The picture shows the "Hymas" rocket launcher
In the topic of this issue, the M142 self-propelled rocket launcher is a wheeled 6-barreled rocket launcher developed by the United States, abbreviated as HIMARS, also known as "Hymas". The U.S. military spent $5.52 million to build the Haimas rocket launcher, claiming to be as accurate as missiles, but in a combat test, all six shells missed the target.
At the end of the nineties, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the United States lost its imaginary enemy, which also made the weapons and equipment prepared for the enemy at that time lose their practicality. Coupled with the reduced likelihood of large-scale battlefield operations, urban warfare or anti-terrorist operations have become more frequent, and cumbersome and old equipment such as the M270 self-propelled rocket launcher no longer meets the needs of the United States, and "lightweight" has become the new mainstream choice at that time. As a result, the U.S. Army began to shape a highly mobile, deployable, and powerful combat force capable of performing in small-scale operations. The key to shaping this force is to lighten the old and bulky equipment of the past.
At this time, the US Army noticed the "Hymas" rocket artillery that the Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control Branch began to invest in and develop in the 80s of the 20th century. In 1993, the U.S. Army submitted the demand for the "Hymas" rocket artillery to Congress, and at the end of the same year, the "Hymas" rocket artillery was first announced in the United States. In 1996, the U.S. Army and the Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control Division signed a contract to officially begin manufacturing a prototype of the Hymas rocket launcher. Two years later, in July, the Haimas rocket launcher prototype at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico successfully conducted the first launch of the Army missile test, and three of the four rocket launchers originally developed under the contract were handed over to the U.S. Army for further experiments, and the remaining one remained in the Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control Branch to continue research and test work. After years of development and testing, the Hymas rocket launcher was finally developed and entered service with the U.S. Army in 2005.
After the "Hymas" rocket artillery officially entered service, the "Hymas" rocket artillery will inevitably be compared with its predecessor, the M270 rocket artillery. The Hymas M142 self-propelled rocket launcher is an improved version of the M270 multiple launch rocket launcher, which has a lower combat weight and more maneuverability than the M270 rocket launcher. With the exception of these two, it is quite the same as the other combat parameters of the M270.
The picture shows the launcher of the "Hymas" rocket launcher
The Haimas rocket launcher consists of two parts, a launcher vehicle and an ammunition supply vehicle. The launcher can carry three combatants. The front side of the launch vehicle is designed with an integrated cab and the launch control room, and the rear side serves as a launching device storage area. The launcher of the Hymas rocket launcher is designed as a metal box structure, which is divided into two bomb bays for ammunition, which can store a 6-rocket launcher or a missile launcher. The launcher is hinged to the runner and can be flexibly rotated from all angles. The ammunition supply vehicle is a highly maneuverable wheeled vehicle that can attach a trailer. Like the launch vehicle, the ammunition supply vehicle also requires three combatants to operate, closely following the launch vehicle during the operation to ensure that it has sufficient ammunition.
The picture shows the "Hymas" rocket launcher in action
In terms of firepower, with the continuous upgrading of technology, the fire control system of the "Haimas" rocket artillery is naturally equipped with a faster central processing unit, abandoning mechanical gyroscopes and switching to laser gyroscopes, while installing GPS and high-tech wind detectors. A system upgrade iteration has increased the accuracy of the Hymas rocket launcher beyond the maximum range by nearly 40 percent. According to different combat needs, in addition to the most commonly used dual-purpose submunition warheads, you can also choose different warheads, equipped with rockets with increased range, and its battlefield coverage is as high as 80 kilometers. In addition to being equipped with rocket launchers, the "Hymas" rocket launcher can also be replaced with missile launchers. When equipped with missile launchers, capable of launching ATACMS army tactical missiles, they are very effective against targets outside the range of rocket artillery.
The picture shows the "Haimas" rocket launcher in the joint US-Philippines exercise
The Hymas rocket launcher showed excellent accuracy when it was still tested, and the U.S. Army claimed in its propaganda that its accuracy was comparable to that of missiles. However, in the US-Philippines "Shoulder to Shoulder 2023" joint military exercise jointly conducted by the United States and the Philippines, the "Haimas" rocket artillery made a foreign appearance. During the exercise, the Haimas rocket launcher conducted an over-the-horizon live fire at a decommissioned Philippine patrol ship. The US military, which was originally full of confidence, never expected that all six rockets launched in the end were off target. After the exercise, a spokesman for U.S. Marine Corps Pacific Force said shore-based fire was extremely difficult to attack maritime targets, and the purpose of the training was to test the troops' ability to sense ships at sea and bring information back to weapon systems.
Different from the US-Philippines "shoulder to shoulder 2023" joint military exercise, the performance of the "Haimas" rocket artillery in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has to be admired. According to relevant statistics, Ukraine's achievements after obtaining the "Hymas" rocket launcher are considerable. In July 2022, the Hymas rocket launcher struck the ammunition depots of the Russian army in Popasnaya, Melitopol, Chornobaivka and Sniz and finally confirmed their destruction. On the 22nd of that month, a low-altitude search radar of the Russian army was destroyed, and according to the final position of the low-altitude search radar, it is speculated that only the "Haimas" rocket launcher using the M31 precision-guided rocket can hit it.
The picture shows the "Haimas" rocket launcher launching missiles
It can be seen that the accuracy of the "Hymas" rocket artillery comparable to missiles is indeed not bragging about by the US military. Comparing the US-Philippine joint exercise with the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, it is not difficult to find that compared with the fixed targets in the Ukrainian battlefield, the maritime targets hit by the US-Philippine exercise are indeed unpredictable. In addition to the non-fixed target, it is also necessary to take into account the position shift of the target ship due to the flow of sea water and the undulation of waves.
The picture shows the "Hymas" rocket launcher
On the whole, the "Hymas" rocket launcher is very good. It replaced the M270 self-propelled rocket launcher and became the mainstay of the US military's self-propelled rocket artillery, and proved its strength through many exercises and actual combat. At the same time, from the performance of the "Hymas" rocket launcher and its various actual combat data, we can also predict in advance how to deal with such a fierce enemy.