A HIMARS missile is launched during a test firing. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has received a $218 million contract for a foreign military sale to Romania for the procurement of 18 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.

The modification to a previous contract, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, provides for training, spare parts and future improvements and modifications for the system.


Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas, with an estimated completion date of December 2020. Fiscal 2018 foreign military sales funds in the amount of $106.2 million have been obligated at the time of the award.

The U.S. State Department last year approved an overall $1.25 billion HIMARS package for Romania that included 54 HIMARS launchers, 81 guided multiple launch rocket systems and 81 M30A1 alternative warhead, among other equipment, vehicles and support.

HIMARS is a wheeled Multiple Launch Rocket System that can fire up to six rockets at a time. The rockets, depending on the model, can carry submunitions for area suppression or a single unitary blast warhead. It can also use the Army Tactical Missile System, a long-range battlefield missile with a range of over 180 miles.

HIMARS has seen use in the first Gulf War, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Along with the M270 Multiple Rocket Launch System, it is the primary surface-to-surface battlefield rocket and missile system employed by the U.S. military.