Lockheed Martin shows in-flight retargeting for GMLRS, a step toward more flexible Army “joint fires”

Lockheed Martin says it and the U.S. Army successfully redirected an in-flight GMLRS rocket during a recent test at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, marking what the company calls a program first for improving the missile’s responsiveness without changing its core design.

The demonstration involved launching a GMLRS (Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System) missile from a HIMARS launcher, where HIMARS is the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a mobile platform used by the Army to fire rocket-assisted precision munitions.

After launch, the test team used a datalink called Strigo and a guidance component named Remote Interceptor Guidance-360 (RIG-360) to send an updated target while the rocket was still in flight. Lockheed said the RIG-360 and Strigo were integrated through internal Lockheed Martin funding.

With the in-flight update applied, the GMLRS then successfully destroyed a moving target, according to the company’s release describing the test.

Lockheed Martin framed the result as an expansion of the Army’s combat-proven GMLRS capability through better connectivity between sensors, launchers and targeting systems. The company said the approach aims to avoid a fundamental change to the missile itself, instead focusing on how commanders and fire-control tools can adjust what the weapon engages.

Beyond the technical milestone, Lockheed said the capability is intended to give commanders a flexible firing option if battlefield conditions change after the initial firing decision is made, including adjustments beyond pre-programmed strike plans.

The company’s release ties the development to broader “all-domain” deterrence themes and the Army’s push for more networked, adaptive combat operations. In this context, “joint fires” refers to coordinated fire support across services and platforms, where information from sensors and targeting systems feeds weapons to engage targets faster and with more precision.

While the company provided a clear outline of what was tested, it did not specify details that would help outside observers gauge how broadly the approach could be replicated. The release did not disclose the number of intercept/redirect events, timing parameters for the in-flight update, ranges, engagement geometry, or performance metrics beyond the moving-target hit.

For the next phase, observers will likely look for additional test disclosures, including how consistently retargeting works across different conditions and what infrastructure changes, if any, are required to field the capability across Army units using existing HIMARS and associated command-and-control tools.