U.S. Congress Seeks to Resume ATACMS Missile Purchases for U.S. Army

As part of the proposed $150 billion increase in defense spending put forward by Republicans in Congress, $300 million is earmarked for resuming purchases of ATACMS missiles.

The information comes from an analysis of the bill by military observer Colby Badhwar.

In addition, $100 million is allocated for the development of a homing head for ER GMLRS missiles aimed at targeting ships.

According to Badhwar, the need for a homing head for GMLRS was identified as early as 2016, with funding requested for the 2020 fiscal year. However, the project has yet to advance.

The basic versions of GMLRS missiles cannot accommodate such a system, but the new ER GMLRS can.

The bill also proposes an additional $50 million to accelerate development of the PrSM Increment 2 (anti-ship version), $85 million to speed up work on PrSM Increment 4 (with a range of over 1,000 km), and $114 million for additional purchases of the basic PrSM Increment 1 missiles.

Currently, 1,296 PrSM Increment 1 missiles are planned for procurement between 2025 and 2029 to replace ATACMS as they are phased out. The total contract value is $4.9 billion.

In total, the legislation would provide an additional $4.636 billion for the development, production, integration, and procurement of strike missiles for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Army.

Adding to the $886 billion in defense spending already approved, the new funding would push the U.S. military budget above $1 trillion by 2025.

The additional defense spending is tied to President Trump’s sweeping tax cut bill, which would reduce taxes by about $5 trillion. This would add roughly $5.7 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.

As part of the bill, $27 billion would be allocated for the Golden Dome missile defense system, including:

• $2 billion for detection satellites;
• $5.6 billion for space-based interceptors;
• $2.4 billion for non-kinetic missile defense;
• $7.2 billion for the procurement and integration of space-based sensors;
• $2.2 billion for hypersonic defense systems;
• $800 million to accelerate the development and deployment of a next-generation interceptor;
• $1.975 billion for upgrades to ground-based missile defense radars.

In addition to investments in the Golden Dome, the bill also includes funding for additional THAAD missile defense systems and missiles, as well as $29 billion for the purchase of 14 new ships.