ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Marine Corps canceled plans to go into full-rate production on a short-range missile based in part on lessons learned from the conflict in Iraq, officials said.
On Friday, the Corps announced plans to suspend plans to buy the Predator Short Range Anti-tank Weapon missile system made by Lockheed-Martin.
“We’ve decided not to go to full production. We had done some testing and combined those testing results with operations in Iraq and determined we do not need the short range capabilities of the missile,” said Capt. Chad Walton, spokesman for Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico, Va.
The Predator Short Range missile has a capability of firing within a short 17-meter range. The Corps has nothing in its inventory with that short of a range, but operations in Iraq indicated it’s not needed, said Capt. Chad Walton, spokesman for Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico, Va.
Lockheed-Martin still will to supply the Corps with low-rate production testing missiles and “continue to support the Marine Corps, our customer, in whatever their decision is with regard to the future of the weapon system,” said spokesman Jeff Adams.
The Corps’ Systems Command will continue to receive the Predator simulators, training gear and the low-rate initial production supply of the weapon for a total inventory of 730 missiles, Walton said.
