The U.S. Army has recommended ending a joint Raytheon Co -- Lockheed Martin Corp precision-attack missile program that has cost some $1 billion so far, a prominent industry consultant said Friday.
The plan to kill the so-called Line-of-Sight-Launch System must be cleared by Ashton Carter, the under secretary of defense for acquisition, who typically concurs with such a recommendation from an armed service.
Army leaders based their recommendation on "test performance, cost and doubts about the system's relevance to future warfighting," said Loren Thompson, an analyst close to the industry and the Pentagon.
Cancellation was "nearly a foregone conclusion," he said. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli made the decision Thursday, supported by the Army's top acquisition panel, Thompson added.
The Army was working on a statement about the program and has no immediate comment, said Dave Foster, an Army spokesman.
The Navy also had been planning to put NLOS-LS on its shallow-water Littoral Combat Ship to deal with such threats as swarms of small attack boats.
By: Brant
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