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Canada seeks to buy Long Range Precision Rockets (probably US MLRS or HIMARS)
- Thread starter The_Dictat
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I'd be resurrecting those lines and the GDOTS Arsenal lines for guns. Along with any and all UAS manufacturers in the country.
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@FJAG already hinted at this, but I'd say you're underestimating the impact weather has on small UAS and projectiles.
20KT winds at 500 feet have an impact on 155mm rounds, but they severely limit small UAS/loitering munitions. Add cloud cover and precipitation, and now your small UAS/loitering munitions are ineffective.
Cool new toys are cool and new, but they don't replace centuries of technology and tactics.
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Fossil
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I am sure somebody said something like that about tanks and planes in 1916.
New toys don't replace old toys. They displace them. They change the circumstances under which the old kit is employed.
Hopefully reducing the need to revert to bayonets.
If winds limit the use of alternatives to 155mm rounds and HIMARS rockets and the UAS can only be used when the weather permits, then use them when the weather permits and husband the traditional alternatives for those occasions when nothing else will work.
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Northrop Grumman’s Jackal missile passes key flight test
Northrop Grumman completed a successful flight test of its Jackal precision strike missile on June 1, demonstrating the core systems that will define how American ground forces deliver long-range strikes in the most contested environments they are likely to face.
defence-blog.com
Not actually a rocket but definitely a missile. A 36.5 kg jet powered missile with a 4.5 kg warhead (about a 120mm mortar bomb) with a 100 km range and a 15 min time of flight. 8 per JLTV. Fire and Forget in a GPS denied environment.
Boost for Britain’s air defence stockpiles in the Middle East with hundreds more UK-made missiles
New contracts worth £36 million to supply hundreds of Lightweight Multirole Missiles for UK Armed Forces.
A rocket but not a Long range precision fires one - the Thales LCMM Martlet beam rider that has been used in the air to ground, surface to air, surface to surface and ship to ship roles - a heavier version of the APKWS II with a bit longer range.
breakingdefense.com/2026/06/northrop-grumman-partners-with-apex-for-2027-sbi-demo/
And on the Sci-Fi Golden Dome front - Space Based Interceptors advance. Hitting bullets with bullets in Low Earth Orbit.
Oldgateboatdriver
Army.ca Fixture
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Info-machine says it's official official ....
www.canada.ca
Government of Canada acquiring long-range missile capability for the Canadian Armed Forces - Canada.ca
Today, the Government of Canada, announced that, in January 2026, Canada and the United States (US) finalized a government-to-government agreement under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program for the acquisition of 26 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, a preliminary...
Archived link
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That’s a win for the CA. Regaining a ‘lost’ trade.Info-machine says it's official official ....
Government of Canada acquiring long-range missile capability for the Canadian Armed Forces - Canada.ca
Today, the Government of Canada, announced that, in January 2026, Canada and the United States (US) finalized a government-to-government agreement under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program for the acquisition of 26 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, a preliminary...
Archived link
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To the best of my knowledge this will come as a stock M142 HIMARS on a standard FMTV M1140 truck frame. The M1140 has an armoured cab.
This is what is included in the purchase as per the US Coop Agency press release of last Oct (note cost is in US$).
Note there are no ammo resupply vehicles with this but HIMARS launcher has an incorporated crane/module handling unit that can pick up a pod off a truck or even the ground so no special handling is required other than to load the ammo vehicle itself.
Honestly. I never thought that I'd see this day. And the timelines are quite good considering the demand for these systems and the number of orders that went in ahead of Canada's. 1 RCHA in Shilo is already tapped as the foundation unit for this capability with an eventual split of the regiment to form 9 Rocket Regiment, RCA. 10 Fd, 26 Fd and 116 Fd Bty are designated the affiliated ARes regiments to 9 Rocket Regt.
Fabius
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It will be interesting to see how the Canadian Army programs more GMLRS purchases and if we do so on a yearly reoccurring basis.
The GMLRS buy as part of this deal is 1968 and then 64 ATACMS.
That translates to around 600-1000 tgts able to be serviced by GMLRS, and 64 by ATACMS.
It seems the Ukrainians have averaged about 40 GMLRS a day across their HIMARs, as a controlled supply rate.
Interestingly 3rd US Infantry in 2003 during the entire 3 week Iraq invasion used 1014 MLRS rockets and 330 ATACMS, however the Ukrainians have seen similar expenditures in a week during heavy fighting.
It seems that a safe planning assumption would be our munition buy as currently laid out would sustain the Div in combat for 6-8 days of an initial fight, however the GMLRS ER and ATACMS would likely be heavily restricted for absolute HVTs by day 3, allowing the stockpiles to be extended out to the 12-14 day timeframe.
The Australians are not wrong to be thinking about their industrial missile/rocket production capabilities.
