[6][7][8] In April 2010, the Army announced that ATK had won a competitive shoot-off during the winter against competitors Raytheon and General Dynamics, and been selected to provide a new precision-guided mortar under the APMI needs statement.

[9] Soldiers of an Infantry Brigade Combat Team received the first APMI cartridges in March 2011,[citation needed] with plans to field them in all seven deployed IBCTs within six months.

The ATK XM395 PGMM cartridge uses a standard M934 high-explosive 120 mm projectile body with a GPS receiver in the nose and computer-controlled aerodynamic directional fins for stability and to keep it on the programmed trajectory.

It also expands potential target zones that previously required soldiers to clear because inaccurate artillery would cause collateral damage since insurgents deliberately attacked from populated areas hoping troops wouldn't risk civilian casualties.

[15] The HEGM program objective is to create a round accurate to within one meter CEP, with dual GPS/SAL guidance to hit targets that have relocated and to function in a GPS-degraded environment.

The Army closed its initial solicitation period for designs in January 2017 and plans to award multiple contracts by the end of the year, leading to an open competition in 2018 and production beginning in 2021 with 14,000 HEGM rounds to be produced.