The successful use of the US made M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) by Ukraine against the Russian invasion has resulted in huge demand for the system from European members of NATO.
In response to this, representatives of the US V Corps brought together senior military leaders from a number of European countries to the Polish Artillery School in the north-central city of Torun, for a summit of the European High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Initiative during the period April 17-19.
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The summit was addressed on tactical concepts as well as organizational, training and logistical considerations for the future use of HIMARS and similar long-range systems. It featured remarks from subject matter experts and included static displays as well as modest social activities.
Panelists discussed topics spanning from employment of long-range rocket artillery in large scale conflict, effective targeting and achievement of improved accuracy through the use of precision technology for systems management, operational processes and integration.
The Minister of Defense of Poland, Mariusz Blaszczak, who attended the summit announced Poland’s plans to create a “HIMARS academy” on Twitter on April 18 which would provide centralized training on the use of the missile system for NATO partners.
In 2019, Poland ordered 20 HIMARS, including 18 combat and two training launchers at a cost of $414 million, which it followed up in May last year for a further 484 rocket launchers at a cost of $10 billion. The 18 complete systems, based on US chassis, will be delivered in 2023. The remainder, which will be mounted on Polish-made chassis will be delivered in subsequent years.
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It was reported that a number of other countries have ordered systems, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and, of course, Ukraine which recently order 18 more units. However, the bulk of the requested deliveries may not begin until 2025 at the earliest, as the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, is only just upgrading its manufacturing capability to be able to produce 8 HIMARS missile systems per month in the next two years.
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