On August 24th, the US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a modification contract for the Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IR CPS) hypersonic weapon system. According to the press release details, the modification contract, which is worth $315 million, will cover the design, development, build, and integration of equipment for missile flight test demonstrations and fielding.
The contract is part of several follow-up contracts to a contract awarded by Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) in 2018 to Lockheed Martin. The company is the prime systems integrator for the Navy’s CPS and the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) weapon systems.
The US Navy plans to deploy the CPS on its three Zumwalt-class destroyers followed by later deployment on Block V Virginia-class submarines. The Zumwalts will trade their forward Advanced Gun System (AGS) for four 87-inch Advanced Payload Modules (APM). Each APM will hold three CPS weapon systems, for a total of 12 missiles.
A separate modification contract worth $1.1 billion was awarded on the 17th of February to Lockheed Martin. The contract specifically covered the integration of the CPS weapon system on the Zumwalt-class destroyers as well as the production and testing of All Up Rounds (AUR) for the system.
The first ship of the class, USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), arrived at Ingalls Shipbuilding’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi last week where the ship will undergo a two-year modernization at the yard. The ship will receive upgrades including the integration of the Conventional Prompt Strike weapon system.
About the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS)
The Conventional Prompt Strike program is a joint program between the Navy and Army, to deliver a long-range hypersonic missile that carries the re-entry called the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB). The re-entry vehicle is derived from the Sandia Winged Energy Reentry Vehicle (SWERVE) designed by Sandia National Laboratory.
As the name implies, the C-HGB is a common system utilized by the Navy for its CPS and by the Army for its LRHW. The role of the Navy in the program is the design and development of the C-HGB and two-stage booster, and integration of the C-HGB with the booster to create an All-Up Round (AUR). The Army is responsible for the manufacturing of the C-HGB.
According to budget documents, the Navy expects the first deployment of the CPS-equipped USS Zumwalt to occur in the fourth quarter of 2025, followed by the USS Michael Mansoor (DDG-1001) in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the last ship in the class, USS Lyndon Johnson (DDG-1002) in the fourth quarter of 2027. Fielding on the Virginia class is expected to take place in 2029 on one of the Block V Virginia class submarines, which will be equipped with the Virginia Payload Module (VPM).
