Latvia plans to purchase fewer than ten HIMARS rocket systems

  • 2022-09-26
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - Latvia plans to purchase fewer than ten high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), Defense Minister Artis Pabriks (Development/For) said at the Spilve Airfield on Monday. 

At the end of July, LETA was told at the Defense Ministry that Latvia had requested from the United States information on the availability and prices of HIMARS systems. This is a joint Baltic states' project and the Defense Ministry expects the US to support it with co-funding. 

On Monday, two HIMARS systems were delivered to the Spilve Aifield and Liepaja Airport in Latvia by US military transport aircraft for a training exercise. A US plane with a HIMARS on board landed at Spilve also last October. 

As he welcomed the HIMARS systems at the Spilve Airfield, Pabriks indicated that in accordance with the decisions taken at the NATO Summit in Madrid and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's recent visit to Latvia, the US' military presence in Latvia will become more visible and stronger. 

Although Pabriks did not elaborate on the schedule or price of the purchase, he said that Latvia will likely buy the high precision artillery rocket systems in less than five years. He also said that Latvia will buy slightly fewer than ten systems.