RAA Liaison Letter – 2025 / 2026 Edition 98 range strike platforms to be employed. A total of eight HIMARS from Australia, the United States and Singapore displaced from hides to prepared firing positions and prosecuted the revealed systems with precision rockets, enabled by a well-connected multi‑domain targeting enterprise. Days prior to this serial, the United States and Singapore conducted a GMLRS engagement in conjunction with the Republic of Korea’s K239 Chun Moo to effect targets observed by a comprehensive kill web of Australian ISR assets. LAND 8113 Phase One Acceleration — First Australian HIMARS Live Fire Australia’s first HIMARS live firing—delivered by 14 Regt, RAA—moved the capability from delivery to operational integration. It validated digital mission processing, airspace coordination and multi-national integration under realistic tempo. Importantly, the serial demonstrated the broader enterprise behind the launcher: training, certification and sustainment maturing in stride, with future resilience supported domestically through the guided weapons and explosive ordnance line of effort. Australian contributions to the kill chain were decisive. Overhead ISR from 1st Intelligence Battalion refined the target picture; 9th Regiment’s Lightweight Multiple‑Mission Radar established the call for fire zone and enabled rapid verification of SHOT to inform Phase 1 battle damage assessment (BDA); 20th Regiment’s Integrator provided live tracking and BDA; and 14th Regiment’s HIMARS closed the loop with precise effects at range. Together these elements formed a fast, survivable sensor‑to‑shooter network that turned fleeting exposure into decisive outcomes. Resourcing the Close With opportunities created in the deep, the demonstration transitioned to the close battle. ADF and USMC M777A2 howitzers delivered preparatory fires against a company‑level defensive position to enable manoeuvre and protect the assault. As the gunlines fired, they themselves became targets to enemy counter fires. The response was immediate and realistic: counter‑battery action was taken by the Republic of Korea’s K9 Self Propelled Howitzer (SPH) to neutralise the adversary’s artillery and restore freedom of action to the supported force. M777 detachments then displaced to alternate positions and re‑engaged, demonstrating that modern gunlines are manoeuvring fires platforms, not static signatures. The Republic of Korea’s K1 Main Battle Tank then demonstrated the assault under the covering fire provided by coalition cannon fires. LAND 8116 Phase One – The AS9 and Counterfires The showcase of the ROKMC K9 was a timely advertisement for the AS9 being bought into service within the 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery. The AS9 Self Propelled Howitzer brings protected mobility, high rates of fire and rapid displacement to the full range of close‑battle artillery tasks. The AS9 will play a pivotal role in the Counterfires battle by leveraging its manoeuvrability to rapidly engage targets of opportunity as they arise on the battlespace whilst being enabled by enhanced protection from adversarial fires. Protecting the Rear The JGSDF Chu‑SAM engaged to defend a critical logistics node against an enemy ROK K9 SPH conducting counter battery fires
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjE4NTMz