PARIS – Norway has inquired about buying as many as 16 of Lockheed Martin’s M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS — as well as associated equipment and ammunition — in a deal potentially worth as much as $580 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Friday.
The potential purchase includes 15 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System pods, or GMLRS, with each pod containing six rockets featuring fragmentation warheads; 15 GMLRS pods with high-explosive warheads; and 100 M57 Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, long-range missiles.
Norway has yet to make a decision on buying HIMARS, with the information request being part of a pre-procurement phase as the country considers candidates for its long-range precision fires program, a spokesman for the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency said.
South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace has been eyeing Norway as a customer for its K239 Chunmoo rocket artillery system, and in June signed an agreement with Norwegian firm Kongsberg to jointly offer defense equipment, such as the Chunmoo system, in the home markets of both firms.
“The Norwegian Ministry of Defence has not yet formally tasked us in the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency to proceed with the procurement phase of the program,” spokesman Endre Lunde said. “We are considering what options are available before deciding on a procurement strategy.”
The quantity and dollar value for the potential HIMARS sale are the highest estimate based on the initial requests, and the actual value would expected to be lower, according to the DSCA release. Any potential offset agreement would be defined in negotiations between Norway and Lockheed Martin.
“The proposed sale will improve Norway’s capability to meet current and future threats and enhance its interoperability with U.S. and other allied forces,” the DSCA release said. “It will also enhance Norway’s artillery and mid-range fire capability.”
Ukraine’s effective use of HIMARS to target invading Russian forces beyond the range of tube artillery has kindled European interest in rocket artillery systems, prompting several defense firms to team up on offers.
Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall partnered in 2023 to offer a European-made launcher — based on HIMARS — to Germany, while KNDS and Elbit Systems have teamed up to develop the EuroPULS next-generation rocket-artillery system.
Romania and Poland already operate HIMARS, while the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have placed orders for the system. The U.S. in December approved a possible sale of 21 HIMARS launchers to Italy.
For now, Poland is the only European operator of Hanwha’s Chunmoo rocket artillery. The Netherlands in May 2023 picked Elbit for its PULS rocket artillery platform.
Denmark and Spain have also bought the PULS, and Germany has said it plans to order the Israeli system.
Meanwhile, French firms Safran and Thales are developing competing proposals in response to a French demand for a rocket-artillery system.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency has only inquired about the purchase of HIMARS from Lockheed Martin.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
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Publish date : 2024-08-12 07:00:00
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