M142 HIMARS delivered to Estonia

Estonia has taken delivery of six M142 HIMARS launchers and officially accepted them in a rainy handover ceremony on the 30th of April, 2025 according to an article published by the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI).  

Estonian units have already trained on the platforms in cooperation with the US task unit “Victory” and the first live fire exercise is scheduled to take place in the coming summer. “The US’s crucial role in both financing the procurement and training our defence personnel confirms once again that Estonia and the United States share a broad and deeply rooted defence partnership based on unwavering trust and common goals,” Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur said. 

All three Baltic states are procuring a battery’s worth of the M142 HIMARS following its performance in Ukraine. “The same systems will soon be delivered to our neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, representing a major leap in the region’s defense capabilities, enabling rapid strike effects deep into enemy territory. While defense procurement cooperation among the Baltic states is close, joint programs of this scale are rare,” Magnus-Valdemar Saar, director of the ECDI added. 

Lithuania is also procuring ATACMS with its eight launchers, which will give the three states the ability to strike up to 300 km into Russian territory. Estonia was considering an additional order of M142s in 2024, but Pevkur indicated in February 2025 that there were concerns around the costs and lead times for additional vehicles, the Estonian contract was signed in December 2022. Other potential options include Chunmoo from Hanwha or the PULS from Elbit Systems.  

Calibre comment

The M142 HIMARS has performed a variety of roles in Ukraine. The long range of its regular guided missiles – the M30A1 and M31A1 – provide accurate strikes out to 92 km. Their high mobility on roads, combined with what was an effective air defence network for the most part, has enabled them to evade counter-battery strikes for much of the war. They have been used to engage priority targets like air defence systems as well as in the destruction of ammunition depots. 

For the Baltic states, a complement of 20 M142 HIMARS launchers would enable them to rapidly engage Russian formations throughout their operational depth if they chose to cross the border. However, it is important to note that the efficacy of these systems is heavily dependent upon how well they are resourced with intelligence and target acquisition assets. Russia has experience of operating under these conditions and may prove a resilient and capable opponent in the battle for ISTAR dominance. These vehicles are combined with an overall modernisation that all three states are undertaking, dramatically improving their land warfare capabilities when compared with 2021. The overall goal is to deter Russia, and deep strike capabilities like this are seen as an important element of that goal. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on 30th April, 2025.