The U.S. military is actively using the M142 HIMARS rocket system not only to destroy ground targets in Iran but also to strike the country's naval forces. The role of this weapon in degrading Iran's military capabilities was confirmed by Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States.
"Today I will talk about our incredible artillery forces, made up of U.S. soldiers and Marines who are sinking ships and destroying depots," he said, according to The War Zone.
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He emphasized that in less than two weeks of combat operations in Iran, U.S. artillery had already "made history." In particular, troops from the 18th Field Artillery Brigade, specifically the 3rd Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, were the first to strike Iranian targets using precision weapons.
The fighting in Iran has also served as the combat debut for the newest U.S. ballistic missile, the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which is being developed as a replacement for the ATACMS.
Regarding ATACMS specifically, Caine noted that U.S. forces used the missile, among other missions, "to sink several ships, including a submarine."
This is the first time the United States has confirmed the use of ATACMS against the Iranian navy. It also suggests that the strikes were likely carried out against ships and a submarine while they were in port or at their bases, since ATACMS, at least according to publicly available data, is not designed to engage moving targets.
This differs from the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which in several planned iterations features a multi-mode seeker designed specifically to engage moving targets. In its Inc. 2 version, it has even been designated a land-based anti-ship missile known as LBASM (Land‑Based Anti‑Ship Missile).
However, it remains unclear whether U.S. forces operating in Iran currently have PrSM variants capable of engaging moving targets.
Earlier, Defense Express reported that Taiwan plans to deploy its M142 HIMARS systems equipped with ATACMS just 40 kilometers from China in order to strike ports and airfields directly, raising questions about how risky such a deployment might be.
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