Raytheon’s DeepStrike JR3 clears third test in race with Lockheed

Raytheon fired several of its DeepStrike JR3 training rockets at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, in what the company called a “third successful flight test” for the U.S. Army.

JR3 is short for Joint Reduced Range Rocket. The Army wants it to replace the Reduced Range Practice Rocket that HIMARS and M270 crews shoot in training. Lockheed Martin is building a JR3 of its own.

Raytheon put out the news Monday in a release. The team “rapidly fired multiple JR3 rounds,” it said, and looked at range, accuracy and whether the launch pod could be reused.

Brian Burton, who runs Precision Fires & Maneuver at Raytheon, said the company is pairing “a reusable pod with an affordable rocket.” He said it meets the Army’s performance bar “while driving down cost and complexity.”

The pod holds 24 rockets. It’s the same Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions pod the Army already uses, according to Raytheon. Trainees need to see where a practice round lands, so the test also checked “visibility of the marking solution.”

Lockheed got there first. It fired its JR3 at White Sands Missile Range in August 2025, then launched multiple training rounds from a HIMARS at Yuma this August. Its pod holds 24 rounds too. Dave Griser, Lockheed’s vice president for precision fires rockets, called it “a scalable, very affordable solution built on mature rocket motor technology” in an August release.

Raytheon’s suppliers include Northrop Grumman and L3Harris Technologies, plus two smaller firms, Combined Systems Inc. and Corvid Technologies. The Army’s Letterkenny Munitions Center in Pennsylvania is on the team too.

Lockheed has said its JR3 design could carry over to the Army’s Direct Support Fires Technology effort, which is after mass-produced, cheap rockets.

Raytheon says its team “is preparing for additional flight tests to further demonstrate design maturity ahead of qualification.”