Yesterday, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced Congressional approval for the potential sale of 48 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to the Government of Australia, with a price tag of US$705 million (A$1.07 billion).
Australia is already acquiring 42 HIMARS units, along with Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System and long-range Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) under Land 8113 Phase 1 – sufficient to equip one regiment of the Australian Army. The GMLRS and PrSM rounds will also be produced in Australia under Defence’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) enterprise.
Sources close to the program confirm that this request for more HIMARS is part of the process to acquire a Land-based Maritime Strike Capability for the Australian Army under Project Land 8113 Phase 2.
In December 2024, Defence Minister Richard Marles and Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy announced that a second long-range fires regiment will be equipped with a long-range maritime strike capability to protect Australia’s northern approaches.
As such, Land 8113 Phase 2 is considering the acquisition of the HIMARS/PrSM combination from Lockheed Martin and the StrikeMaster from Kongsberg Defence Australia and Thales Australia. The StrikeMaster combines the utility version of Thales’ Bushmaster Protected Military Vehicle (PMV) with Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile (NSM), both of which will be built in Australia.
ADM understands that the request for pricing and availability of the 48 additional HIMARS units via the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process is part of preparations for seeking Second Pass approval from the government.
On the face of it, the approval does not indicate a decision has been taken, but in this writer’s memory, only one such notification has failed to translate to an FMS order – and that was because two FMS requests for competing equipment were lodged together and so one had to be the loser.
Lockheed Martin was contacted during the preparation of this story but declined to comment.
Either way, with a case for Second Pass approval under preparation, a decision cannot be far away.