Lockheed Martin has restarted its tactical missile system (Tacms) production line at the company’s facility in Camden, Arkansas, US.

For more than 20 years, Tacms (formerly Atacms) was assembled on-budget and on- or ahead-of-schedule at the company’s facility in Horizon City near El Paso, Texas, said a statement from the company.

In order to consolidate all of Lockheed Martin’s Precision Fires missile and rocket production at its Camden Operations, Tacms production was temporarily suspended in 2014 and relocated to Camden, it said.

Tacms is a combat-proven precision deep-strike system with readiness rates exceeding 98 per cent since the program’s initial fielding in 1990. Providing quick-reaction firepower with ranges up to 300 km, the Tacms missiles can be fired from the entire family of multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) launchers, including the lightweight high-mobility artillery rocket system (Himars), it added.

Each Tacms missile is packaged in an MLRS launch pod and is fired from the MLRS family of launchers. Tacms is the only long-range tactical surface-to-surface missile ever fired in combat by the US Army. Almost 600 Tacms have been employed to date, with the system demonstrating extremely high rates of combat accuracy and reliability, said the statement.

Ken Musculus, vice president – tactical missiles at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said: “Restarting the Tacms production is excellent news for our customers seeking deep precision fire support.”

“This production re-start will yield greater flexibility and significant cost-savings on a program with a rich history of reliability, affordability and mission success,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service