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Long Range Land Attack Projectile

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) is a rocket-assisted, precision-guided 155-millimeter naval artillery shell designed exclusively for the U.S. Navy's Advanced Gun System (AGS), enabling Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) destroyers to conduct accurate, long-range strikes against fixed land targets in support of amphibious operations and expeditionary warfare.
Developed by Lockheed Martin as the prime munitions contractor under BAE Systems' oversight for the AGS, the LRLAP incorporates GPS and inertial navigation for terminal guidance, achieving circular error probable accuracy within 20 meters at extended ranges, with successful flight demonstrations exceeding 63 nautical miles during qualification testing in 2013.
The projectile's design emphasized high-volume, sustained fire rates from the AGS's automated loading system, potentially delivering up to 10 rounds per minute per gun barrel, while its segmented warhead and rocket booster addressed the challenges of naval gunfire support beyond traditional ballistic limits.
Procurement was halted in November 2016 after initial low-rate production, as the Navy's reduction of the Zumwalt-class from 32 planned hulls to three inflated the unit cost to approximately $800,000–$1 million per round—rendering it uneconomical compared to alternatives like cruise missiles—without technical deficiencies in the munition itself.
This cancellation left the AGS without purpose-built ammunition, prompting subsequent Navy evaluations of hypervelocity projectiles and other off-the-shelf rounds to repurpose the guns for surface and air defense roles, highlighting broader challenges in balancing specialized capabilities against fleet-wide affordability in modern naval architecture.

Overview and Purpose

Design Concept and Intended Role

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) was engineered as a precision-guided 155 mm artillery round tailored exclusively for the U.S. Navy's Advanced Gun System (AGS) on Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) destroyers, featuring GPS-aided inertial navigation and forward canard controls to enable accurate terminal guidance and maneuverability against stationary or moving land targets. This design emphasized g-hardened electronics to withstand the stresses of gun launch, rocket-assisted propulsion for extended range up to 83 nautical miles (approximately 154 km), and a unitary high-explosive warhead for single-strike lethality against fortifications, command centers, or mobile threats in littoral environments. The projectile's form factor, including separate sections for the body and propellant, optimized compatibility with the AGS's automated handling and vertical loading mechanism, minimizing crew requirements while maximizing sustained fire rates of up to 10 rounds per minute per gun mount. Intended to restore and modernize naval surface capabilities diminished since the retirement of battleships, LRLAP aimed to deliver responsive, high-volume precision fires in support of amphibious assaults and expeditionary operations, targeting enemy coastal defenses, , or troop concentrations from standoff positions. By leveraging the AGS's dual-gun configuration per —capable of independent or coordinated salvos—the system was conceptualized to generate suppressive effects equivalent to multiple launches but at lower per-round costs during prolonged engagements, thereby enhancing the Navy's role in joint fires for Corps maneuver forces. This role positioned LRLAP as a bridge between traditional naval gunfire and missile-based strike, prioritizing accuracy and range over unguided projectiles to reduce and improve effectiveness against time-sensitive targets in contested shorelines.

