The 18th Field Artillery Brigade based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina staged the live-fire drill in Daecheon, South Chungcheong Province. On being flown in by transport plane, the unit fired long-range munitions. The weapons they came with were two HIMARS light multiple rocket launchers. Each HIMARS launcher carries six 227 mm rockets with a range of more than 70 km or an ATACMS missile with a range of 300 km.
HIMARS provides a counterweight to North Korea’s long-range artillery pieces and is so light that it can be deployed rapidly anywhere by C-130 transport aircraft. The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is a U.S. light multiple rocket launcher mounted on a standard Army Medium Tactical Vehicle (MTV) truck frame.
The HIMARS carries six rockets or one MGM-140 ATACMS missile on the U.S. Army’s new Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) five-ton truck, and can launch the entire Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions (MFOM). HIMARS ammunition is interchangeable with the MLRS M270A1, however it is only able to carry one pod rather than the standard two for the M270A1 and A2 variants. It was designed as a small, mobile, MLRS, with the ability to ‘shoot-and-scoot’.
The launcher is C-130 transportable. The chassis is produced by BAE Systems Mobility & Protection Systems (formerly Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defense Group Tactical Vehicle Systems Division), the OEM of the FMTV. The rocket launching system is produced by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control. Guided rockets fired from the HIMARS launchers hit the target some 60 km away.
