HIMARS Launcher

choi

夏小华, 台湾军方首次發射海马斯火箭弹实弹操演. RFA, May 12, 2025.
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/guo ... 5/12/himars-taiwan/

Note:
(a) "海马斯多管火箭系统下拥有两种武器，包括 '精准火箭,' 'GPS导引火箭弹' 射程达70公里，最大可达92公里，具备高度精准打击能力。另一种为 '战术飞弹,' 可将打击距离延伸至300公里"
(i)
(A) M142 HIMARS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M142_HIMARS
(full name: High Mobility Artillery Rocket System; table: In service   2005–present)
is a launcher only without rocket, similar to an electronic device which you buy -- batteries not included.
(B) HIMARS; The long-range, mobile, precision fires launcher. Lockheed Martin Corp, undated
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/himars.html

Quote:

"Offers maximum commonality with M270 platform launch systems and MLRS interoperability.

"Versatile Munitions[which is sectional heading:] HIMARS carries a six-pack of GMLRS rockets, two Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) or one ATACMS missile, and is designed to launch the entire MLRS family of munitions.

(C) Multiple rocket launcher
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_rocket_launcher
(MLR; or Multiple rocket launcher System (MLRS); "multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform")
(ii)
(A) Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS)
(B) GMLRS: The Precision Fires Go-To Round. Lockheed Martin Corp, undated
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/e ... unitary-rocket.html
("Specifics:
* * *
• Fired from both the MLRS M270 family of launchers and the HIMARS launchers
• 6 rockets per launch pod, with 2 pods carried by the M270 launchers and 1 pod carried by the HIMARS launchers")

A pod is a six-pack, arranged the same as six glass bottles of beer -- or six cans of beer -- three by two.

"Go-To" in the title means that both M270 and HIMARS launchers are mainly equipped with GMLRS, not the other two (Precision Strike Missiles or ATACMS).
(C) There is no en.wikipedia.org page for this rocket.
(D) Jen Judson, Extended Range Version of Army Guided Rocket Enters Production. Defense News, June 26, 2024.
https://www.defensenews.com/land ... -enters-production/

Quote:

• for the first time: "The Army has given the greenlight to Lockheed Martin to produce an extended-range version of its Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, according to the company and the service.

"Lockheed was awarded a $200 million fiscal 2024 contract modification in May to build as many as 240 extended range GMLRS. The funding includes production, tooling and depot spares, an Army spokesman told Defense News in a June 26 statement.

• "GMLRS ER has had multiple successful flight tests leading up to the production decision. The extended range version can reach 150-plus kilometers compared to the 70-kilometer range capability of GMLRS.

"The company won a $4.8 billion deal for GMLRS in 2023 as the US adjusted its production numbers to replenish rockets sent to Ukraine.

(ii)
(A) Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Strike_Missile
("is a short-range ballistic missile developed by the United States Army to replace the MGM-140 ATACMS. The US Army announced that the first PrSM batch was delivered in December 2023.   In March 2016, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon announced they would bid on a missile to meet the US Army's Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) requirement to replace the ATACMS"/ table: Maximum firing range         ≥ 310 mi (500 km) )

Fast forward: Lockheed Martin Corp was selected as the designer and maker of PrSM.
(B) Precision Strike Missile. Lockheed Martin Corp, undated.
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/e ... strike-missile.html

This page is unremarkable, except:
• At the top is shown the missile;
• In the video, starting at 1:25 (a minute and 25 seconds into the video), the shape of the missile is in display;
• At the bottom is:
"Apr 14, 2025
Press Release
First-Time Fire: US Army M270A2 Launches Lockheed Martin’s Precision Strike Missile [which is the title:] Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and the US Army successfully launched the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) from an MLRS M270A2 launcher for the first time in a short-range production qualification test, demonstrating platform integration and readiness.
(iii) ATACMS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATACMS
(table: In service   1991–present + Designer [someone else] + Manufacturer        Lockheed Martin; section 4 Operators: Ukraine and Taiwan)
(b) For guidance, all three (GMLRS (including its ER version); PrSM; ATACMS) uses GPS-aided inertial navigation guidance. GPS and inertial navigation system (INS; using gyroscope) are two different guidance systems.
(c) Taiwan ordered HIMARS (as well as rockets. missiles) years ago, which, of course, does not include GMLRS ER or PrSM.