Latvia wants to buy M142 HIMARS rocket systems

The State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense of Latvia, Jānis Garisons, has said that Latvia has submitted a request to the United States government for the purchase of HIMARS rocket systems.

The Latvian government hopes to have the first missile systems by 2025, according to the Latvian news agency Delfi.

However, the country’s Ministry of Defense believes that the supply of HIMARS to Latvia may be delayed due to the high demand for these weapons systems in Ukraine.

“We’ve said before, when the budget was drawn up, that we have three main priorities – anti-ship missiles, air defence and long-range artillery, or HIMARS,” Jānis Garisons said.

The purchase of the M142 is a joint decision and project of all the Baltic countries, noted the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense.

“We have sent a request to the US government regarding availability and pricing and are currently awaiting a response. We hope to receive approval by September, as happened to Estonia, whose purchase of HIMARS was already reported in the press,” the Ministry of Defense official said.

Garisons emphasized that in the future the American side will order HIMARS systems from its manufacturer — Lockheed Martin.

The US will also purchase HIMARS from the manufacturer and provide training for Latvian soldiers to operate this system.

It is not yet known how many M142 rocket systems Latvia will purchase and how much it will cost.

As previously reported, the US State Department has made a determination approving a possible foreign military sale to Estonia of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). In addition to the self-propelled launchers, the sale of related equipment, spare parts, and ammunition, as well as technical support were also approved.

M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) uses a 6-wheel chassis of an M1140 FMTV tactical truck. The system can be used as a rocket launcher with ammunition of different ranges and as a tactical missile system.