The GMLRS buy as part of this deal is 1968 and then 64 ATACMS.
That translates to around 600-1000 tgts able to be serviced by GMLRS, and 64 by ATACMS.
It seems the Ukrainians have averaged about 40 GMLRS a day across their HIMARs, as a controlled supply rate.
Interestingly 3rd US Infantry in 2003 during the entire 3 week Iraq invasion used 1014 MLRS rockets and 330 ATACMS, however the Ukrainians have seen similar expenditures in a week during heavy fighting.
It seems that a safe planning assumption would be our munition buy as currently laid out would sustain the Div in combat for 6-8 days of an initial fight, however the GMLRS ER and ATACMS would likely be heavily restricted for absolute HVTs by day 3, allowing the stockpiles to be extended out to the 12-14 day timeframe.
The Australians are not wrong to be thinking about their industrial missile/rocket production capabilities.
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They've already fired their first Australian built GMLRS and LM Australia plans on producing 4,000 per year by 2029.
We've got the ability to do that as well, if we choose to. Personally, I'm interested in dual use (ship and shore) PrSMs with anti-ship capabilities.
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We need GMLRS, ATACMS and PrSM...and all three in much, much greater quantities that we've ordered...and more launchers.They've already fired their first Australian built GMLRS and LM Australia plans on producing 4,000 per year by 2029.
We've got the ability to do that as well, if we choose to. Personally, I'm interested in dual use (ship and shore) PrSMs with anti-ship capabilities.
As both Ukraine and Iran have shown a peer or near-peer war will be one of attrition. In order to be a serious deterrent and a serious threat if deterrence doesn't work then we need to be looking at rockets/missiles in the thousands, not hundreds and production lines to replace them.
Russia is estimated to have launched around 1,500 Iskander missiles - the closest Russian analogy to ATACMS - so far in the war.
According to ChatGPT:
I keep saying that Canada needs to become the arsenal for NATO. A safe location for production of large quantities of key munitions - everything from 155mm artillery rounds to rockets and missiles - so that when deterrence fails we have the magazine depth to outlast our opponents.
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If a Iskander missile costs 1$m USD each, that's 1.5$B USD spent just on those missiles. Did they get an 'equal' return on that investment?
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With our Aerospace industry, it should be a fairly easy leap into this technology. With the global demand, I suspect foreign sales will help sustain it. The government will need to agree on covering the start costs. One option is to have the government build the line and have a private entity run day to day operations and upkeep.They've already fired their first Australian built GMLRS and LM Australia plans on producing 4,000 per year by 2029.
We've got the ability to do that as well, if we choose to. Personally, I'm interested in dual use (ship and shore) PrSMs with anti-ship capabilities.
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The development of the CRV7 by Winnipeg's Bristol Aerospace the predecessor of DRDC and the current state of the Canadian space technology industry makes me believe that we could easily develop a broad based industry as long as government supports rather than hinders it.
We need a certain scale of weapon stocks of our own and we should be able to export it to "reasonable" foreign customers in order for it to be a viable industry.
KevinB
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I really want to beat you about the head today for that...Or bayonets
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Just looking at the current, transitional US Infantry standard.
Every section, regardless of mode of transport is equipped with a Light Weight Command Launch Unit that can launch an 8 kg warhead, capable against tanks, bunkers and infantry in the open, to a range of 4 to 5 km. In addition to the sights on the unit, which can see two to three times that distance, call it 15 km, or the horizon, the section is also equipped with a pair of 70 gm Black Hornets in a wallet that have a range of 3 km and a ceiling of 400 m that extend the line of sight well beyond the ground level horizon. One can stay in the air for 30 minutes. It can perch on the ground observing and transmitting for much longer. On return it only takes 20 minutes in the wallet to recharge. With two the observation can be maintained indefinitely.
In addition the Platoon Leader also has 4 attritable 5" ISR FPV drones and 2 10" Bomber FPV drones that can carry a 60mm bomb 20 km and a pair of Short Range Reconnaissance UAS "Skydio 10x".
The Coy OC has a Medium Range Reconnaissance UAV like the Ghost X that has a range of 25 km and can stay aloft for 90 minutes as well as a Switch Blade 600 which carries a 15 kg warhead for 40 minutes and can reach out 40 km. These are in addition to the 2 SRR Skydios with the pair of 60mm mortars in the Coy Mortar Squad and the 6 GPMGs on tripods in the 3 weapons squads attached to the rifle platoons.
The Bn CO has additional SRR and MRR UAVs as well as 4 LRR with 8 hour endurance and 60 km range and a pair of SB 600s with their 40 km range. The CO also has 8 more Javelin CLUS and 4 CG84s in the hands of the ATGM platoon and another 6 in the hands of the Scout platoon. All with more ISR UAVs. All of this is in addition to the 4 81mm mortars and the three sniper teams.
