On Friday, August 9, 2024, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the U.S. Department of State had approved the potential sale of M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) multiple rocket launchers, along with guided munitions and ballistic missiles, to the Kingdom of Norway for up to 580 million USD (2.296 billion PLN).
Photo: Lance Cpl. Madisyn Paschal, USMC
According to the published information, the government in Oslo requested the acquisition of 16 M1140 launchers of the M142 HIMARS system, 15 six-pack launcher containers with M30A2 GMLRS (Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System) guided missiles in the AW (Alternative Warhead) version, equipped with a 91-kg fragmentation warhead containing insensitive explosive material and 160,000 prefragmented tungsten fragments, with a range of 15 to 84 km (a total of 90 missiles). Additionally, they requested 15 containers with M31A2 GMLRS guided missiles in the Unitary version, with a 91-kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead containing insensitive explosive material, with a range of 15 to 84 km (a total of 90 missiles), and 100 long-range MGM-140 ATACMS ballistic missiles in the M57 Unitary export version, featuring a 221-kg WDU-18/B high-explosve fragmentation warhead with proximity and impact fuses, with a range of 70 to 300 km.
Additionally, the request included an unspecified number of M28A2 LCRRPRP (Low Cost Reduced Range Practice Rocket Pods) training rockets with a range of 7.5 to 14.3 km, interactive electronic technical manuals, integration support services, spare parts, tool kits, test equipment, contractor logistics support (Lockheed Martin), training, training equipment, technical assistance, technical publications, transportation, and other related logistics and program support elements.
In recent years, several countries have decided to purchase M142 HIMARS launchers along with the associated munitions, including Romania (54 launchers), Poland (20 + 486 planned), Lithuania (8), Latvia (6), Estonia (6), Taiwan (11), Australia (42), Morocco (18), and Italy (21). The Kingdom of the Netherlands also considered purchasing the launchers but ultimately chose the Israeli PULS system, while Hungary had its potential purchase blocked by the U.S. Ukraine received American launchers as part of military aid packages (over 40 M142 launchers, plus an additional 16 M270s from several countries, and Germany is funding the purchase of 3 M142s).
Currently, when it comes to artillery, the Norwegian Army (Hæren) has only 24 155mm/L52 K9 VIDAR self-propelled howitzers, along with 6 K10 ammunition resupply vehicles, ordered on December 20, 2017, for 1.8 billion NOK and delivered in 2021. On November 7, 2022, the Norwegian Defense Procurement Agency (Forsvarsmateriell, FMA) signed a contract worth over 1 billion NOK with the South Korean company Hanwha Defense for the delivery of an additional 4 K9 VIDAR and 8 K10 vehicles. VIDAR, which stands for Versatile InDirect ARtillery, is a variant of the upgraded K9A1 Thunder, featuring the Norwegian ODIN fire control system instead of BTCS and Norwegian NATO-standard communications.
Between 1999 and 2005, Norway had 12 heavy M270 MLRS multiple rocket launchers, ordered from the USA for 1.5 billion NOK. They served in the Norwegian Royal Artillery Battalion (Artilleribataljonen) of the Northern Brigade (Brigade Nord) in the Setermoen garrison in Troms County. In June 2021, American M270 MLRS launchers conducted exercises in Setermoen. In recent years, M142 HIMARS launchers from the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) have been regularly deployed to Norway for exercises.
After the outbreak of the full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war, Oslo decided to support the United Kingdom, which was supplying its M270A2 launchers to Kyiv. On June 29, 2022, it was announced that Norway would transfer 3 decommissioned launchers to London, followed by another 8 on May 13, 2023 (one launcher remained in the country as a museum piece).