The US Army has conducted the first ever live firing of its long-range MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) on Australian soil in late July.
The live firing was conducted from an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher from the Delamere Air Weapons Range in the Northern Territory during Exercise Taliman Sabre 2023.
The HIMARS launcher had been flown into Delamere from the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) aboard a Lockheed Martin MC-130J Commando II from the US Air Force’s 1st Special Operations Squadron (SOS) as part of a HIMARS Rapid Infiltration (HIRAIN) exercise within TS23.
Each HIMARS launcher can fire a single ATACMS and brochure figures suggest that each M57 missile boasts a 500 lb blast fragmentation warhead with a range of around 300 km (M57 TACMS 2000 Unitary version).
The range of the strike during the HIRAIN exercise was not reported, but the ATACMS missile struck a target within the Bradshaw Field Training Area, at least 260 km away.
The ATACMS firing follows an earlier HIMARS live fire event in Shoalwater Bay, which saw US M142 launchers firing multiple M31 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets. GMLRS is a 9-inch GPS-guided munition capable of ranges between 15 and 70 km. Each HIMARS can fire up to six GMLRS at one time.
Long-range strike is a priority announced in the recent Defence Strategic Review (DSR), and HIMARS acquisition had earlier been announced by the previous government as part of Army’s long-range strike capability upgrade.
Under a US385 million deal approved by Washington in May 2022, Australia has requested 20 M142 HIMARS; 30 GMLRS with Insensitive Munitions Propulsion Systems (IMPS); 30 M31A2 GMLRS Unitary (GMLRS-U) High Explosive Pods with IMPS; 30 XM403 Extended Range (ER)-GMLRS AW Pods; 30 EM404 ER GMLRS Unitary Pods; and 10 M57E1 ATACMS.
Just two days after the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) was made public in April, Defence Minister Richard Marles announced plans to accelerate acquisition of further HIMARS beyond the initial request.
A future HIMARS enhancement will include the US Army’s Precision Guided Strike Missile (PrSM), described as a ‘499+ km’ range weapon to avoid the now lapsed US-Russian Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which prohibited development of strike weapons with ranges between 500 and 5,000 km.
Australia signed an MoU to partner the US Army in PrSM development in August 2021, contributing $70 million to the $907 million program to develop an ‘Increment 2’ weapon, which will include an enhanced seeker to allow surface ships and air defence systems to be targeted, as well as increased lethality and range.
Two PrSM missiles can be carried in each HIMARS pod.