Norway inquires about HIMARS purchase from Lockheed Martin

PARIS – Norway has inquired about buying as many as 16 of Lockheed Martin’s M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS — as well as associated equipment and ammunition — in a deal potentially worth as much as $580 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Friday .

The potential purchase includes 15 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System pods, or GMLRS, with each pod containing six rockets featuring fragmentation warheads; 15 GMLRS pods with high-explosive warheads; and 100 M57 Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, long-range missiles.

Norway has yet to make a decision on buying HIMARS, with the information request being part of a pre-procurement phase as the country considers candidates for its long-range precision fires program, a spokesman for the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency said.

South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace has been eyeing Norway as a customer for its K239 Chunmoo rocket artillery system, and in June signed an agreement with Norwegian firm Kongsberg to jointly offer defense equipment, such as the Chunmoo system, in the home markets of both firms.

“The Norwegian Ministry of Defence has not yet formally tasked us in the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency to proceed with the procurement phase of the program,” spokesman Endre Lunde said. “We are considering what options are available before deciding on a procurement strategy.”

The quantity and dollar value for the potential HIMARS sale are the highest estimate based on the initial requests, and the actual value would expected to be lower, according to the DSCA release. Any potential offset agreement would be defined in negotiations between Norway and Lockheed Martin.

“The proposed sale will improve Norway’s capability to meet current and future threats and enhance its interoperability with U.S. and other allied forces,” the DSCA release said. “It will also enhance Norway’s artillery and mid-range fire capability.”

Ukraine’s effective use of HIMARS to target invading Russian forces beyond the range of tube artillery has kindled European interest in rocket artillery systems, prompting several defense firms to team up on offers.

Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall partnered in 2023 to offer a European-made launcher — based on HIMARS — to Germany, while KNDS and Elbit Systems have teamed up to develop the EuroPULS next-generation rocket-artillery system.

Romania and Poland already operate HIMARS, while the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have placed orders for the system. The U.S. in December approved a possible sale of 21 HIMARS launchers to Italy.

For now, Poland is the only European operator of Hanwha’s Chunmoo rocket artillery. The Netherlands in May 2023 picked Elbit for its PULS rocket artillery platform.

Denmark and Spain have also bought the PULS, and Germany has said it plans to order the Israeli system.

Meanwhile, French firms Safran and Thales are developing competing proposals in response to a French demand for a rocket-artillery system.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency has only inquired about the purchase of HIMARS from Lockheed Martin.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——美国国防安全合作局周五宣布，挪威已询问购买多达 16 套洛克希德·马丁公司的 M142 高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS）以及相关设备和弹药，该交易的潜在价值高达 5.8 亿美元。

此次潜在采购包括 15 个制导多管火箭炮系统（GMLRS）发射舱，每个发射舱包含 6 枚带有破片战斗部的火箭；15 个带有高爆战斗部的 GMLRS 发射舱；以及 100 枚 M57 陆军战术导弹系统（ATACMS）远程导弹。

挪威国防物资局发言人表示，挪威尚未决定是否购买HIMARS导弹系统，此次信息征询是采购前阶段的一部分，该国正在考虑其远程精确火力计划的候选产品。

韩国韩华航空航天公司一直将挪威视为其 K239 天武火箭炮系统的客户，并于 6 月与挪威康士伯公司签署协议，共同在两家公司的本土市场提供天武系统等国防装备。

发言人恩德雷·伦德表示：“挪威国防部尚未正式委托挪威国防物资局开展该项目的采购阶段工作。我们正在考虑各种可行的方案，然后再决定采购策略。”

根据美国国防安全合作局（DSCA）发布的消息，此次潜在的HIMARS导弹系统出售的数量和金额是基于初步需求的最高预估，实际金额预计会更低。任何潜在的抵消协议都将在挪威和洛克希德·马丁公司之间的谈判中确定。

美国国防安全合作局（DSCA）发布的消息称：“拟议的军售将提升挪威应对当前和未来威胁的能力，并增强其与美国及其他盟军的互操作性。此外，还将提升挪威的火炮和中程火力能力。”

乌克兰有效利用HIMARS火箭炮打击超出管式火炮射程的入侵俄军，激发了欧洲对火箭炮系统的兴趣，促使几家国防公司联合起来提供相关产品。

2023 年，洛克希德·马丁公司和莱茵金属公司合作，向德国提供基于 HIMARS 的欧洲制造发射器；与此同时，KNDS 公司和埃尔比特系统公司合作开发了下一代火箭炮系统 EuroPULS。

罗马尼亚和波兰已经装备了HIMARS系统，而波罗的海三国——立陶宛、拉脱维亚和爱沙尼亚——也已订购了该系统。美国于去年12月批准向意大利出售21套HIMARS发射系统。

目前，波兰是韩华“天武”火箭炮在欧洲的唯一用户。荷兰于2023年5月选择了埃尔比特系统的“PULS”火箭炮平台。

丹麦和西班牙也购买了PULS系统，德国表示计划订购以色列的这套系统。

与此同时，法国赛峰集团和泰雷兹集团正在开发相互竞争的方案，以响应法国对火箭炮系统的需求。

编者按：本文已更新，以反映挪威国防物资局仅询问了从洛克希德·马丁公司购买HIMARS导弹防御系统的相关事宜。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。