Strategic Rationale in Naval Fire Support

The development of the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) stemmed from a congressional mandate in the to restore robust naval surface (NSFS) capabilities lost with the of Iowa-class battleships, aiming to support U.S. Marine Corps amphibious operations with sustained, precise inland fires. This addressed doctrinal requirements for NSFS to neutralize enemy defenses, suppress coastal threats, and provide close support during landings, where air assets might be contested or unavailable due to weather, , or air superiority challenges. Unlike missiles, which offer limited salvos per launcher and high per-unit costs often exceeding $1 million, gun-based systems like LRLAP enabled high-volume fire—up to 10 rounds per minute per barrel—with reloadable magazines holding hundreds of projectiles, facilitating prolonged engagements against time-sensitive or area targets. LRLAP's integration with the Zumwalt-class destroyers' (AGS) emphasized standoff operations, allowing ships to deliver 155mm-equivalent firepower from beyond 50 nautical miles offshore, reducing vulnerability to shore-based anti-ship missiles and mines prevalent in modern littoral environments. This capability aligned with evolving threats identified in post-Cold War analyses, where adversaries could deny near-shore access, necessitating precision-guided munitions that combined gun propulsion's efficiency with GPS/inertial navigation for sub-meter accuracy against fixed or semi-mobile targets like command nodes or positions. Proponents argued that such systems filled a gap in organic fire support, enabling independent expeditionary maneuvers without sole reliance on vulnerable forward-deployed or scarce cruise missiles, whose deployment depletes carrier air wings or vertical launch system capacities rapidly. Critics of missile-centric NSFS, including naval analysts, highlighted that guns provide resilient, all-weather fires immune to certain or spoofing affecting guided missiles, while lower costs—projected under $100,000 per LRLAP round in full production—supported sustained suppression over hours, contrasting with the finite, expensive nature of alternatives like or extended-range munitions. However, the rationale presupposed large-scale amphibious assaults reminiscent of or Korea, scenarios increasingly questioned amid shifts toward distributed maritime operations and peer competitors like , where NSFS priorities compete with anti-access/area-denial countermeasures. Despite these debates, LRLAP's design reflected first-principles emphasis on volume, precision, and affordability to enable causal dominance in , prioritizing empirical needs over politics until cost overruns undermined viability.

Technical Specifications

Projectile Composition and Dimensions

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) consists of a unitary high-explosive with blast-fragmentation effects, an integrated GPS-aided (GPS/INS) for precision guidance, a solid-fuel rocket motor for range extension, and deployable fins for aerodynamic control during a glide phase. The delivers a payload comparable in effectiveness to standard 155 mm high-explosive rounds like the M795, with an estimated bursting charge of 11 kg. Electronics and components are g-hardened to endure the 10,000+ g acceleration from the launch. The rocket motor, supplied by ATK (now ), ignites post-launch to boost velocity and extend range beyond conventional . Physically, the LRLAP measures 155 mm in (bore ), with an overall length of 2.2 meters and a total mass of 102–104 kg, including . The body employs a streamlined nose and aluminum or composite structures that fold for loading and deploy to a of 0.45 m in flight, optimizing for the rocket-assisted glide trajectory. These dimensions enable compatibility with the 155 mm/62- barrels while accommodating the added volume for guidance, motor, and control surfaces.

Guidance, Propulsion, and Range Capabilities

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) utilizes a combined (GPS)-aided () for guidance, enabling precise navigation and control during flight. This dual-mode system incorporates anti-jam features to maintain accuracy against electronic interference, with the serving as a to GPS for continued operation in denied environments. The guidance package supports targeting of fixed land assets, allowing multiple projectiles to engage single or clustered targets sequentially from the same . Propulsion begins with launch from the 155 mm (AGS), which imparts initial velocity through conventional powder charges optimized for high . A solid-propellant rocket motor then ignites post-exit from the barrel, providing sustained thrust to extend range beyond standard ballistic limits. The design incorporates canards and tail fins for stability and controlled glide after motor burnout, facilitating a semi-ballistic trajectory that balances speed and loiter time for terminal adjustments. Range capabilities reach a demonstrated maximum of over 63 nautical miles (approximately 117 km) in flight tests, with accuracy maintained via the GPS/ suite yielding a (CEP) of 50 meters or less at full range. Early objectives targeted up to 100 nautical miles, but realized performance aligned with the 63-nautical-mile threshold following qualification testing in 2013. This range supported naval surface roles, outperforming unassisted 155 mm projectiles while requiring the AGS's specialized barrel and charge system for optimal performance.

Development and Testing

Program Inception (Early 2000s)