In the 25th Inf Div the Brigade has the Multi Functional Reconnaissance Company which basically supplies all the MRR and LRR UAS teams for the battalions as well as the EW teams. It has another 3 recce squads (with more Javelins) and it has an Effects Platoon equipped with 2 more 60 km LRR UAVs and 4 ISV mounted Spike N-LOS systems that carries a 32 kg warhead out to 32 km and 4 more Javelin CLUs as back up. Brigade commander has a longer ranged and longer endurance TUAS.
At Division level the Divarty's two artillery battalions now field between them 16x M119 105s, 12x M777 155s and 16x HIMARS, all again with more ISR UAS assets.
If that lot ends up at bayonets something has gone seriously wrong with the plan.
Even the conventional small arms, 200 m personal defence, 600 m section LMG, 1800 m GPMGs, 3500 m 60mms, 5000 m 81mms are all operating within the range of the Javelin CLU and the Black Hornet mUAS of the section/squad. And the Division Commander can assist the fight even if the fight is 500 km away with PrSMs launched from HIMARS.
And that is all without involving the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade's Apaches. I suspect that the Blackhawks and Chinooks will get more calls than the Apaches.
...
1 CLU per squad
3 CLU per platoon
9 CLU per company
41 CLU per battalion
133 CLU per brigade
266 CLU per division
Every section, regardless of mode of transport is equipped with a Light Weight Command Launch Unit that can launch an 8 kg warhead, capable against tanks, bunkers and infantry in the open, to a range of 4 to 5 km. In addition to the sights on the unit, which can see two to three times that distance, call it 15 km, or the horizon, the section is also equipped with a pair of 70 gm Black Hornets in a wallet that have a range of 3 km and a ceiling of 400 m that extend the line of sight well beyond the ground level horizon. One can stay in the air for 30 minutes. It can perch on the ground observing and transmitting for much longer. On return it only takes 20 minutes in the wallet to recharge. With two the observation can be maintained indefinitely.
In addition the Platoon Leader also has 4 attritable 5" ISR FPV drones and 2 10" Bomber FPV drones that can carry a 60mm bomb 20 km and a pair of Short Range Reconnaissance UAS "Skydio 10x".
The Coy OC has a Medium Range Reconnaissance UAV like the Ghost X that has a range of 25 km and can stay aloft for 90 minutes as well as a Switch Blade 600 which carries a 15 kg warhead for 40 minutes and can reach out 40 km. These are in addition to the 2 SRR Skydios with the pair of 60mm mortars in the Coy Mortar Squad and the 6 GPMGs on tripods in the 3 weapons squads attached to the rifle platoons.
The Bn CO has additional SRR and MRR UAVs as well as 4 LRR with 8 hour endurance and 60 km range and a pair of SB 600s with their 40 km range. The CO also has 8 more Javelin CLUS and 4 CG84s in the hands of the ATGM platoon and another 6 in the hands of the Scout platoon. All with more ISR UAVs. All of this is in addition to the 4 81mm mortars and the three sniper teams.
In the 25th Inf Div the Brigade has the Multi Functional Reconnaissance Company which basically supplies all the MRR and LRR UAS teams for the battalions as well as the EW teams. It has another 3 recce squads (with more Javelins) and it has an Effects Platoon equipped with 2 more 60 km LRR UAVs and 4 ISV mounted Spike N-LOS systems that carries a 32 kg warhead out to 32 km and 4 more Javelin CLUs as back up. Brigade commander has a longer ranged and longer endurance TUAS.
At Division level the Divarty's two artillery battalions now field between them 16x M119 105s, 12x M777 155s and 16x HIMARS, all again with more ISR UAS assets.
If that lot ends up at bayonets something has gone seriously wrong with the plan.
Even the conventional small arms, 200 m personal defence, 600 m section LMG, 1800 m GPMGs, 3500 m 60mms, 5000 m 81mms are all operating within the range of the Javelin CLU and the Black Hornet mUAS of the section/squad. And the Division Commander can assist the fight even if the fight is 500 km away with PrSMs launched from HIMARS.
And that is all without involving the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade's Apaches. I suspect that the Blackhawks and Chinooks will get more calls than the Apaches.
...
1 CLU per squad
3 CLU per platoon
9 CLU per company
41 CLU per battalion
133 CLU per brigade
266 CLU per division
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One thing I do notice to be lacking - GBAD/LAA/CUAS/C-RAM.
The LWCLU is also compatible with the Stinger replacement and there is a move to put those Israeli SMASH sights on rifles, shotguns and machine guns but there doesn't seem to be much of a concerted effort to field AI RWS systems and Interceptor drones.
The LWCLU is also compatible with the Stinger replacement and there is a move to put those Israeli SMASH sights on rifles, shotguns and machine guns but there doesn't seem to be much of a concerted effort to field AI RWS systems and Interceptor drones.
