U.S. Army soldiers conduct training drills and fire missions with M142 High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) at an undisclosed location in Syria (U.S. Marine Corps video by Sgt. Matthew Callahan
The US-led coalition and its proxy, the Revolutionary Commando Army (MaT), have held a joint live-fire exercise in the southeastern Syrian area of al-Tanf where they maintain a large garrison.
On July 6, MaT released photos from the joint exercise which saw US troops firing a number of precision-guided M30/M31 series GMLRS rockets from M142 HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System] launchers.
Click to see full-size image. Source: Maghaweir al-Thowra
At least four HIMARS launchers are currently deployed at al-Tanf garrison. The system can fire GMLRS rockets, which have a range of 70 kilometers, as well as the MGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missile that has a rage of up to 300 kilometers.
Click to see full-size image.
Around 200 US troops and some 300 MaT fighters are usually present at al-Tanf, which was established in 2016 to block a road linking the Syrian capital, Damascus, with the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
“Base defense rehearsals in coordination with our MaT partners help build and maintain critical deterrence capabilities while enabling readiness, interoperability and security cooperation in support of our combined anti-ISIS campaign,” the coalition said on Twitter commenting on the new exercise.
The US-led coalition maintains a 55 kilometers no-fly zone around al-Tanf garrison. Despite this, Russian warplanes conduct reconnaissance sorties over the garrison on a regular basis. The last such sortie was on July 1.
It’s worth noting that Russia has been growing frustrated with the actions of the US-led coalition’s proxies in al-Tanf garrison. On June 16, a series of Russian airstrikes hit positions of the MaT near the garrison. The airstrikes were reportedly a response to a recent attack by MaT militants that resulted in Russian military casualties.
