In the Indo-Pacific area of operations, with its vast distances and suitability for naval and air operations, the M142 HIMARS would mainly play a defensive role.
The U.S. military showcased the notable flexibility of the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in a recent exercise in the Indo-Pacific.
The artillery rocket system is the star of Ukraine’s defense against Russia—and could play a similarly important role in potential fighting with China in the Indo-Pacific.
Transporting the HIMARS Over Air, Land, and Sea
The exercise began with loading M142 HIMARS in C-130J Hercules aircraft in Subic, in the Philippines. Then the missile artillery systems were flown close to a Landing Craft Utility vessel, on which they were loaded. Next, the vessel transported the weapon systems more than 100 miles by sea to the long, thin western island of Palawan. Finally, the M142 HIMARS drove 50 miles across the island—in both urban and jungle terrain—before firing a salvo of training missiles against imaginary naval targets.
“This was the U.S. Army’s opportunity to demonstrate the capability of landpower by placing land-based fires into relevant positions to support territorial defense in support of a mutual defense ally,” Army Lt. Col. Ben Blane, the commanding officer of the 5th Battalion 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (LRFB), said in a press release.
The M142 HIMARS sports a range of approximately 43 miles and uses GPS technology to strike targets with precision. Its standard loadout is six missiles, but it can opt to take one MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) instead, which can hit targets up to 200 miles away.
China’s steadily increasing truculence in the Indo-Pacific has left U.S. allies and partners wary of an attack. Exercises like Balikatan go a long way in improving joint interoperability between the U.S. military forces in the region and its allies while also bolstering the resolve of regional partners.
“As a theater-level unit and joint force enabler, assigned to the Indo-Pacific, the 1st MDTF [Multi-Domain Task Force] plays a vital role in synchronizing long-range precision fires layered with long-range precision effects to create multiple dilemmas and neutralize adversary anti-access and area denial networks,” INDOPACOM stated about its multi-domain task force.
The Ukraine War Advertised the HIMARS’ Strength
The weapon system is quite popular around the world, and the U.S. managed to double its production recently.
The M142 HIMARS has proven to be a highly capable long-range firing platform that can strike enemy positions with precision and lethality. Indeed, the system has proven to be one of the deadliest weapons in the entire Ukraine conflict. The Ukrainian military has received around 40 M142 HIMARS from the United States, and although the Russian forces have managed to destroy or damage some of those systems, the vast majority remains operational.
What makes the M142 HIMARS particularly useful is its flexibility. The missile rocket platform can move around the battlefield quickly, fire a salvo of missiles against a target, and then move again to a hiding place. In most instances, a M142 HIMARS will be at least a few miles on the move when the munitions it fires strike the target. This flexibility means that it is quite hard for an adversary to target a HIMARS system with counter-artillery fire. Indeed, in the absence of dynamic targeting capabilities—for example, a fighter jet or an unmanned aerial system on station—or bad luck, an M142 HIMARS can target and destroy enemy forces with enviable impunity.
In the Indo-Pacific area of operations, with its vast distances and suitability for naval and air operations, the M142 HIMARS would mainly play a defensive role—for example, fending off Chinese amphibious assaults in Taiwan or other key islands. But, as the Balikatan Exercise showed, the weapon system has great flexibility and can be used to support offensive operations quite easily.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: Shutterstock / Karolis Kavolelis.
