US special ops, European customer buy Fletcher rocket launchers

Test7 · Oct 14, 2020

The Fletcher laser-guided rocket launcher can fire BAE Systems' 2.75-inch laser-guided rockets known as the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System. (Staff)

WASHINGTON — Arnold Defense announced Tuesday that two new customers have purchased its Fletcher laser-guided rocket system — although details of quantity, value and the identity of one of the customers remain opaque.

“One of the two orders has come from USSOCOM [U.S. Special Operations Command] and the other is from an undisclosed European specialist unit,” a company news release said. “Timings, numbers, configurations and concepts of use are different for each customer.”

Fletcher is a vehicle-mounted, laser-guided, 2.75-inch, 70mm rocket launcher capable of firing any rocket that fits into those parameters. The contracts call for a combination of vehicle-mounted Fletcher systems capable of carrying four rounds, as well as a new variant capable of carrying eight rounds, the company said.

“FLETCHER has generated huge interest globally with its unique capability to deliver organic, long-range precision firepower to even the smallest tactical element. It is great to see serious international interest developing into firm orders and we’re expecting much more to follow,” Doug Wallace, Arnold’s president, said in the news release.
In June, BAE Systems successfully tested a ground-to-ground launch of its Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System rocket for the first time, using the Fletcher launcher.

The St. Louis, Missouri-based company bills itself as “the world’s largest supplier of rocket launchers for military aircraft, vessels and vehicles.” In the news release, the company noted that it continues to develop variants of Fletcher, including “a boat-mounted marine variant and further development of their 23-round [Multiple Launch Hydra System] ground-based system.”