Australia and Canada approved for $2.5 billion HIMARS buys
Australia received its first HIMARS in March and has been approved to buy more. (Photo: author)
Australia already operates M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) after receiving first units in March and conducting the first firings in August. Canada’s order comes in the face of a commitment from the government to move away from US products.
The US State Department has approved the sale of 26 HIMARS to Canada and a further 48 for Australia. Despite the Canadian order being for a smaller number of systems, it is worth US$1.75 billion compared to $705 million for Australia, although this is largely because of included ancillary systems and missiles as well as it being Canada’s first order.
The Australian approval was granted on 30 September and has been notified to the US Congress by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The Canadian approval was granted on 1 October with identical notification provided.
The Canadian request is for the
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