TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The military will establish a new unit to operate the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) next month, while live-fire training on the M1A2T Abrams tanks will be held for two weeks.
A military official told Liberty Times that Army personnel spent about six months training on the HIMARS systems to master equipment operation and procedures. In early May, the Army conducted its first live-fire tests of the system as part of the Thunder drills at Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung.
The first HIMARS battery to be commissioned, the 58th Artillery Command of the 10th Army Corps, is set to enter service in July and join the military’s operational structure, enhancing long-range fire support and rapid reinforcement across regions.
Taiwan has ordered 29 HIMARS systems and including simulators and training rounds, the package consists of 84 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles and 864 guided rockets. According to the Ministry of National Defense's latest report, the Army has received the first batch of 11 launchers, 16 ATACMS missiles, and two simulators.
The remaining 48 ATACMS missiles from the first batch were scheduled for delivery by the end of the first quarter. The second batch, 18 launchers, 20 ATACMS missiles, and precision rockets, is expected to be delivered by 2026.
With the HIMARS entering service, their extended range and high precision are expected to complement the domestically developed Thunderbolt-2000 multiple launch rocket system, enhancing firepower density for coastal counterattacks, striking enemy flotillas, and cross-regional reinforcement. Military analyst Cheng Chi-wen (鄭繼文) told the newspaper that the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology could consider adopting HIMARS guidance technology to improve fire control for domestic systems, promoting integration of local and foreign platforms to boost overall asymmetric combat capabilities.
Meanwhile, the Army will begin live-fire training with M1A2T tanks this week. According to the latest Fisheries Agency notification, the Armored Training Command will conduct drills from Monday to Friday, with night exercises scheduled for Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. Additional firing is planned for June 23–27, including night drills from June 24-26, to evaluate the performance of the new tanks.
