With effectiveness of HIMARS proven in Ukraine, US awaits use in next conflict

The success of the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in Ukraine is giving the US military, and partner nations that use the system, a major standoff capability for future conflicts.

The M142 HIMARS is a missile launcher mounted on a five-tonne truck that can fire guided missiles in quick succession.

The entire system can also be transported aboard C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft.

Since June, the United States has supplied Ukrainian forces with 20 HIMARS launchers, greatly increasing the range and precision of the outgunned Ukrainians.

A HIMARS launcher was used in a recent high-profile attack on January 1 against a building occupied by Russian soldiers in Makiivka, Ukraine.

The attack killed 89 Russian soldiers, said the Russian military in a rare admission.

The death toll was much higher, said other sources.

A former Russian paramilitary commander in Ukraine, Igor Girkin, wrote on the Telegram app that "many hundreds" were dead and wounded and that many "remained under the rubble".

In December, a HIMARS attack destroyed a hotel in Kadiivka, Luhansk province, killing a number of Kremlin-backed Wagner Group mercenaries who were using the hotel as a base.

Ukrainian forces have used the system to hit targets far behind the front lines, including the main bridge linking the city of Kherson to Russian-held territory.

The strikes contributed to the Russian decision to abandon the city in November, which proved to be one of Russia's most humiliating defeats in the war.

In August, HIMARS destroyed a Wagner Group base in Popasna, Ukraine, after a Russian propagandist, Sergei Sreda, accidentally revealed its location in photographs posted to Telegram.

Options for HIMARS

HIMARS missiles can be directed precisely at targets, meaning they can be used sparingly and reliably.

They fly low enough and fast enough to make intercepting them with air defences challenging, and because the trucks are so mobile, HIMARS launchers are difficult to find and target.

The HIMARS system is most effective when used against stationary targets that can be identified in advance and pinpointed, such as ammunition dumps, infrastructure or troop concentrations.

The system can be loaded with various types of armaments.

The armaments most commonly used in Ukraine are Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) munitions, which are used to destroy targets up to 70km away.

GMLRS munitions have greater accuracy than do ballistic rockets with a higher probability of kill and a reduced logistics footprint.

HIMARS launchers are able to hold six GMLRS munitions per pod.

Some HIMARS can also launch the Lockheed Martin-manufactured Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, which have up to a 350km range.

ATACMS carry 227kg warheads and have an updated targeting system, making them especially lethal to moving targets such as ships and mobile ballistic missile launchers.

In the future, HIMARS will have a range of up to 500km with the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM).

Still under development, the PrSM will use advanced propulsion to fly faster and farther than does the ATACMS while also being thinner and sleeker, increasing the number that HIMARS can carry to two per pod.

The PrSM is expected to achieve initial operational capability in 2023.

Growing demand

The performance of HIMARS in Ukraine has already prompted allies to purchase more of the system.

Australia on Thursday (January 5) confirmed it had snapped up a US offer of HIMARS, saying that the system would deter attacks on Australia but could also be transported by plane for deployment worldwide.

"The effectiveness of the HIMARS system in the Ukraine conflict has certainly influenced the government's decision," Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy told public broadcaster ABC.

The government acted quickly to order the missiles to secure its place in the queue given a "massive increase" in global demand for HIMARS, Conroy said.

Australia hopes to deploy HIMARS, which includes launchers, missiles and training rockets, in 2026–2027, the government said.

HIMARS would extend the Australian army's strike range from 30km to 300km, and eventually to 500km, Conroy said.

Asked whether HIMARS would be deployed in the Pacific region, where China has growing military and diplomatic clout, the minister said the ease with which it could be transported anywhere in the world made it a "really fundamental asset".