Netherlands unexpectedly announces missile system better than HIMARS (video)
How weapons from Israel are taking over the European market
The Netherlands is seriously buying various weapons
The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands has published a message announcing the purchase of a number of weapons and military equipment – from artillery systems for the army to long-range weapons for the navy and aviation. Thus, Tomahawk missiles were chosen for frigates and submarines, and JASSM-ER missiles for F-35.
But the most interesting thing is this: the Dutch Defense Ministry noted the need for rocket artillery to provide fire support at short, medium and long distances, and in this context, they note the following: that today, in their opinion, two systems meet these requirements – the American HIMARS system and the Israeli PULS system, and comparative characteristics speak in favor of the latter, according to the Ministry of Defense.
“Compared to the US HIMARS system, it can carry more missiles. It is also possible to buy more missiles for the budget and they will be available earlier. In addition, in the future, PULS will be suitable for ammunition from European manufacturers,” the statement said.
Probably, this refers to the variability of the use of the Israeli system on the battlefield, which can carry from 16 precision-guided 122-mm missiles with a range of up to 35 km and up to two Predator Hawk missiles with a range of up to 300 km. And it is also noted that they are cheaper and Israel will be able to supply them faster, because there is already a fairly decent queue for American HIMARS.
Regarding the Israeli PULS, the Dutch Ministry of Defense notes the following: “This year, the army will have access to the Israeli PULS system. As a result, the Ministry of Defense will have its own rocket artillery for the first time in many years.”
At the same time, it is worth recalling that this year the United States agreed to sell 20 M142 HIMARS launchers to this country, as well as 39 packages of M30A2 GMLRS missiles, 38 packages of M31A2 GMLRS missiles, and 80 M57 ATACMS ballistic missiles.
All in all, given all this, we can conclude that the Israeli PULS system is gradually capturing the European market – Denmark has previously signed a contract to purchase this system.
In addition, it was also reported earlier that Germany plans to create its own HIMARS, and it will be based on the Israeli PULS missile system – the Germans have an ambitious goal to create a new European missile system of the next generation called Euro-PULS based on Israeli development.