staging Areas

* Block I Characteristics: Inertial Guidance, 25- to 165-Kilometer Range and 950 Anti-Personnel/Anti-Materiel Submunitions

* Block IA Characteristics: GPS-Aided, 70- to 300-Kilometer Range and 300 Anti-Personnel/Anti-Materiel Submunitions

Block II (Limited Fielding Ongoing)

* Target Set: Moving Armored Combat Vehicle Formations

* Characteristics: GPS-Aided, 35- to 145-Kilometer Range and 13 Submunitions

Quick-Reaction Unitary (Limited Fielding Ongoing)

* Target Set: Buildings, Bunkers, Underground Command Sites, and Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant (POL) Storage Facilities

* Characteristics: GPS-Aided, 270-Kilometer Maximum Range, Point-Detonating Fuze and 500-Pound High-Explosive (HE) Warhead

Unitary ATACMS # (Unfunded)

* Target Set: Buildings, Bunkers, Underground Command Sites, POL Storage Facilities, Logistical Sites, Radars, Air Defense Sites, Helicopter Staging Areas, Lightly Armored Vehicle Formations, etc.

* Characteristics: GPS-Aided, 300-Kilometer Maximum Range, Multi-Mode Fuze (Delayed and Point-/Air-Detonating) and a 500-Pound HE Warhead

ATACMS Penetrator (Development Begins in FY04)

* Target Set: Hard and Deeply Buried Targets in Constrained Environments

* Characteristics: GPS-Aided, 500-Pound Warhead with Design Optimized for Reduced Collateral Damage

# Although the specifications are similar to the quick-reaction unitary munition, the unitary ATACMS' multi-mode fuze will increase the span of the target set and effects significantly.

Lieutenant Colonel Rocky G. Samek, Acquisition Corps (AC), is the Assistant Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) System Manager for Rocket and Missile Systems (TSM RAMS), Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He began his AC assignments in 1994, and since then, has served as the Assistant Project Manager (PM) for Program Integration of the 2.75-Inch Rocket at Rock Island, Illinois, and Test Officer at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, conducting firing tests on direct and indirect fire weapons ranging from 60-mm mortars to the 203-mm 8-inch howitzer. He was the Commander of B Battery, 2d Battalion, 80th Field Artillery in the FA Training Center (FATC) at Fort Sill and the G3 Mobilization Officer, also in the FATC. He holds a Master of Science in Materiel Acquisition from Florida Institute of Technology and is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.