‘It’s really exciting to see the capability’: Soldiers continue to advance training rocket system

“It’s rewarding and challenging. They are brand new and fresh off the line and that comes with pros and cons. Working through that is very rewarding and as we’ve proven during the exercise, the soldiers and the platform are more than capable of doing what we need them to do,” Lieutenant Deklan Boyle said.

“By far the most rewarding aspect though has been seeing the rapid integration of the soldiers displaying their skills as they have all come from various backgrounds, including M777 gunners, infantry and cavalry.”

The rocket system is a highly-mobile, long range platform that has a primary feature of “shoot-and-scoot” capabilities, allowing crews to enhance survivability in high-threat environments through emplacing, firing, relocating and reloading within minutes.

The exercise tested this feature by occupying hides and planning tactical movement while executing firing missions as ordered and receiving resupply.

Under LAND 8113 Phase 1, 42 HIMARS will be delivered to the artillery and will be based at Royal Australian Air Force Base Edinburgh in South Australia.

For soldiers participating in these exercises, they noted how it offers them invaluable experience in operating systems and platforms in controlled environments.

VIEW ALL

“It’s really exciting to see the capability and what is achievable and how well it can move, especially in environments like this. So far it’s proven to be a really manoeuvrable and easy to operate piece of equipment,” Bombardier Felix Holmes said.

“The best aspect, however, has been not only the training itself, but getting to know the people around me and everyone within the battery.”