Australia has taken delivery of its first US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), two years after it announced plans to obtain the advanced strike system.
Deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles presented the country’s first pair of HIMARS units on 24 March at the Avalon air show near Melbourne.
Marles says the long-range weapon, which is mounted on a 5t truck, is highly mobile by air and sea, greatly boosting the Australian army’s expeditionary strike capability.
Australia announced the acquisition of 20 HIMARS units at the 2023 Avalon air show and subsequently increased this to 42.
A key element in Canberra’s decision to obtain the system, says Marles, is its mobility by air and sea.
Army Brigadier General Nick Wilson says that the Lockheed Martin C-130J tactical transport can carry one HIMARS unit, and the Boeing C-17 strategic transport three. The Royal Australian Air Force is a major operator of both types.
At the 2023 Avalon show, Lockheed told FlightGlobal that C-130J compatibility was a “high priority” requirement for Australia’s HIMARS acquisition.
Under the “fire raid” concept of operations, the US Marine Corps has demonstrated the C-130’s ability to land on an airstrip and rapidly unload a HIMARS system. The HIMARS then launches its rockets and re-embarks aboard the aircraft, which takes off.
The tactic is intended to engage high value targets from a surprise location, while limiting risk to the HIMARS system through mobility.
Asked about where Australia stands on this capability, Wilson says that Australia’s concept of operations for HIMARS is still being developed, specifically how the system is loaded on the C-130J.
Australian army HIMARS systems will have the ability to launch both the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) and longer-range Precision Strike Missile.
To boost Australia’s defence capability, GMLRS will be produced locally, notes minister for defence industry Pat Conroy, speaking with Marles.