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) program originated in the early as a critical component of the U.S. 's DD(X) destroyer initiative, aimed at restoring long-range capabilities diminished since the retirement of Iowa-class battleships in the . Conceptual work emphasized precision-guided 155 mm projectiles compatible with the (AGS), designed to deliver high-volume, accurate fire against land targets up to 100 nautical miles distant, addressing gaps in alternatives during amphibious operations. Initial development aligned with broader requirements outlined in Navy planning documents from the late , but active engineering efforts accelerated post-2000 to integrate with the evolving DD(X) platform, later redesignated DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers. In April 2003, was competitively selected over to advance LRLAP development, marking a pivotal milestone in transitioning from risk-reduction studies to full-scale prototyping. This selection followed preliminary design phases that incorporated rocket-assisted propulsion, GPS/ guidance, and modular warhead configurations to achieve sub-20-meter accuracy at extended ranges. The program's technical foundation drew on prior gun-launched guided research, but prioritized naval-specific adaptations for shipboard launch stability and AGS magazine compatibility, with early modeling targeting a baseline range of 63 nautical miles under optimal conditions. By mid-2005, progress culminated in a $120 million, five-year cost-plus-award-fee awarded to by —the AGS prime contractor—for enhanced testing and integration refinements. This funding supported ground and flight validations, including a June 2005 guided test that achieved a then-record 59 nautical miles for a gun-launched munition, validating core guidance and propulsion elements despite atmospheric variables. These early efforts underscored the Navy's commitment to fielding 2,000-round initial stockpiles per , though unit costs were already projected at approximately $35,000–$50,000 per based on low-volume production assumptions.

Key Milestones and Flight Tests

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) underwent a series of guided s starting in the mid-2000s to validate its propulsion, guidance, and extended-range capabilities using land-based platforms simulating the (AGS). Phase 1 testing, spanning August 2002 to September 2005, concluded with a successful flight achieving a range of 109 kilometers, meeting initial performance thresholds within budget and schedule. The fourth engineering occurred on June 16, 2005, with preliminary results confirming stable aerodynamics and control systems. Subsequent tests focused on maneuverability and precision guidance. A flight demonstration took place at , , in September 2010, evaluating inertial navigation and GPS integration under varied conditions. In October 2012, conducted multiple 155 mm launches at , , to assess projectile stability post-launch and initial guidance acquisition. A pivotal series of live-fire guided flight tests in early 2013, involving and , demonstrated accurate target engagement at ranges exceeding 63 nautical miles, with all projectiles achieving nominal flight profiles and precision within meters via GPS and inertial systems. These built on prior engineering tests (GF-1 through GF-4), including Milestone B validations (GF-2 and GF-3) and a dedicated maneuver test (GF-4), paving the way for extended-range demonstrations (GF-5 through GF-9). The final long-range test phase occurred the week of September 9, 2013, at White Sands, firing nine rounds to approximately 45 nautical miles with GPS guidance, resulting in impacts within feet of stationary targets and marking 14 consecutive successes since January 2013. These outcomes supported planned safety certification in 2014 and low-rate initial production of 22 rounds by 2015, though qualification testing originally targeted for 2010 had faced delays. Overall, the tests confirmed LRLAP's ability to deliver 10 rounds per minute to single or multiple targets at over 100 nautical miles, though no shipboard firings from Zumwalt-class vessels were conducted prior to program shifts.

Integration with Advanced Gun System

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) was developed exclusively for the U.S. Navy's 155 mm/62-caliber , with no compatibility to other naval or land-based artillery platforms due to its specialized dimensions, propulsion, and guidance requirements. The AGS, produced by , incorporates a unique barrel design and optimized for LRLAP, balancing initial gun-launch velocity with the projectile's internal motor to achieve ranges beyond 63 nautical miles while maintaining structural integrity under high-pressure firing. Integration efforts focused on seamless operation within the Zumwalt-class destroyers' dual AGS mounts, each capable of sustaining a fire rate exceeding ten LRLAP rounds per minute for sustained shore bombardment. Developmental testing validated this compatibility through a series of live-fire demonstrations, including gun-launch survivability, GPS/inertial navigation acquisition, and precision with height-of-burst fuzing. In 2012, conducted multiple launches assessing LRLAP rocket motor performance across ambient, cold, and hot environmental conditions, confirming reliable ignition and post-launch from AGS barrels. By July 2013, completed engineering verification flight trials, firing LRLAP from AGS prototypes at ranges up to approximately 45 nautical miles, demonstrating warhead functionality, accuracy within meters, and full system without modifications to the gun's fire control or magazine handling. Additional September 2013 tests at further corroborated long-range efficacy, with projectiles achieving guided flight profiles matching AGS ballistic models and supporting troop ashore via precision strikes. These milestones affirmed the LRLAP-AGS pairing's potential for high-volume, GPS-aided , though subsequent program shifts rendered full operational integration unrealized.

