BREAKING: U.S State Department approves sale of HIMARS to Canada

AND THERE IT IS A DAY AFTER SEPTEMBER.

The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale of Twenty-Six M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to Canada, along with various munitions at an estimated cost of $1.75 billion.

This package also includes:

• 132 × M31A2 GMLRS Unitary pods - with Insensitive Munitions Propulsion System (IMPS).

• 132 × M30A2 GMLRS Alternative Warhead (AW) pods - with IMPS.

• 32 x M403 Extended Range (ER) GMLRS AW pods - with IMPS.

• 32 × M404 ER GMLRS Unitary pods - with IMPS.

• 64 × M57 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) pods

The contract also provides various support and training services including, but not limited to Low Cost Reduced Range Practice Rocket pods, Integration support services, Spare parts, Tool kits, Training (and training equipment), and Type-1 radios (AN/PRC-160 and AN/PRC- 167)

Those who follow me will know this has been in the works for a long while. TNSR was the first publication to report on the HIMARS deal back in December and January. That was when Canada first requested about pricing and availability regarding a HIMARS FMS. We were also the first to give the September announcement date.

Sadly, we are exactly one day off meeting that date. I was told we likely would not hear about it until November. Luckily the State Department came through and made sure I could still claim that September date as a victory, so my record continues to stand.

While not mentioned, there are still plans to acquire PRSM in the future. PRSM is one of the major reasons why HIMARS was such an obvious choice. Increment II PRSM will add an anti-ship capability, while Increment IV will extend its range beyond one thousand kilometres. I expect we will hear about that in the coming months.

HIMARS is the only system that met the Canadian Army’s requirements for a C130 transportable rocket system with long-range strike and anti-ship capability beyond five hundred kilometres. That fact has not changed in the last year.

You can read all about why HIMARS was the only option in my previous post. It goes into great detail that I will not repeat here. It is one of the pieces I am most proud of for the information provided.

HIMARS will give the Canadian Army something it has never had before: a long-range strike capability that goes beyond the reach of traditional artillery. It will also give the Canadian Army its own dedicated anti-ship capability.

It is difficult to overstate just how serious this capability is, and that it is arriving well ahead of the original twenty-thirty to twenty-thirty-one timeline. Depending on when the deal is signed and where Canada can fit into production, we should see the first examples delivered around twenty-twenty-eight.

This has been a long time coming, too long in my opinion. I feel that if events earlier this year had gone differently, we would already have seen this signed. I also want to stress that this is not meant as criticism of systems such as Chunmoo.

Chunmoo and PULS are both excellent systems from what I have seen, and Hanwha has finally shown off a single-pod, C130 transportable version of Chunmoo known as the High Performance Rocket System.

However, no one was going to be able to compete with PRSM and the future capabilities it brings. It was also too late for HPRS to enter the market. Perhaps if it had appeared a year or two earlier things would have been more debatable.

Neither Hanwha nor KNDS with Euro-PULS were ever going to offer a one-thousand kilometre missile with an added anti-ship capability within the timelines we need. That is not to dismiss what they offer, but for a country like Canada, where range is critical in any decision, having a platform that includes PRSM is too compelling to ignore.

It also should be said that, from talking around, PRSM still offers superior performance over other options like the CGR-080 or Predator Hawk. However as I have never seen any verifiable comparisons done I won't throw that out here. I will acknowledge what I have heard though.

HIMARS is evolving quickly, with several new munitions either already integrated or under study, such as the ground-launched Small Diameter Bomb, LRASM, or Anduril’s ground-launched Barracuda. The M270/M142 family also remains the most widely used group of rocket systems in service with our allies, both in NATO and abroad.

Every factor worked in favour of HIMARS. That raises the question of why a competition would even be necessary when only one platform fit the requirements. That will undoubtedly upset some people, as it is not a popular decision in every circle. To me, it is better to acknowledge this reality and press ahead rather than stage a pointless competition for appearances.

I have said this many times over the last few weeks. We have wasted too much time and we have too little left to spend on debates and performances for the sake of looking competitive. When a project comes with a clear winner, we must move forward and sign the contract quickly rather than wasting everyone’s time.

This deal will give the Royal Canadian Artillery a rocket system several years ahead of schedule. That is a good thing, and a necessary one, as the potential for a peer conflict grows rapidly. We cannot tell people we have five years to prepare and then fail to show urgency when it comes to acquiring new capabilities.

This is a strong purchase. It will be a game-changing capability and will help complete the long-range strike triad that the Tomahawk-armed River class and the LRASM-equipped P-8s will give to the Air Force and the Navy, ensuring all three services have their own dedicated long-range strike options.

That is set out in ONSF and further confirmed in Inflection Point twenty-twenty-five. While I do not fully agree with the idea of flying HIMARS into the Arctic to fire PRSM at ships in the Northwest Passage, the Army still has a mandate for Arctic anti-access and area denial, and the mere possibility of this provides the Army with a deterrence capability in the Arctic.

I am very glad to see this out in the open and very glad to see us moving forward.