The United States (US) has decided to use its long-range Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs) in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury against Iran, as tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East. The US Central Command (USCC) also shared a 25-second video on micro-blogging website X (formerly Twitter), showing the launch of the missile, which it called historic.
“In a historic first, long-range Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs) were used in combat during Operation Epic Fury, providing an unrivaled deep strike capability,” it said.ย
“I just could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform leveraging innovation to create dilemmas for the enemy,” the US Central Command quoted CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper as saying.ย
All you need to know about PrSM
The Precision Strike Missiles or theย PrSM has been designed by Lockheed Martin that can hit targets in a range of at least 500 km. However, future versions could be able to hit targets within range of 700 km. A tactical ballistic missile, the PrSM is a GPS-guided missile that is launched from M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS.ย
According to the information available, the PrSM has a hypersonic-class ballistic trajectory that can even be integrated with satellites, drones and radar systems. Currently, it is a surface-to-surface missile, but future versions would even be able to target moving ships at the sea. Besides, future versions will also have loitering and advanced warhead capabilities.
The escalating tensions in Iran
Meanwhile, tensions have remained high in the Middle East, with Iran continuing to hit US assets and bases in the region. Though Iran’s move to hit US bases in the region has been criticised by its neigbhours. But Iran has remained firm and defended its action, saying it is only targeting US bases and Israel in a bid to seek revenge of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death.ย
On Thursday, Iran also launched the Khorramshahr-4 heavy missile toward Israel, which has a range of around 2,000 km. Similarly, the US is also targeting Iranian bases and said it would continue to hit Tehran unless it comes to the table for negotiation.ย
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