Program Cancellation and Legacy

Factors Leading to Termination (2016)

The U.S. Navy announced in November 2016 its decision to halt of the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP), citing escalating per-unit costs as the primary driver. Originally designed for high-volume production to support a planned fleet of up to 32 Zumwalt-class destroyers, the program's economics collapsed after truncated the class to just three ships in 2009, drastically reducing the anticipated order quantity from thousands to fewer than 2,000 rounds. This shift eliminated , pushing the unit cost to approximately $800,000 per projectile by 2016, rendering it uneconomical compared to alternative munitions like missiles or precision-guided shells. The termination aligned with the Navy's Program Objective Memorandum for fiscal year 2018 (POM-18), a budgeting process that prioritized reallocating funds amid constrained defense spending. challenges were compounded by the specialized nature of the LRLAP, which required custom integration with the (AGS) and lacked broader applicability across other naval or ground platforms, limiting potential cost-sharing opportunities. While technical performance in tests had been satisfactory, the emphasized that affordability, not reliability or effectiveness, dictated the cancellation, as the rounds' precision-guided, rocket-assisted design—intended for ranges up to 100 nautical miles—could not justify the expense for a minimal fleet. No evidence of systemic technical failures contributed to the decision, though the move left the Zumwalt-class AGS effectively unused without viable alternatives immediately available.

Impact on Zumwalt-Class Destroyers

The cancellation of the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) program in November 2016 rendered the (AGS) on the Zumwalt-class s effectively inoperable for their intended long-range land-attack mission, as no alternative 155 mm munitions were compatible with the system's and performance requirements. The AGS, comprising two 155 mm/62 caliber guns per ship capable of firing up to 10 rounds per minute with a designed range exceeding 100 nautical miles using LRLAP, was central to the class's original naval surface role, intended to deliver precision-guided munitions at volumes far surpassing prior classes. Without LRLAP, the guns lacked viable , leaving the destroyers without the sustained, high-volume gunfire support envisioned for amphibious operations and close-in shore bombardment. This shortfall diminished the tactical utility of the three commissioned Zumwalt-class ships—USS (DDG-1000), USS (DDG-1001), and USS (DDG-1002)—shifting their primary focus from land attack to , operations, and , while the AGS turrets remained largely unused or tested only with inert rounds. The program's failure highlighted mismatches, as the reduced fleet buy from 32 to three ships inflated LRLAP unit costs from an initial estimate of $50,000 to approximately $800,000–$1 million per round, undermining economic viability and stranding an estimated $1.4 billion investment in AGS development without operational munitions. In response, the U.S. Navy pursued alternative armaments, initially exploring adaptations like the Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP) for railgun compatibility, but these proved unsuitable for AGS ballistics and range. By 2023–2024, the service opted to remove the AGS entirely, beginning with the forward turret from USS Zumwalt at Ingalls Shipbuilding in May 2024, to accommodate Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) hypersonic missile launchers—four 87-inch vertical launch system tubes per ship for long-range precision strikes. This refit, targeting operational hypersonic capability by late 2025, repurposes the destroyers for strategic deterrence roles, compensating for the lost gunfire support with missiles offering greater range and standoff but lacking the AGS's rapid, massed-fire volume for certain littoral scenarios. The transition underscores a pivot from volume fire support to high-end strike assets, though it leaves a doctrinal gap in organic naval gunfire, historically vital for Marine Corps expeditionary operations.

