US test fires mobile rocket system near Mount Fuji in rapid 'shoot and scoot' drill

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GOTEMBA, Japan (AP) — U.S. Marines test fired a dozen rockets from a mobile launcher on Wednesday at a range in the foothills of Japan's iconic Mount Fuji, in an exercise to keep sharp on weapon that is a growingly important component of the American military's arsenal.

The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is a launcher mounted on the back of a military truck that can be rapidly brought out from concealment, fire its rockets, then move quickly to a new location to avoid counter-battery fire. The so-called “shoot and scoot” tactics are becoming increasingly important with the proliferation of drones over the battlefield, which make static positions more vulnerable.

The system has been used by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and most recently U.S. Central Command said it was employed in the opening attack on Iran where it launched a new precision-guided rocket that could reach targets hundreds of miles away.

That is particularly meaningful in the Pacific, where the U.S. hopes to deter a possible Chinese invasion of the island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own and has not ruled out taking by force. HIMARS systems with the latest missiles could easily reach targets in the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and mainland China, if deployed on Japanese or other islands nearby.

The HIMARS is generally equipped with shorter-range rockets, however, and the exercise at the U.S. military's Camp Fuji, about a two-hour drive from Tokyo, involved only dummy projectiles.

The exercise, only the second time the HIMARS was tested at Camp Fuji, was done in close coordination with Japanese military forces. A public road that ran between where the rockets were fired and where they landed was closed as a precaution during the exercise.