The Cabinet will not choose the US Himar, the missile system that has proven itself in Ukraine. The Netherlands buys the Israeli Puls system for more than 500 million euros. This will soon be available and will eventually be able to launch European missiles.
Already last October the Cabinet announced that the Netherlands is buying rocket artillery again for the first time in nearly two decades. For a long time it seemed that Holland was ahead of America Highly mobile artillery missile system Himars will choose. Last month, the Americans had already allowed exports worth more than 600 million euros, but Foreign Minister Christoph van der Mat had already confirmed that no signatures had been signed yet.
Progressing
HIMARS made a name for itself last year after the Americans delivered two dozen HIMARS systems to Ukraine last summer. This allowed the Armed Forces of Ukraine to deal heavy blows to the Russian forces. This missile system was said to have succeeded in halting the Russian advance.
However, the Dutch choice fell not on aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin, but on a system from Israel: the Puls, built by the factory Elbit. According to Minister of State for Defense Christoph van der Maat, who announces the choice today in a letter to the House of Representatives, this system can be delivered as of the end of this year. The American Himars had a longer ‘big’ wait, until 2027.
In addition, Puls can also launch European-made “long-range” missiles. “This contributes to an increase in European strategic autonomy,” van der Mat wrote. The Americans will not allow it, the Himar family can only launch American missiles. The defense must also purchase separate trucks on which the Himars can be placed. The Puls system can be installed on vehicles already in use by the armed forces.
Programmed missiles
Van der Maat writes that there are also disadvantages. Other European countries such as Romania, Poland and Lithuania have already chosen to use HIMARS. For collaborations, the defense prefers to use the same materials as possible. The Puls system was recently bought by Denmark and Germany is also said to be interested. Therefore, according to van der Maat, there are “prospects for European cooperation with Paul”.
Van der Mat also announced today that submarines and frigates of the Dutch Navy will be armed with cruise missiles. Here the government chose the American Tomahawk missile and not the French or French/British cruise missile. The Tomahawk is the only one with a range of 1,000 km, which was the deciding factor. The purchase of cruise missiles includes between 1 and 2.5 billion euros.
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