Army’s future autonomous launcher could fill Typhon’s ‘large’ shoes

WASHINGTON — After discovering that Typhon — the US Army’s new Mid-Range Capability long-range launcher — is a bit too large to operate on the battlefield, the service is looking at alternative options to fill the gap, including the future Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher (CAML), according to a pair of three-star generals.

“[Typhon is] rather large [and] long, because it has to go to a vertical setup to fire the missile system,” Lt. Gen. Joel Vowell, the deputy commanding general for Army Pacific, told reporters on a Defense Writers Group call last month.

“We’ve got an eye with the Army on a future form factor that’s a little smaller, maybe semi-autonomous,” he later added.

One option on the table would be to use the CAML in the role once envisioned for Typhon, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch, the head of the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO).

RCCTO first developed the Typhon prototype as a way to strike targets between the Precision Strike Missile’s (PrSM’s) planned 500-kilometer range and the 2,776-kilometer reach of the future Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW). The weapon uses a Mark 41 vertical launching system mounted to a 40-foot ISO container to fire Raytheon’s existing SM-6 missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Like Vowell, Rasch called the Typhon design effective, but “very big” since the service was working to quickly spin out a prototype based on available components. It’s now working though how to “shrink” down that design or, possibly, have CAML fill in. 

Right now, RCCTO is still in the early stages of deciding how to proceed with CAML but it is envisioning two sizes — a medium and heavy. For CAML-M, the service will likely use a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle (FMTV) as the base for launching Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Family of Munitions, or the new Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) launcher with AIM-9X interceptors. 

Then for the larger CAML-H, the service wants to use a M1075 Palletized Loading System tactical vehicle — or similar 15-ton class chassis — to integrate on a launcher that can fire Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles or the Patriot Advanced Capabilities Three (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors.

“Well, we don’t have all the requirements yet for all the [CAML] missiles, and the SM-6 and Tomahawk are different animals,” Rasch told Breaking Defense during an Aug. 7 interview. And while CAML increment 1 doesn’t have an SM-6 requirement, future iterations may, and the ultimate desire is to use CAML for that Typhon mission.

“The long-term desire would be if we could figure out how to get everything down on the CAML launchers,” Rasch added. 

Evolving Plans 

So far, the service has issued a CAML “request for solutions brief,” and Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have separately said they are planning to compete.

While the service has not publicly released a competition timetable, Rasch and his team are looking to move out quickly and meet Army Chief Gen. Randy George’s goal of having working prototypes within 18 months.

“We’re integrating things that we already [have] and I think that’s primarily the reason why the Chief said, ‘Hey, we need to do this quickly. I’m not making you develop a new missile. I’m not making you develop a new fire control. We are packaging it differently, and let’s get it out to the soldiers, and then let’s figure out how to employ it,’” Rasch said. 

But one “challenge,” according to Rasch, is designing a single platform that can fire both offensive and defensive weapons, which will give soldiers the flexibility to reconfigure it in combat. 

“Maybe it uses the defensive fires initially before going on the offensive,” he added. “We may need to maybe go from a 2/3 to 1/3 mix of defense-to-offense to the other way around.”

If the service is able to get CAML off the ground and prototypes into soldiers hands, they will also have to look at ways to best use the weapons. The heavy variant, for example, will likely need to be transported in the air via a C-5 or C-17. Once on the ground, the service will need to figure out a host of issues including resupply. 

“If they’re autonomous, are we going to be able to have them shoot and then autonomously move back to a resupply area where they get resupplied with munitions and come back forward?” Rasch asked. “Or are we going to bring [munitions] forward and do it at that location?”