Raytheon has demonstrated the power and autonomy of its new DeepStrike driverless missile launcher in a live-fire test conducted in collaboration with three other defense companies.
The demonstration, held at the annual Project Convergence Capstone 5 experimentation event, saw the launcher successfully fire three times, with each shot meeting its target objectives.
The test utilized a Raytheon-made missile, developed for the US Army’s Joint Reduced Range Rocket program, and Oshkosh Defense’s Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle A2 as the base platform.
Ursa Major provided the rocket motor, while Forterra supplied the autonomous driving technology for the missile launcher.
“At Project Convergence, Raytheon demonstrated revolutionary autonomous launcher technology: a self-driving launcher designed to operate seamlessly in all weather conditions, on all terrains, and in harsh battlefield environments,” stated Brian Burton, company vice president for precision fires and maneuver.
Meeting Future Fires Requirements
The DeepStrike missile launcher is a long-range, precision-guided system developed as part of the US Army’s Long-Range Precision Fires initiative.
It is designed to engage and eliminate high-value enemy assets, including command centers, air defense systems, and critical infrastructure.
According to Burton, the launcher provides the army with a modern, autonomous platform that significantly enhances operational flexibility and extends magazine depth to meet future fires requirements.
It also acts as a force multiplier, capable of firing missiles of various sizes.
“I would say the feedback so far has been pretty positive,” he stressed.
Raytheon is set to conduct additional tests in demanding environments to validate DeepStrike’s autonomous performance further.
“We’re gonna do more testing,” Burton noted. “As you can imagine, with autonomy, you’re going to run into fog and rain. You’re going to run into vehicles, enemy vehicles that have been destroyed and are on fire, and so those things need to be accounted for.”
