The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS /ˈhaɪmɑːrz/) is a light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s for the United States Army and mounted on a standard U.S. Army Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) M1140 truck frame.
The HIMARS carries one pod with either six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets or one ATACMS missile. It is based on the U.S. Army's FMTV five-ton truck, and is capable of launching all rockets in the Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions. HIMARS ammunition pods are interchangeable with the M270 MLRS. It has a single pod, as opposed to the standard two for the M270 and its variants.
The launcher can be transported by C-17 Globemaster, C-5 Galaxy, and Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft.[10] The FMTV truck that transports the HIMARS was initially produced by Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defense Group Tactical Vehicle Systems Division, the original equipment manufacturer of the FMTV. It was produced by the Oshkosh Corporation from 2010 to 2017.[11]
DevelopmentThe requirement for HIMARS came about in 1982, when the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) saw the need to acquire a light multiple rocket launcher as a counterfire asset. The requirement failed to gather support from the Field Artillery School and languished for a number of years.[12] The institutional bias at the time was oriented towards heavy forces.[13] With the waning of the Cold War and the growing interest in low-intensity operations, both the Field Artillery School and Missile Command realized that the M270 MLRS was too heavy for rapid deployment and pushed for the funding of HIMARS.[13]
The Gulf War gave new impetus towards fielding a lightweight MLRS, when the M270 proved too costly in airlift assets to deploy in theater and the launchers did not arrive with the initial wave of U.S. troops.[13] In April 1991, the HIMARS concept was tested at White Sands Missile Range, using a modified Honest John launcher.[14]
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