HIMARS, or M142 HIMARS, is a high-mobility artillery rocket system capable of firing multiple types of missiles with a range of up to 500 km.
The HIMARS launch system can fire various types of rockets.
The M142 HIMARS is a rocket artillery system mounted on a standard M1140 5-ton truck chassis. This is the wheeled version of the tracked M270 MLRS, developed in the 1990s and currently manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The entire HIMARS system, including the launcher and truck, can be transported by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
The HIMARS launch system can fire a variety of rockets, guided and unguided missiles, and even the SLAMRAAM air defense missile – a variant of the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile. In 2017, the U.S. Marine Corps tested the M142 HIMARS at sea to strike a target on land. HIMARS was placed on the transport ship USS Anchorage and successfully hit the target with precision-guided missiles. This test opened new deployment possibilities for HIMARS.
Lockheed Martin describes HIMARS as having the “shoot-and-scoot” capability, referring to its high mobility. Compared to the M270, the M142 HIMARS launcher is only half the size and is mounted on the highly mobile M1140 6×6 wheeled truck chassis, a variant of the FMTV military truck series. It is equipped with a Caterpillar C7 7.2-liter 6-cylinder diesel engine paired with a 7-speed transmission, allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 94 km/h and a range of 483 km. Additionally, the HIMARS system can reload ammunition in just a few minutes.
The missiles and launch tubes are designed in a modular detachable format with the launcher, eliminating the need to reload each missile like other multiple launch rocket systems. The reloading mechanism, along with the launcher mounted on a wheeled platform like the XM1140, provides HIMARS with high flexibility in terms of mobility, operational range, re-equipping, deploying, firing, and retreating much faster than the M270 MLRS.
List of missiles that HIMARS can fire.
The power of HIMARS depends on the type of missile or rocket used. The list of missiles that HIMARS can fire is extensive, categorized into three groups: MLRS – multiple-launch rockets with unguided M28 rockets; GMLRS – extended-range guided rockets using GPS, including M30/M30A1/A2, M31/M31A1/A2 ranging from 15 to 84 km, and ER GMLRS with a range of up to 150 km; and ATACMS – 610 mm tactical surface-to-surface missiles with a range of up to 300 km, including variants M39/M39A1, M48, M57/M57E1, and the latest PrSM – a GPS-guided precision strike missile with a range of up to 500 km. Depending on the type of missile used, HIMARS launch tubes will consist of 6 tubes for M30/M31 missiles, 2 tubes for PrSM, or 1 tube for ATACMS.
The HIMARS system can reload ammunition in just a few minutes.
