Watching on were Defense Minister Artis Pabriks and US Ambassador John Carwile as the plane landed, deployed the rocket system, then loaded up and took off again. According to the official account of the exercise tt only took about 15 minutes to deploy and load the missile artillery system back into the aircraft.
"The aim of the exercise was to demonstrate collective defense capabilities and the ability of the Allies to quickly deliver fire support capabilities to Latvia, providing support to the National Armed Forces in national defense," according to a release frmo the Ministry of Defense.
#DidYouKnow the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System #HIMARS is a long range precision artillery system that can fit on any medium sized aircraft and be delivered on land anywhere; including austere environments thanks to SOF aviators! #SOFinEurope 🇱🇻 🇺🇸@USEmbassyRiga @352SOW pic.twitter.com/bLHOGj07ak
— US Spec Ops Europe (@US_SOCEUR) October 25, 2021
"Today, we were convinced of the United States' ability and readiness to deliver the HIMARS missile artillery system to Latvia in a flash, anywhere and at any time," said Pabriks.
The exercise tested the capability of the US Special Operations Forces mobile fire support platform by practically delivering the HIMARS missile system to the MC-130J small aerodrome, immediate runway deployment, simulated shooting and rapid launching of the missile system with maximum readiness to return to the aircraft at maximum readiness. go to another place.
HIMARS are missile artillery systems with a range of about 500 kilometers. The U.S. performed similar demonstrative deployments in the Black Sea area a year ago.
Below is a promotional video showing the HIMARS system from manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
