US Army sends HIMARS rocket launcher island-hopping in the Philippines

LA-LO, Philippines — The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System has gained international attention in recent years, particularly in the war in Ukraine, but a U.S. Army unit challenged the system’s ability to rapidly deploy in a drastically different Pacific island environment this month during the bilateral training exercise known as Balikatan in the Philippines.

HIMARS made a trip down to the southwestern island of Palawan and up to northern Luzon, hitching rides on C-130s and being whisked from ship to beach using U.S. Marine Corps amphibious hovercraft called Landing Craft Air Cushion, or LCACs. These vessels are large enough to carry an M1 Abrams tank.

The Lockheed Martin-manufactured HIMARS is a truck-mounted, mobile rocket launcher that can carry six missiles at a time. Lockheed has seen a large increase in HIMARS orders from a wide variety of countries in Europe but was also recently slated to provide a few to Indo-Pacific nations, including Taiwan.

While this is not the first time HIMARS was used at the annual training exercise in the Philippines, the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Long Range Fires Battalion of the 1st Multidomain Task Force tried to demonstrate how it can be transported and quickly deployed in a plethora of different ways, including via non-Army assets, Capt. Garrett Kohnke, battery commander of Alpha Battery, told Defense News at La-Lo Airport.

During the exercise the Army and its partners demonstrated two HIMARS Rapid Infiltration (HIRAIN) operations.

On May 1, the Army hauled two HIMARS aboard a semi-truck from Fort Magsaysay located in central Luzon to an airfield in Subic Bay on the southwestern side of the Philippines largest island. The HIMARS launchers were then loaded into a U.S. Air Force C-130 transport aircraft and flown roughly 700 kilometers to the San Vincente airfield on Palawan island.

The Army then took HIMARS on a tactical road march to San Vincente beach and loaded the systems onto LCACS, which then drove into the ocean to the U.S. Navy’s an amphibious transport dock Somerset, which then traversed the western coast south to Rizal.

The LCACs delivered HIMARS ashore at the beach for a live-fire exercise that included other assets such as 105mm howitzers from the Philippine Armed Forces.

Following the live-fire exercise, the HIMARS systems took a reverse trip back to Subic Bay.

A HIMARS on the beach in Rizal on Palawan in the Philippines prepares for a live-fire exercise as part of the bilateral and joint training event Balikatan. (Cpl. Kyle Chan/US Marine Corps)

The entire process took 72 hours, according to Kohnke. However, it takes just 30 minutes to load a HIMARS into a C-130 and 10 minutes from rolling off the aircraft to be ready to fire, Kohnke said.

Two days later, the battery prepared to load the two HIMARS systems to fly them via C-130 to La-Lo, located in north-central Luzon not far from the shore. Plans had to be adjusted when one C-130 experienced a problem requiring maintenance and so the Army took just one HIMARS up north from Subic Bay.

At La-Lo, a commercial airport shut down for military operations during Balikatan, the HIMARS system conducted a series of simulated live-fires, receiving fire mission commands from the All-Domain Operations Center, part of the MDTF, set up in the Philippines at a base near Manila.

Then the battery conducted another tactical road march on May 7 from La-Lo to Port Irene, a distance of 40 kilometers.

The purpose of the road march was to prove HIMARS could make it through to a northern port using challenging island infrastructure. Roads in many cases are narrow. Village storefronts and homes along the road are built just inches from where vehicles such as “jeepneys” – made from jeeps left behind by the U.S. military after World War II – and “trisikads” – motorbike taxis – zip through while weaving and dodging each other in intense tropical heat.

The HIMARS went along with two Army Humvees and a Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle as well as a Philippines Armed Forces escort in an SUV.

The trip was without incident and took an hour and a half, Kohnke reported as his unit line-hauled HIMARS on a 10-hour road trip back to Fort Magsaysay.

HIMARS can travel roughly 260 miles on one tank of fuel, which is helpful when the system needs to shoot and move quickly well out of the way to avoid enemy detection after firing.

A HIMARS prepares to conduct a simulated fire mission at La-Lo Airport in norther Luzon, Philippines during Balikatan 24 on May 6, 2024. (Jen Judson/Staff)

The system has participated in a previous iteration of Balikatan. Last year it played a part in a combined, joint live-fire exercise where participants tried to sink a ship off the coast at a training facility north of Subic Bay.

HIMARS’ rockets missed the ship at the time. The service identified challenges with targeting because the munitions were not able to easily account for drift. Kohnke said drifting at sea is a complex problem because it can take roughly 8 minutes to lock in a target and fire. Ships can move 30 to 40 meters in that time, he explained.

The Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile tested during Balikatan this year, though not in a live-fire exercise, would better address the challenge of hitting ships at sea, Kohnke said. On the horizon is also the Precision Strike Munition , which could feature ship-killing capability at a later time. The first set of PrSM equipment was delivered to the Army late last year.

Using HIMARS more extensively at Balikatan this year allowed the Philippine Armed Forces to get a closer look at the system as it assesses its own modernization needs, which includes a rocket system like HIMARS.

The southern Pacific is beginning to see more HIMARS customers. Singapore is already a HIMARS user. Australia is also slated to buy 20 HIMARS systems and Taiwan was also cleared by the U.S. State Department to buy 11 HIMARS in late 2020.

Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

菲律宾拉洛——近年来，高机动性火箭炮系统（HMAR）引起了国际社会的关注，尤其是在乌克兰战争中。但本月在菲律宾举行的美菲双边联合训练演习“肩并肩”（Balikatan）期间，一支美国陆军部队对该系统在截然不同的太平洋岛屿环境中快速部署的能力提出了质疑。

HIMARS 登陆艇前往西南部的巴拉望岛，然后北上至吕宋岛北部，搭乘 C-130 运输机，再由美国海军陆战队的两栖气垫登陆艇（LCAC）从舰船快速运送到海滩。这些气垫登陆艇体积庞大，足以搭载一辆 M1 艾布拉姆斯坦克。

洛克希德·马丁公司生产的HIMARS是一种车载式移动火箭发射器，一次可携带六枚导弹。该公司近期收到了来自欧洲各国的大量HIMARS订单，并计划向包括台湾在内的印太地区国家提供部分HIMARS。

虽然这并非HIMARS首次在菲律宾的年度训练演习中使用，但第1多域特遣部队第3野战炮兵团第5营远程火力营试图展示如何以多种不同的方式运输和快速部署HIMARS，包括通过非陆军资产。阿尔法炮兵连连长加勒特·科恩克上尉在拉洛机场告诉《防务新闻》。

在演习期间，陆军及其合作伙伴演示了两次 HIMARS 快速渗透 (HIRAIN) 作战行动。

5月1日，美国陆军用半挂卡车将两套HIMARS火箭炮系统从位于吕宋岛中部的马格赛赛堡运至菲律宾最大岛屿西南部的苏比克湾机场。随后，这些HIMARS发射装置被装载到美国空军的C-130运输机上，飞行约700公里抵达巴拉望岛的圣维森特机场。

随后，陆军将HIMARS系统以战术公路行军的方式运往圣维森特海滩，并将这些系统装载到LCACS登陆艇上。LCACS登陆艇随后驶入大海，抵达美国海军的两栖运输船坞“萨默塞特”号。之后，“萨默塞特”号沿西海岸向南航行至黎刹省。

LCAC 将 HIMARS 运上海滩，进行实弹演习，演习中还包括菲律宾武装部队的 105 毫米榴弹炮等其他装备。

实弹演习结束后，HIMARS 系统返回了苏比克湾。

一架停在菲律宾巴拉望岛黎刹海滩上的HIMARS自行高炮正在准备进行实弹演习，这是“肩并肩”双边联合训练演习的一部分。（美国海军陆战队下士凯尔·陈摄）

据科恩克称，整个过程耗时72小时。但他表示，将一枚HIMARS导弹装入C-130运输机仅需30分钟，从卸下导弹到准备发射也只需10分钟。

两天后，该部队准备将两套HIMARS系统装载到C-130运输机上，运往位于吕宋岛中北部、靠近海岸的拉洛（La-Lo）。但由于其中一架C-130运输机出现故障需要维修，计划不得不做出调整，最终陆军只从苏比克湾向北运送了一套HIMARS系统。

在拉洛机场（La-Lo），一个在“肩并肩”联合军演期间因军事行动而关闭的商业机场，HIMARS 系统进行了一系列模拟实弹射击，接收来自多域作战中心（MDTF 的一部分）的火力任务指令，该中心设在菲律宾马尼拉附​​近的一个基地。

然后，该炮兵连于 5 月 7 日进行了另一次战术公路行军，从拉洛到艾琳港，全程 40 公里。

这次公路行军的目的是为了证明HIMARS能够克服岛屿基础设施的挑战，抵达北部港口。许多路段都非常狭窄。沿路的村庄店铺和民居与“吉普尼”（二战后美军遗留的吉普车改装而成）和“三轮车”（摩托车出租车）等车辆仅相距数英寸，它们在酷热的热带气候下穿梭往来，彼此躲避。

HIMARS 装甲车与两辆陆军悍马车、一辆海军陆战队联合轻型战术车辆以及一辆菲律宾武装部队的 SUV 护卫队一同出发。

科恩克报告说，这次旅程平安无事，耗时一个半小时。当时他的部队用 HIMARS 牵引机进行了 10 小时的公路旅行，返回马格赛赛堡。

HIMARS 加满一箱燃料后大约可以行驶 260 英里，这在系统需要射击后迅速移动到远离敌人的位置以避免射击后被发现时非常有用。

2024 年 5 月 6 日“肩并肩”24 日期间，一架 HIMARS 准备在菲律宾吕宋岛北部的拉洛机场执行模拟火力任务。（Jen Judson/工作人员）

该系统曾参与过上一届“肩并肩”联合军演。去年，它参与了一次联合实弹演习，参演人员试图在苏比克湾北部的一个训练基地击沉一艘近海舰艇。

当时，HIMARS火箭未能击中目标。军方指出，由于弹药难以有效应对漂移，瞄准存在困难。科恩克表示，海上漂移是一个复杂的问题，因为锁定目标并发射大约需要8分钟。他解释说，在这段时间内，舰船可能会移动30到40米。

科恩克表示，今年在“肩并肩”联合军演期间测试的中程能力（MRC）导弹虽然没有进行实弹射击，但能更好地应对打击海上舰船的挑战。此外，精确打击弹药（PrSM）也在研发中，未来可能具备击沉舰船的能力。首批PrSM装备已于去年年底交付陆军。

今年在“肩并肩”联合军演中更广泛地使用HIMARS火箭炮系统，使菲律宾武装部队能够更仔细地了解该系统，从而评估自身的现代化需求，其中包括像HIMARS这样的火箭炮系统。

南太平洋地区开始出现越来越多的HIMARS用户。新加坡已经是HIMARS的用户。澳大利亚也计划购买20套HIMARS系统，而台湾也已获得美国国务院批准，将于2020年底购买11套HIMARS系统。

珍·贾德森是一位屡获殊荣的记者，为《防务新闻》报道陆地战争。她也曾为《政治报》和《内幕防务》工作。她拥有波士顿大学新闻学硕士学位和凯尼恩学院文学学士学位。