Exploration of Alternatives

Following the 2016 cancellation of the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) program, the U.S. Navy examined several alternative munitions to sustain the (AGS) on Zumwalt-class destroyers, prioritizing compatibility, cost-effectiveness, and precision guidance over the LRLAP's specialized rocket-assisted design. One primary candidate was ’s M982 Excalibur 1B, a GPS/inertial-guided 155mm artillery shell originally developed for Army howitzers, offering a reported of approximately $68,000—significantly lower than the LRLAP's $800,000–$1 million per round—and a range of up to 40 kilometers with under 2 meters. Adapting for AGS would have required software and hardware modifications to the gun's fire control and loading systems, with preliminary estimates placing the total integration cost for the three Zumwalt ships at around $250 million. Other options included ' Multi-Service Standard Guided Projectile (MS-SGP), a modular 155mm round with extended range potential, though detailed feasibility assessments for AGS integration remained limited. The Navy also investigated the Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP), a low-drag, guided kinetic round derived from the canceled electromagnetic railgun program, capable of velocities exceeding Mach 5 and adaptable for anti-air, anti-surface, and ballistic missile defense roles. In 2019, the service conducted studies and tests confirming HVP compatibility with a modified AGS, leveraging the gun's higher muzzle velocity (over 2,500 m/s) to achieve ranges potentially exceeding 100 nautical miles—far surpassing standard 155mm artillery—while maintaining a projected unit cost under $100,000. Live-fire demonstrations, including 20 rounds expended from a destroyer’s 5-inch gun that year, validated the projectile's stability and guidance in naval environments, with AGS-specific adaptations focusing on barrel reinforcement and propulsion tweaks to handle the HVP's mass and aerodynamics. However, HVP development faced setbacks, including 2021 budget cuts that halted further gun-launched guided projectile efforts amid shifting priorities toward missile-based systems. Despite these explorations, no alternative munition was procured for the AGS, as integration costs, limited production scalability for only three ships, and doctrinal reevaluation rendered gun-based fire support less viable compared to vertical launch system (VLS)-deployed missiles. The Navy instead redirected Zumwalt-class capabilities toward hypersonic strike, initiating modifications in 2023 to remove the AGS turrets and repurpose the resulting deck space for additional VLS cells compatible with the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) missile—a boost-glide hypersonic weapon with ranges over 1,800 nautical miles and speeds above Mach 5. USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) completed initial hypersonic upgrades by late 2024, including peripheral VLS expansions and CPS integration, effectively transforming the destroyers into surface strike platforms while retaining existing Tomahawk and SM-6 missile inventories for land-attack roles. This shift addressed the AGS's operational idleness—stemming from the absence of affordable, high-volume ammunition—by emphasizing standoff precision over naval gunfire, though critics noted the irony of discarding specialized gun hardware without fully exploiting its volume-fire potential.

Criticisms and Debates

Economic and Procurement Challenges

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) program encountered significant economic hurdles primarily due to escalating unit costs driven by diminished production scale. Initial projections in estimated a per-round cost of approximately $35,000 at full production volumes tied to an original plan for 32 Zumwalt-class destroyers. However, the U.S. Navy's reduction of the Zumwalt fleet to just three ships in 2009 severely curtailed anticipated orders, eliminating and causing the price to surge to around $800,000 per round by 2016. Procurement challenges intensified as the Navy's planned acquisition of 2,000 LRLAP rounds became uneconomical under the revised ship count, with each Zumwalt requiring hundreds of projectiles for operational viability. In November 2016, the Navy formally canceled further LRLAP purchases, citing the prohibitive expense relative to alternatives like the Tomahawk missile, which offers greater range at a comparable $1 million per unit despite its higher-end cost profile. This decision rendered the Advanced Gun Systems on the Zumwalt destroyers largely inoperable for their intended land-attack role without a suitable replacement munition. Broader fiscal pressures within the exacerbated these issues, as the LRLAP's cost-per-round exceeded initial targets by over 20-fold, reflecting systemic risks in munitions linked to platform-specific designs and fluctuating quantities. Critics noted that the program's assumed high-volume that never materialized, leading to a mismatch between capability investment and affordability. No subsequent efforts have revived LRLAP, with the instead exploring off-the-shelf alternatives like the round, though integration challenges persist.

