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Lockheed Martin Showcased its HIMARS Artillery Rocket System at IndoDefence 2012.
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Official
Online Show Daily News IndoDefence 2012 Tri-Service Defence Event 7 to 10 November 2012 Jakarta, Indonesia |
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Lockheed Martin at IndoDefence 2012 |
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| Thursday, November 15, 2012, 01:49 PM | |||
| Lockheed Martin Showcased its HIMARS Artillery Rocket System at IndoDefence 2012 | |||
One
of the key systems on display at the Lockheed Martin booth during the
International Tri-Service defense Exhibition IndoDefence 2012, was a model
of the HIMARS.
The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System is a wheeled launcher
that delivers a lethal mix of precision munitions. HIMARS carries a single six-pack of MLRS rockets or one ATACMS missile. HIMARS is designed to launch the entire MLRS family of munitions, including the transformational GMLRS and all ATACMS variants. HIMARS combat proven system and currently in production since 2003. |
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Lockheed
Martin was showcasing HIMARS at IndoDefence because of a requirement for
precision long range artillery systems in the South East Asia region.
HIMARS and its ammunition: GMLRS and ATACMS are in a class of their own
with unmatched performance according to Lockheed Martin. |
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 HIMARS is C-130 transportable, allowing precision rocket artillery firepower to be moved rapidly into areas previously inaccessible. (Picture: Lockheed Martin) |
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The
HIMARS is C130 transportable, which is a must for maritime countries such
as Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia. Unlike its competitors,
HIMARS is ready to fire as soon as it gets out of the tactical transport
airplane: It doesn’t require location calibration or stabilization
of the chassis. The system requires a crew of only 3 soldiers, and in
case of emergency an individual soldier would still be able to drive the
system, conduct the fire mission and even load and unload the rocket pods
on his own. Lockheed Martin is ready to explore options for possible integration on domestically produced chassis that meet the basic engineering specifications. This option again would help any customer’s logistic chain by keeping its fleet of military trucks homogenous. In the South East Asia area, Singapore has already procured 18 launchers for a battalion that has been operational for about two years. Following some joint exercises with the US Army, Singapore Army return of experience on HIMARS has been overwhelmingly positive. With an existing user and new requirements for precision artillery rockets in the region, as well as growing interest in Indonesia, the outlook for HIMARS in South East Asia seems promising. Even more so when contemplating the fact that Lockheed Martin is the only defense company, so far, able to provide the required advanced capabilities today. Those capabilities have been proven in combat, and the track record from existing users (U.S., Singapore, UAE and Jordan) has shown reliability rates over 90%. The system would be the perfect solution for Indonesia to enhance their capability in counter insurgency scenarios where their troops are in close contact with the targets to be engaged. Those types of scenarios call for precision rocket artillery support and HIMARS is today the only system capable to fill that gap. |
