Canada is poised to buy more than two dozen High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) for $1.75 billion after the United States government approved the sale to its ally and northern neighbor in October 2025. The cutting-edge artillery system has proved effective in the Russia-Ukraine war and boosts Canada’s ability to project force in a wide variety of battlefield scenarios from the Arctic to Europe.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress on October 1 that the potential sale had gained its approval. Canada would buy 26 M142 HIMARS with “a deep magazine of precision munitions,” including nearly 300 launching pods. Sixty-four of those launchers can accommodate the M57 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). ATACMS are short-range tactical ballistic missiles that are highly effective in hitting heavy targets up to 300 kilometers way. “For Canada, the package promises not just launchers but an immediately credible long-range fires ecosystem,” reported ArmyRecognition.com, a military affairs website.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the military capability of Canada, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ally that is an important force for ensuring political stability and economic progress and is a contributor to military, peacekeeping, and humanitarian operations around the world,” a DSCA news release stated. The agency found that the proposed sale will improve Canada’s ability to meet current and future threats. The HIMARS easily can be absorbed into existing Canadian Army capabilities, and the artillery rocket system improves hemispheric and European defense. Canada leads NATO’s Operation Reassurance with an armored brigade at the front lines of NATO’s eastern flank with Russia near the Suwalki gap, the quickest path from Moscow ally Belarus to the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. The narrow border region between Lithuania and Poland has been identified as a key defensive NATO position to prevent the isolation of Baltic NATO members resulting from a seizure of the territory.
Canada asked to buy the HIMARS in December 2024. The artillery rocket system fits within the Canadian Army’s long-range plans for national defense and its NATO commitments, reported the Winnipeg Sun newspaper. The deal needs congressional approval before the U.S. government begins negotiations with Lockheed Martin, the HIMARS manufacturer. The HIMARS should be ready for delivery in 2026, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.