Famous US weapon misses target in live-fire exercise

A missile is launched from the HIMARS system during an exercise between the US and the Philippines.

According to Stars&Stripes, one of the US military's most famous weapons, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), missed its target multiple times during a live-fire exercise.

Specifically, the HIMARS systems fired six times at a decommissioned naval ship anchored dozens of kilometers away but missed, then a series of shells from US and Philippine artillery and aircraft finally sank the ship.

Notably, the event was witnessed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the joint battle called Balikatan 2023, the largest in the past 30 years between the US and the Philippines.

“Shooting from shore at a ship is extremely difficult,” said Lt. Col. Nick Mannweiler, a spokesman for US Marine Corps Forces Pacific.

Lt. Col. Mannweiler said the fact that HIMARS failed to hit a ship at sea was not a major issue. He said the exercise tested the soldiers’ ability to practice targeting skills on a ship and relay targeting information to weapons operated by the United States and the Philippines.

“The exercise sets the stage for more effective training like this in the future,” Mr. Mannweiler stressed, noting that in real combat, US forces would likely use torpedoes or Harpoon missiles to destroy a warship.

For his part, Philippine Army Col. Mike Logico, director of the Joint Command Training Center, told reporters that there are challenges of a large-scale bilateral exercise and “what we have demonstrated is the capabilities of HIMARS and perhaps also its limitations.”

The Balikatan exercise, which involved more than 17,000 US and Philippine troops, ended on April 28. "The exercise increases the realism of combat capabilities, a key priority between the Philippine and US militaries," said Lieutenant General William Jurney, commander of US Marine Corps Forces Pacific.

According to VNA