US Marines have conducted a test-firing of a dozen rockets from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher at Camp Fuji, a training range in the foothills of Japan's iconic Mount Fuji. The exercise aimed to maintain proficiency with the weapon system, which is increasingly vital to the American military's arsenal.
The HIMARS is a truck-mounted launcher designed for rapid deployment, employing 'shoot and scoot' tactics that allow it to fire its rockets and quickly relocate to evade counter-battery fire. This capability has become more crucial given the proliferation of drones over battlefields, which render static positions significantly more vulnerable.
The system has seen action with US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. More recently, US Central Command stated it was used in an opening attack on Iran, launching a new precision-guided rocket capable of striking targets hundreds of miles away. In the Pacific, the HIMARS holds particular significance as the US seeks to deter a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, with the system able to reach targets in the Taiwan Strait if deployed on Japanese or other nearby islands.
The recent exercise at Camp Fuji, approximately a two-hour drive from Tokyo, involved only dummy projectiles. It was only the second time HIMARS had been tested at the camp, conducted in close coordination with Japanese military forces. A public road between the firing and landing zones was closed as a precautionary measure during the drill.
