"God of war" at the Russian border. This country reached for a powerful weapon
The U.S. Department of State has issued approval for the sale of six HIMARS rocket artillery systems along with rockets to Latvia, as reported by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). This is another recent purchaser of this weapon, which has proven its effectiveness during the war in Ukraine.
As reported in the DSCA statement, Latvia has offered to purchase six HIMARS launchers along with rockets. The Baltic country decided on 30 sets of GMLRS rockets with a range of 50 miles and ten ATACMS rockets guided to the target with GPS, which are significantly more powerful and allow for hitting targets as far away as 186 miles. The entire contract was priced at $220 million.
American "god of war" for Latvia
HIMARS (Eng. High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) is a multi-launch rocket system, which is produced by the Lockheed Martin company. It was developed to replace the older, heavier, less mobile, and not as effective M270 MLRS.
The launchers of the HIMARS system are mounted on military trucks from the FMTV family in a 6x6 drive system. The manufacturer also uses 6.6 liter Caterpillar engines with a power of 290 horsepower, enabling the driver to reach speeds of up to 59 mph. The entire set measures approximately 23 feet, and its weight slightly exceeds 17.6 short tons. It features a range of approximately 298 miles.
Apart from the ammunition ordered by Latvia, the HIMARS system can also handle standard MLRS rockets with a caliber of 8.9 inches or rocket missiles with cassette submunition.
More and more customers for HIMARS
The United States is supplying this weapon to Ukraine, which as a result, can more effectively eliminate Russian positions. Successful mission recordings from units equipped with this American artillery are systematically appearing online. Due to its very high effectiveness, HIMARS is called the "god of war".
Latvia is another country in a line of HIMARS system purchasers since they proved their usefulness during the war in Ukraine. Alongside Poland, which ordered almost 500 launchers, there are also Australia, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Morocco.
