Lockheed contracted by Army for HIMARS launchers, support

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has received a $289.2 million contract modification for 24 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems launchers and support.

The contract award, announced Monday by the Department of Defense, includes training, spare parts and product improvement upgrades. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of July 2022.

Army fiscal 2018 procurement funds in the amount of $127.3 million were obligated at the time of the award, the Pentagon said.

HIMARS is a wheeled Multiple Launch Rocket System that can fire up to six rockets at a time. Depending on the model, the rockets can carry submunitions for area suppression or a single unitary blast warhead.

The system can also use the Army Tactical Missile System, a long-range battlefield missile with a range of over 180 miles. Previous versions were capable of carrying submunitions, but current models use a single blast-fragmentation warhead.

HIMARS has seen use in the first Gulf War, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Along with the M270 Multiple Rocket Launch System, it is the primary surface-to-surface battlefield rocket and missile system employed by the U.S. military.