[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] The HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) possessed by the U.S. Army is a highly mobile large-caliber multiple launch rocket system. It is a miniaturized version of the large-caliber multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) with rapid mobility, making it highly favored by the U.S. military. The prototype vehicle first saw action in the Iraq War in 2003, followed by significant roles in the Afghanistan War and the Syrian Civil War.
Unlike the MLRS, HIMARS uses the U.S. military's FMTV 5-ton truck as its chassis and has only one launcher. Due to its smaller size, it can be loaded onto a C-130 transport aircraft and rapidly deployed anywhere in the world. Despite its compact size, its firepower is formidable. It uses the same ammunition as the MLRS. In addition to the 227mm M26 rockets filled with about 600 submunitions, it operates G-MLRS and the ATACMS, a tactical surface-to-surface missile with a maximum range of up to 300 km.
It has also visited South Korea. In August 2017, when tensions on the Korean Peninsula were at their peak, HIMARS was rapidly deployed from the U.S. mainland to the U.S. Air Force Gunsan Air Base and then moved to a firing range in Boryeong, Chungcheongnam-do. There, it fired precision-guided rockets known as G-MLRS toward a direct-fire range located 60 km away over the West Sea. This firing exercise was an unprecedented drill conducted without prior notice. The deployment and firing of HIMARS from the 18th Field Artillery Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on the Korean Peninsula demonstrated that the U.S. military maintains a fully prepared readiness posture capable of deploying anywhere in the world in case of emergency.
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