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| Singapore Army HIMARS 21641MID in LMC PrSM animation. |
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| The actual Singapore HIMARS with registration number 21641MID. Photo : HR586 Emergency Collection via FB |
I am not sure how many people noticed this, but Lockheed Martin's concept video for its Precision Strike Missile ( PrSM ) actually featured a Singapore Army HIMARS launching two missiles at what seemed like a S-400 surface-to-air missile battery and a forward arming and refueling point. The dead giveaway is the M1140 truck's vehicle registration number 21641MID which is unique to military vehicles of the Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ). It is truly befuddling why a US Army deep strike weapon system which is still under development should feature a launch vehicle belonging to a foreign nation. Did Singapore co-sponsor the PrSM program or did it request to buy the PrSM? It seems very unlikely but who knows? You can watch the video below or on Youtube here. Update 2 Jun 2022 : It seems that this video is no longer available on Youtube.
Precision Strike Missile
The PrSM has its origins in the US Army's Long Range Precision Fires Program. It is a next-generation, extended range, all-weather, surface-to-surface missile that will give the ground commander an enhanced capability to attack, neutralise, suppress and destroy critical and time-sensitive point and area targets.
It is compatible with the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System ( MRLS ) and the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System ( HIMARS ) family of launchers, complementing existing GPS guided rocket munitions and will ultimately replace the increasing obsolete MGM-140 ATACMS.
It uses inertial navigation system with GPS for guidance and features insensitive munition propulsion system and payload. It adopts an open systems architecture and modular design for future growth.
With an official range of 60 to 500+km, the PrSM almost doubles the 300km maximum range of the ATACMS. It is physically narrower and can be packed two to a pod, doubling the ATACMS loadout. Lockheed Martin has since 10th Dec 2019 successfully flight tested the PrSM a total of four times consecutively, with the most recent test on 12th May 2021 at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, demonstrating a 400km range. It is expected to enter service in 2023 and achieve IOC in Q4FY2025.
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| PrSM Inaugural flight test 10th Dec 2019. Photo : LMC |
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| Image : US Army Acquisition Support Center |
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| PrSM Artist's Impression. Image : LMC |
Implausible Scenarios
This promotional video is best taken with a huge pinch of salt since it is really just advertisement for Lockheed Martin Corporation ( LMC ) which is the prime contractor for PrSM. It also features another of its product the F-35 Lightning II.
A pair of F-35 on a deep strike mission discovers a hostile surface-to-air missile ( SAM ) site and a forward arming and refueling point ( FARP ) and designates them as targets. Their coordinates are communicated to the Combat Air Operations Center ( CAOC ). In the true spirit of joint operations, instead of calling for more Air Force assets to attack these targets or diverting the F-35s to deal with them, CAOC sends the fire mission data to a field artillery brigade that is within range using AFATDS ( Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System ), the fire support command and control system used by both the US Army and Marine Corps.
As a result a single HIMARS bearing a Singapore vehicle registration number is dispatched and proceeds to launch two PrSM at the designated enemy targets, destroying both in no time with their accurate flight trajectory and their high performance pre-formed fragmentation warheads.
The main target of the PrSM is a SAM site more than 500km away with what looks like the LEMZ 96L6E Cheese Board multimode acquisition radar for the S-400 Triumf ( NATO reporting name SA-21 Growler ) system, one of the most advanced long range air-defense system developed by Russia. It will be impossible for such valuable assets not to be guarded by a layered air-defense system which will include a tonne of short-range point defense like the Pantsir-S1. Indeed the video shows three domes representing the airspace protected by the hostile short, medium and long-range missiles of the SAM site. It will be totally unrealistic for a single precision strike missile to be able to penetrate a well defended SAM site without being first discovered and subsequently shot down. More likely salvos from multiple HIMARS will have to be launched against such protected sites to have even a remote chance of achieving a kill.