Operational Effectiveness and Strategic Value

The Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) was engineered for precision strikes against fixed land , leveraging GPS-aided inertial and forward control for accuracy at extended ranges exceeding 63 nautical miles, as demonstrated in qualification tests conducted by in 2013. Its rocket-assisted, fin-stabilized glide trajectory enabled effective engagement of diverse , including those in urban environments or near friendly forces, with a comparable to the standard M795 155mm high-explosive round, providing blast and fragmentation effects suitable for suppressing enemy positions or infrastructure. Integrated with the Zumwalt-class (AGS), which supports a sustained fire rate of 10 rounds per minute per barrel and magazines holding over 300 projectiles, the LRLAP offered potential for high-volume, rapid-response (NGFS) that could deliver at rates far surpassing individual missile launches. Operationally, the system's effectiveness hinged on its ability to provide cost-efficient massed fires for amphibious and expeditionary operations, where sustained barrages could neutralize area threats or mobile targets more economically than equivalent missile salvos over prolonged engagements; for instance, while a single Tomahawk missile costs approximately $1.5 million, the LRLAP's unit price—escalating to $800,000–$1 million due to low production volumes—still allowed for cheaper incremental delivery in high-intensity scenarios requiring hundreds of rounds. However, vulnerabilities to GPS jamming and electronic countermeasures, common in contested environments, posed risks to its guidance reliability, potentially reducing terminal accuracy against defended targets without redundant anti-jam features fully validated in operational conditions. Flight tests, including a 2005 guided test achieving 59 nautical miles, confirmed baseline performance, but the absence of combat deployment left real-world effectiveness unproven, with simulations indicating superiority over unguided naval shells but parity with precision-guided alternatives in single-shot lethality. Strategically, the LRLAP aimed to restore robust NGFS capabilities lost since the retirement of Iowa-class battleships, enabling Zumwalt destroyers to project power ashore for Marine Corps landings by delivering precise, long-range without depleting scarce missile inventories, thereby preserving standoff weapons for anti-ship or air defense roles. Its value lay in enabling persistent, ship-based fire superiority at lower marginal costs for volume suppression—potentially 10 times the sortie rate of vertical-launch systems—making it suitable for scenarios demanding continuous area denial rather than one-off strikes. Yet, the program's termination in 2016, driven by per-round costs exceeding those of comparable missiles amid for only three ships, undermined its broader strategic utility, shifting Zumwalt-class focus to hypersonic or missile adaptations and highlighting a doctrinal pivot toward distributed lethality over dedicated gunfire platforms. This left a capability gap in sustained shore bombardment, where alternatives like land-based HIMARS or carrier aviation provide intermittent support but lack the Zumwalt's at-sea endurance for prolonged operations.

Broader Implications for US Naval Munitions

The cancellation of the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) in November 2016 underscored the vulnerabilities inherent in procuring specialized, high-cost munitions for limited platform quantities, as the reduction of the Zumwalt-class destroyer fleet from 32 to three ships inflated per-unit costs from an initial estimate of $50,000 to approximately $800,000–$1,000,000. This outcome highlighted systemic risks in concurrent ship and ammunition development, where low production volumes failed to achieve , rendering the (AGS) on Zumwalt destroyers incompatible with affordable alternatives like the shorter-range round (effective to about 40 km versus LRLAP's 180 km). Strategically, the program's termination accelerated the U.S. Navy's pivot away from gun-based land-attack capabilities toward missile-centric systems, as naval gunfire requires ships to operate closer to contested shorelines—exposing them to anti-access/area-denial threats—while missiles enable standoff engagements with higher . This shift diminished emphasis on large-caliber guns for , favoring scalable missile inventories like Tomahawks, which, despite higher individual costs (often exceeding $1 million), benefit from broader production runs across multiple platforms and proven operational utility in conflicts such as strikes. The LRLAP experience informed procurement reforms, emphasizing modular, multi-platform munitions to mitigate obsolescence and cost overruns, as seen in subsequent explorations of hypersonic weapons for Zumwalt repurposing and the abandonment of related technologies like electromagnetic railguns due to analogous affordability issues. In peer competitions with adversaries fielding advanced anti-ship capabilities, it reinforced a doctrinal preference for precision missiles and directed-energy systems over volume-fire guns, prioritizing kinetic effects achievable at greater distances without platform vulnerability. Overall, the episode exemplified how platform-specific innovations can constrain broader munitions ecosystems, prompting a reevaluation of risk in future naval strike architectures toward versatile, high-volume alternatives.

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