A U.S. M142 HIMARS systme firing during the coalition’s rehearsal in Syria’s Deir Ezzor. U.S. Army photo.
On October 23, the U.S.-led coalition announced that its forces in northeastern Syria had conducted a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) operational rehearsal.
The coalition said on Twitter that the rehearsal, which took place in Deir Ezzor, was meant to maintain crew proficiency and readiness.
The M142 HIMARS multiple launch system can fire ER-MLRS unguided rockets with a range of 45 kilometers, GMLRS precision-guided rockets with a range of 70 kilometers and the MGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missile that has a range of up to 300 kilometers.
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The rehearsal was likely held at the coalition’s Green Village base within al-Omar oil fields in the southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. Late on October 22, local sources in the governorate reported the launch of several projectiles of the base. Several explosions were also heard at the time.
The U.S.-led coalition deployed several HIMARS systems in Syria years ago, allegedly to support the war on ISIS. However, the systems were previously situated at al-Tanf garrison in Syria’s southeastern region.
The live-fire rehearsal was likely meant as a warning to Iranian-backed forces in northeastern Syria, who attacked several bases of the U.S.-led coalition in the last few months, and as a message to the Russian military that maintains a large presence in the region.