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| SAM Site 96L6E acquisition radar look-alike. |
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| LEMZ 96L6E Cheese Board acquisition radar. Photo : Globalsecurity.org |
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| PrSM moments before detonation over what looks like the 92N6E Grave Stone engagement radar. |
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| PrSM warhead detonation with pre-formed fragments. |
The same argument goes for the second target, a FARP which is usually located at or near the forward edge of the battle area to re-arm and refuel helicopters. Would the enemy be so silly to leave it unguarded?
And why would LMC feature a Singapore Army HIMARS in the animation? The SAF does have the HIMARS in its inventory and has recently placed an order for four F-35B stealth fighters but these are for deterrence and defensive purposes only. Singapore is a tiny nation in South-east Asia and cannot afford any armed conflict with its neighbors or any country. It will be very far fetched to imagine the Singapore Army aiding the US in attacking a foreign nation be it China, Russia or Turkey, all of which possess the S-400 SAM system.
MID Vehicle Registration Number
All vehicles operated by the SAF are assigned a unique registration number comprising of usually a five digit number followed by a MID suffix, for example 33828MID. MID stands for Ministry of Interior and Defense and is truely a legacy of the past.
Immediately after Singapore gained independence in 1965, the Ministry of Interior and Defense was established and it was responsible for both the internal and external security of the young nation, controlling the Police Force as well as the SAF. It was only in 1970 that the Ministry of Interior and Defense was split into the Ministry of Defense ( MINDEF ) and the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA ).
The MID vehicle number system dates from that era and is still in use for military vehicles today even though the Ministry of Interior and Defense is long gone. So armoured vehicles like tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, utility vehicles like trucks and jeeps, even motorcycles all bear this five digit MID vehicle registration number. The exception will be the limousines for receiving visiting dignitaries and staff cars assigned to high ranking commanders ( battalion commanders and above / commanding officers of ships ). These will have single, double or triple digit numbers followed by the MID suffix, for example 1 MID.
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| A truck and safety vehicle with typical SAF registration numbers. Photo : Singapore Army via FB |
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| Another SAF HIMARS on maneuver. Photo : Singapore Army via FB |
Just An Animation
The PrSM concept video is just an animation to showcase the potential of LMC's latest surface-to-surface missile. It may not necessarily stick to real world scenarios though it should have, in order to make it as realistic and convincing as it possible to woo prospective buyers. I must however add that the US government is probably the only prospective customer for now.
The inclusion of a foreign HIMARS in the video could be a simple mistake of the animators who might have just taken a photo of the launch vehicle from the internet without knowing that it does not belong to the US Army and copied it wholesale. The SAF's HIMARS are regularly deployed in the biennial Forging Sabre series of exercise with the US military in various locations including Arizona and Utah. So it may not be inconceivable that some could have been mistaken for those belonging to the US Army. You can see some of SAF's HIMARS in action ( 3:42 - 4:56 ) in the video below or here.
On a separate note, the PrSM is a missile system with a huge potential for growth. Unhindered by the 500km range limitation imposed by the now defunct Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the US is free to develop, test and field a new generation of surface-to-surface missile as it desires. Already, there is talk about giving the PrSM what the US Army terms mid-range capability, defined as 1600km ( 1000 miles ) or more. So we can reasonably expect extended-range PrSM in the near future, just like the ER GMLRS.
The PrSM is currently able to strike only stationary or fixed targets but eventually new multi-mode seekers that can home in on the enemy's communications and radar emissions and perhaps infra-red signatures will be integrated to allow for striking moving targets such as ships at sea or maneuvering land units. The US Army had already began testing this advanced seeker since June 2020. When available this will make the PrSM a very powerful anti-access / area denial weapon for littoral and maritime environments especially in its extended-range iteration.
Maybe in the foreseeable future, the PrSM might really find its way into the rocket pods of Singapore's HIMARS. Until then, the M30 / M31 GMLRS rockets will have to suffice.
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| From Singapore 70km GMLRS range covers most of southern Johor. |
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| 500km PrSM range covers most of West Malaysia and Sumatra |
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| 1600km ER PrSM covers half of South China Sea including the Spratly Islands |
