Lockheed Martin preps souped-up HIMARS demo for Germany

MILAN — Lockheed Martin is gearing up to host a 2024 demonstration in Germany to showcase a version of its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, with improved firepower, according to Lockheed executives.

The American aerospace giant has partnered with Rheinmetall to offer the GMARS weapon – with the G denoting Germany – as a replacement for the German armed forces’ MARS 2 multiple launch rocket systems. The government has donated a handful of the aging launchers to Ukraine to support that country’s defense against Russia.

“We are probably somewhere around 12 months out from a demo in Germany, although I can’t further define what it will consist of,” Tom H. Stanton, director of international business development for tactical missiles and fire control at Lockheed Martin told Defense News in an interview on Dec 13.

Although an official tender for the Bundeswehr program has yet to be released, Lockheed officials hope to capture the business with the promise of increased firepower, doubling the number of munitions of various types that can be loaded at one.

“The Germans are interested in what we call a double load-out capability on the GMARS – it allows for two pods of munitions,” Howard Bromberg, a vice president for strategy and business development, explained. “This allows the launcher to carry two Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), 12 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) or Extended-Range GMLRS, or four Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs) between the two pods.”

One likely Lockheed-Rheinmetall competitor for the German program is a European version of the PULS artillery piece from Israel’s Elbit Systems, marketed here with the German-Franco KNDS joint venture that combines Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter. The Netherlands, which cooperates closely with neighboring Germany on ground forces development, ordered 20 of the PULS systems in May.

Rocket artillery has seen resurgence in the course of the Ukraine war, with high-profile strikes against Russian invaders’ positions lending HIMARS an almost legendary reputation. A number of European nations recently requested or have already bought the equipment – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland among them.

Italy is the latest country to have received U.S. approval for the purchase of the M142 HIMARS launchers, bringing the total number of known current and future operators on the continent to seven, including Ukraine and Romania.

“We are in active dialogue with 20-plus European countries, including current and newer users, regarding our launcher solutions ,” Bromberg said.

The vendor has seen user nations request greater accuracy of the weapons, which is partly an economical consideration.

“Based on the demand for munitions like GMLRS and ATACMS, customers are looking for a high level of precision – to address the threat precisely where it is and with fewer missiles fired,” Bromberg added.

This has also involved extending the range of newer munitions, he said, pointing to the next-generation PrSM, which required motor technology and aerodynamic improvements as well as lower missile mass to strike farther.

“With our U.S. government partner, we are also developing PrSM Increment 2 with moving target capability,” Bromberg said. The range of the PrSM currently exceeds 499 kilometers (310 miles), per the company’s website.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——据洛克希德·马丁公司高管透露，该公司正准备于 2024 年在德国举办一场演示活动，展示其高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS）的改进版本，该版本将拥有更强的火力。

美国航空航天巨头与莱茵金属公司合作，向德国提供GMARS武器（其中G代表德国），以取代德国武装部队现有的MARS 2多管火箭炮系统。德国政府已向乌克兰捐赠了少量老旧的MARS 2发射装置，以支持该国抵御俄罗斯的威胁。

洛克希德·马丁公司战术导弹和火控国际业务发展总监汤姆·H·斯坦顿在 12 月 13 日接受《防务新闻》采访时表示：“我们距离在德国进行演示可能还有大约 12 个月的时间，尽管我无法进一步定义演示的内容。”

尽管德国联邦国防军项目的正式招标尚未发布，但洛克希德公司的官员希望凭借增强火力、一次性装载各种类型弹药数量翻倍的承诺来赢得这项业务。

“德国人对我们所说的GMARS双挂载能力很感兴趣——它允许携带两个弹药舱，”战略与业务发展副总裁霍华德·布罗姆伯格解释说。“这使得发射器可以在两个弹药舱之间携带两套陆军战术导弹系统（ATACMS）、12套制导多管火箭炮系统（GMLRS）或增程型GMLRS，或者4枚精确打击导弹（PrSM）。”

洛克希德-莱茵金属公司在德国项目中可能的一个竞争对手是以色列埃尔比特系统公司生产的PULS火炮的欧洲版本，该产品由德法合资企业KNDS（克劳斯-玛菲·韦格曼公司和奈克斯特公司合资成立）负责销售。荷兰与邻国德国在陆军发展方面密切合作，已于5月份订购了20套PULS系统。

在乌克兰战争期间，火箭炮再次焕发活力，对俄罗斯侵略者阵地的多次高调打击使HIMARS火箭炮声名鹊起，几乎成为传奇。包括拉脱维亚、立陶宛、爱沙尼亚和波兰在内的多个欧洲国家近期已提出采购申请或已购买了该型装备。

意大利是最新一个获得美国批准购买 M142 HIMARS 火箭炮的国家，这使得欧洲大陆已知的现有和未来用户总数达到七个，其中包括乌克兰和罗马尼亚。

布罗姆伯格说：“我们正在与包括现有用户和新用户在内的 20 多个欧洲国家就我们的发射器解决方案进行积极对话。”

供应商发现用户国家要求提高武器的精度，这部分是出于经济方面的考虑。

布罗姆伯格补充说：“根据对 GMLRS 和 ATACMS 等弹药的需求，客户正在寻求高精度——以更少的导弹发射，精确地应对威胁所在之处。”

他还表示，这还包括扩大新型弹药的射程，并以下一代 PrSM 为例，指出该导弹需要改进发动机技术和空气动力学，并降低导弹质量以打击更远的目标。

布罗姆伯格表示：“我们正与美国政府合作伙伴共同研发具备移动目标打击能力的PrSM第二代产品。” 据该公司网站显示，PrSM目前的射程超过499公里（310英里）。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。