Taiwan has conducted its first live-fire drills with its recently delivered Lockheed Martin M142 High Mobility Artillery System (HIMARS), the self-ruled island’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) has announced.
The MND announced on its social media account on 12 May that the HIMARS exercise demonstrated the systems’ “rapid deployment and next-generation strike capabilities”. It is understood that Taiwan has ordered a total of 29 HIMARS and 84 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US in two separate orders from 2020.
Taiwan’s state-owned Central News Agency (CNA) reported that 33 rockets were expended from 11 launcher vehicles, which were operated by the Republic of China Army’s (RoCA’s) 58th Artillery Command at the Jiupeng Base in Pingtung County on the island’s southwestern coast.
CNA earlier reported in November 2024 that Taiwan had received an initial batch of 11 HIMARS systems along with an undisclosed number of ATACMS. According to the outlet, the remaining 18 systems on order are expected to be delivered in 2026, a year ahead of schedule.
Taiwan’s interest in the HIMARS system was first revealed in late 2020, when the US Department of State approved several requests by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) for stand-off air- and ground-launched precision missiles to Taiwan worth up to US$1.8 billion under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mechanism.
In the first of three notifications released by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in October 2020, the agency revealed that TECRO had requested the sale of 11 Lockheed Martin M142 HIMARS launchers, 64 ATACMS, M57 unitary missiles, 54 M28A2 Low Cost Reduced Range Practice Rocket Pods (LCRRPRs), 11 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) M1084A2 resupply vehicles, two FMTV M1089A2 cargo wrecker resupply vehicles, and 11 FMTV M1095 5-tonne cargo trailers.
The HIMARS will complement the island’s current shore-based surface attack missiles, which include the indigenously developed subsonic Hsiung Feng II (Brave Wind II) and supersonic Hsiung Feng III (Brave Wind III) anti-ship missiles operated by the Republic of China Navy (RoCN). Originally intended to arm the RoCN’s surface warfare fleet, Taiwan has also developed a road-mobile Missile Launch Vehicle for the Hsiung-Feng II and Hsiung-Feng III missiles.
by Jr Ng
