Sweden today announced it has signed a SEK 7 billion ($732 million) deal to procure the Lockheed Martin’s M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), as part of an ongoing overhaul of NATO’s newest member’s long-range strike options. ... The acquisition comprises “just over” ten launchers together with a “substantial quantity” of ammunition, Defense Minister Pål Jonson said to the reporters in the hangar, without being more specific. The first deliveries of launchers and ammunition are set for 2027, as part of a deal the defense chiefs said. This is the first contract of a deal the the American Government approved in March. ... Jonson said that the system will also enable “future use” of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), with a range of up to 500 kilometres, “capable of striking high-value targets in depth.” “The long-range precision capability that you get with HIMARS is something we [the Army] don’t have in our toolbox at the moment. We have it in the Air Force, but we also need it in the Army,” the head of the Swedish Army, Maj. Gen. Johan Pekkari, told Breaking Defense on the sidelines of the press briefing. He stressed that it is a deep-strike capability that will add to the recently operational Taurus missiles the Air Force’s Gripens can now carry. ... “We need to produce a lot more munitions in Europe and in Sweden. I am particularly glad that Saab and Lockheed Martin are teaming up on this, and this includes everything from the GLSDB that Saab and Boeing have developed, in combination also with PrSM, or potentially other long-range strike capabilities,” Jonson told Breaking Defense. During the press briefing, he said the “first steps” are now being taken toward “joint production in Sweden” of rocket artillery ammunition. However, production will start at Saab’s factory in Grayling, Michigan. ... “It is still only a letter of intent, but we are setting up a production area right now in Grayling, Michigan. Over time we are open to seeing whether we could do something in Europe as well,” Johansson said, on site in the hangar. ... Since Sweden does not yet operate their own HIMARS, Finland will help with maintenance and training. Lockheed Martin is also setting up Europe’s first HIMARS maintenance center in the Finnish city ofTampere — a move Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said was deliberate. “We made a deal with Lockheed Martin that the center will come to Finland, which will support the whole of Europe” he told Breaking Defense adding, “We hope allies procuring new HIMARS will also use our center for sustainment. Sweden is now the first one, and that’s why I’m here [for the signing ceremony].” https://breakingdefense.com/2026/09/sweden-signed-himars-deal-forges-rocket-artillery-pact-with-finland/