HIMARS The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System ( HIMARS ) is a U . S . light multiple rocket launcher mounted on a standard Army Medium Tactical Vehicle ( MTV ) truck frame . The HIMARS carries six rockets or one Army Tactical Missile System ( ATACMS ) missile on the U . S . Army ' s new Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles ( FMTV ) five - ton truck , and can launch the entire Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions ( MFOM ) . HIMARS is interchangeable with the MLRS M270A1 , carrying half the rocket load . The launcher is C - 130 transportable . The chassis is produced by BAE Systems Mobility & Protection Systems ( formerly Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defense Group Tactical Vehicle Systems Division ) , the OEM of the FMTV . The rocket launching system is produced by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control . Deployment . The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System ( HIMARS ) is the light , wheeled version of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System ( MLRS ) . The HIMARS utilizes the same pod as the M270 MLRS uses . A pod can hold six rockets or a single missile . 18th Field Artillery Brigade ( Airborne ) at Fort Bragg , North Carolina was the initial army test bed unit for the M142 HIMARS . C Battery , 3rd Battalion , 27th Field Artillery Regiment began field testing 3 HIMARS prototypes in all types of training events and environments in 1998 as a residual of the Rapid Force Projection Initiative ( RFPI ) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration ( ACTD ) . In 2002 , the United States Marine Corps arranged with the United States Army to acquire 40 of the systems . Fielding began in 2005 . In July 2007 , Marines from Fox Battery 2nd Battalion 14 Marine Regiment were deployed to the Anbar Governorate province of Iraq . This is the first Marine unit to use the HIMARS in combat . HIMARS was also tested as a common launcher for both artillery rockets and the surface - launched variant of the AMRAAM anti - aircraft missile . Singapore . As of September 2007 , the Singapore Army proposed to acquire HIMARS systems . The package includes 18 HIMARS launchers , 9 FMTV 5 - Ton Trucks and XM31 unitary HE GMLRS pods , plus associated support and communications equipment and services . This proposed package is notable for not involving the M - 26 unguided MLRS rockets . In late 2009 , Singapore took delivery of the first HIMARS firing unit and achieved Full Operational Capability . The 23rd Battalion , Singapore artillery commissioned its HIMARS battery on 5 September 2011 . It marks the first fully GPS - guided HIMARS unit . Operational history . On February 14 , 2010 , the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) for Afghanistan indicated in a press release that it was thought that two rockets fired from a HIMARS unit fell 300 metres short of their intended target and killed 12 civilians during Operation Moshtarak . ISAF suspended the use of the HIMARS until a full review of the incident was completed . A British officer later said that the rockets were on target , that the target was in use by the Taliban , and use of the system has been reinstated . Reports indicate that the civilian deaths were due to the Taliban ' s use of an occupied dwelling , the presence of civilians at that location was not known to the ISAF forces . An October 21 , 2010 report in the New York Times credited HIMARS with aiding the NATO offensive in Kandahar by targeting Taliban commanders ' hideouts , forcing many to flee to Pakistan , at least temporarily . Related developments . Lockheed Martin UK and INSYS had jointly developed a demonstrator rocket artillery system similar to HIMARS for the British Army ' s ' Lightweight Mobile Artillery Weapon System / Rocket ' ( LIMAWS ( R ) ) program . The system consisted of a single MLRS pod , mounted on a Supacat SPV600 chassis . The LIMAWS ( R ) programs was cancelled in September 2007 . Operators . Potential and future operators . The Department of National Defence is considering the purchase of HIMARS . The former Chief of the Land Staff , Lieutenant - General Andrew Leslie , said the plan to acquire rocket launchers was something that " would be considered much further down the road — possibly in the 2012 time frame . In December 2012 , Qatar notified the U . S . of a possible Foreign Military Sale of 7 M142 HIMARS systems , as well as 60 M57 MGM - 140 ATACMS Block 1A T2K unitary rockets and 30 < a href = " M270 % 20Multiple % 20Launch % 20Rocket % 20System % 23MLRS % 20rockets % 20and % 20missiles " > M31A1 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System ( GMLRS ) < / a > unitary rockets . The deal would cost an estimated $ 406 million .