Precision Strike

By Carlo Muñoz / October 21, 2010 at 8:20 PM

In Kandahar, if you run, you will only die tired.

Recent successes by U.S. and NATO troops against Taliban forces in Kandahar province is due in no small part to the expanded use of a key Army precision missile system, according to commanders on the ground.

Increased use of the Army's High Mobility Artillery Rocket System against mid-level Taliban leaders has been critical to the advances made by coalition forces as part of the ongoing Kandahar offensive, according to a recent report in The New York Times. Use of the HIMARS has been so successful that many Taliban leaders have been forced to seek safe haven across the border in Pakistan, according to the article.

Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, the British commander of NATO forces in Southern Afghanistan, told the Times that the devastating HIMARS strikes have given coalition troops the initiative in the ongoing Kandahar campaign. "We broke their neck," said Hajji Niaz Muhammad, the local police chief of the Arghandab district north of Kandahar.

In May, Inside the Army reported that the HIMARS system was one of the few bright spots in the Army and Pentagon's acquisition portfolio.

The weapon system was identified as a stable, on-track program for the ground service, according to a May 6 Government Accountability Office report. GAO said the design and requirements for HIMARS were also "well-understood and realistic from the outset," with rapid transportability, commonality maximization and use of existing hardware as key goals for program officials.

And with the subsequent cancellation of the service's Crusader artillery program, the HIMARS took on greater importance to Army operations, the report stated.

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