Australia fires HIMARS rockets for first time as US war games commence
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The news: Australia’s defence forces have fired HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) for the first time on Monday, as the country commenced day one of its largest war games to date.
The context: Australia launched missiles from its truck-mounted long range systems during five live-fire exercises at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, a 4,500 square kilometre expanse in outback Queensland. The Lockheed Martin HIMARS were purchased from the US.
Australian Army brigadier Nick Wilson, director general of the combined live-fire exercise, said it was the first time Australia, Singapore and the US had fired HIMARS together, and the first firing by Australia on home soil.
“Today was the first time the Australian Army has live-fired our long-range, multi-domain platforms being the HIMARS, so it is a remarkable day…HIMARS will be utilised in conjunction with a number of other weapon platforms…to ensure we have a strategy of denial for security, peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Wilson said on Monday.
Chinese surveillance ships typically monitor naval exercises of the Australian coastline and were expected to be monitoring the current drills.
The ‘Talisman Sabre’ military drills began one day after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began his six-day tour of China, where he is expected to hold his fourth face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday.
Albanese said on Monday that Chinese surveillance of the drills would not be an issue raised with Xi during his tour.
The numbers: Up to 40,000 troops from 19 nations are taking part in the ‘Talisman Sabre’ military exercise. Australia has said it will spend $74 billion on missiles over the next decade, including a new domestic manufacturing capability.
