Photo By 1st Sgt. Jacob Connor | Attendees listen and participate in discussions during the fifth European High...... read more read more
Subscribe
TALLINN, Estonia– U.S. Army’s V Corps, in collaboration with Estonian Defense Forces, hosted the fifth European High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Initiative in Tallinn, Estonia, Jan. 15-16, 2024.
The EHI summits aim to reinforce NATO partnerships through a comprehensive review of lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. They are designed to be a scalable and tailored approach to educating military leaders, mentoring operators, and sharing lessons on sustaining HIMARS and associated equipment. As the need and concern for collective security within Eastern Europe continue to mount, representatives from more than 15 nations attended the summit with the focus of continuing to increase their HIMARS capability.
(The HIMARS is a light, long-range mobile precision fire rocket launcher)
To open the conference, Col. Frank Maxwell, the 41st Field Artillery Brigade commander, stated, “We are all here for a reason, and building our network of competent professionals within the fire support craft is important. It is crucial and important for us to understand each other and have the same capabilities. These discussions will enable us to win and continue our legacy of fighting and winning our nation’s wars. We should focus on each other and the NATO alliance to utilize and fight with fires. We are all responsible for learning and growing from each other to make our formations greater. If we prepare together and work together, we will be successful together.”
The EHI held discussion panels, with the HIMARS being the main subject. It began with talks about the lessons learned from the Ukrainian war, sustaining rocket artillery in large-scale combat operations, and the importance of HIMARS use and deconfliction with the joint air-ground integration center airspace in the area of operations with panelists from the United States, Estonia, Poland, and Romania to any questions and concerns from the audience.
“There are a lot of goals of our HIMARS initiative,” said Maj. Gen. Maciej Jablonski, V Corps deputy commanding general of interoperability. “The most important is to support the NATO alliance and partners. We are sharing our knowledge and our experiences. We are focusing on showing and assisting them in the appropriate process of planning for the high-target missions, the preparation for those missions, and the execution of the missions in the multi-domain environment.
During the conference, numerous in-depth discussions and collective analyses of past experiences took place. The discussions aimed to increase regional interoperability and allow nations to identify areas of improvement for future multinational missions.
“This multinational effort showcases the close partnership between the United States, Estonia, NATO allies, and our partners in countering emerging threats and ensuring peace and stability along NATO’s eastern borders,” said Col. Frank Maxwell. The exercise enhances unit-level proficiency while emphasizing the importance of combined operations.
One of the most significant discussions during this year’s EHI was the Artillery Systems Cooperation Activities program (ASCA). ASCA is software that creates one consistent line of communication digitally, in real-time, linking artillery commands and control systems. By linking systems to one interface, the program nullifies language barriers and speeds up signals rather than utilizing radios to create a stronger NATO Partner and Ally fire enterprise.
“From my point of view, sharing the artillery system is very important for the Allied NATO partners,” Maj. Gen. Maciej Jablonski stated. “It builds our warfighting capability and then makes the Allied Force combat credible, which is crucially important to deter the Russian aggression.”
In European theater, NATO forces have used the ASCA program in exercises like Dynamic Front and Thunderbolt Convergence. The program has allowed them to share digital fire missions from sensor to shooter, pass messages, and share data related to fire-mission processing, allowing for a more efficient and effective method of fire in large-scale combat operations. Every country enrolled in the ASCA program can communicate with each other, computing fire-mission data so that rounds can be sent to the necessary coordinates from the closest artillery asset, making the ASCA program the future of modern artillery.
This integration across these domains is a principle that aims to build relationships, maintain multinational exercises, provide combat readiness, and create a network of interoperability with partners who want to achieve joint achievements on the battlefield.
Since 2021, more and more NATO Allies have begun receiving and implementing HIMARS to boost collective security in the European region. The unified implementation of HIMARS capabilities is a crucial component of deterrence on NATO’s Eastern Flank.
The continued progression of the EHI further denotes the strengthening of NATO capabilities while Estonia is significantly ramping up its military capabilities, acquiring advanced weaponry, including the United States-made M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
“As a division commander, first of all, I was looking forward to the time that Estonia will be able to be a part of this initiative,” said Major General Indrek Sirel, commander of the Estonian Division. “For the Estonian division, the ability to conduct deep fight is one of the key aspects of how we are going to win our battle, to win our first battle, win it as a part of NATO. The HIMARS initiative allows us to be ready today, even when we don’t yet have our own launchers.”
The HIMARS system are set to arrive in Estonia within a few weeks. Estonian Defense Forces personnel have already been training with U.S. Forces stationed in multiple locations around Estonia.
“We are developing our units with the partnership of the 41st Field Artillery Brigade, who are stationed here in Estonia,” said Major General Indrek Sirel. “This is a great partnership because I am already today, training my reservist, training my future units, and utilizing the forward presence of U.S. forces in Estonia. This is a great example of how we already support each other and develop crucial capabilities, which matter for me and my chief of defense and are important in my national and NATO regional plan.”
The 41st Field Artillery Brigade is also partnering with Lithuania and training its forces. Lithuania is the next Baltic nation to receive HIMARS and is set to receive its launchers in 2027.
Following the summit, key members conducted a series of leader engagements to raise questions or concerns about operations and the sustainment of HIMARS and associated systems, increase knowledge, and ensure planning for future progress.
The EHI started with a conference designed to showcase the capabilities of the HIMARS system. Over time, it transformed into informative and instructional conferences that have played a role in implementing HIMARS rockets across the region, focusing on deterring further Russian aggression.
| Date Taken: | 01.16.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.16.2025 09:50 |
| Story ID: | 489183 |
| Location: | TALLINN, EE |
| Hometown: | WEISSBACH, BAYERN, DE |
| Hometown: | TALLINN, HARJUMAA, EE |
| Hometown: | POZNAN, PL |
| Hometown: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 38 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fifth European High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Initiative, by 1SG Jacob Connor, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
