The Land-Based Missiles That Are Crucial to America’s Air War on Iran
The weapons add a new dimension to U.S. attack and raise the possibility that Gulf allies are launch points
The U.S. fired its Army’s two-year-old Precision Strike Missiles and Atacms in their first combat use against Iranian naval vessels and a submarine.
The missile attacks reflect the Pentagon’s growing reliance on land-based missiles and a shift to conventional wars against major powers.
The missile use demonstrates U.S. capabilities to potential adversaries like China.
In the opening hours of the war, the U.S. fired ballistic missiles that streaked high over the Persian Gulf and slammed into targets in Iran, the first use of the Army’s two-year-old highly accurate missiles in combat.
The attacks with Precision Strike Missiles were followed by more barrages, including from so-called Atacms missiles, that have hit and sunk Iranian navy vessels and a submarine in port, said Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who said last week that the missile attacks have “made history.” Iran has accused the U.S. of using ground-based missiles to hit Kharg Island, its offshore oil-processing facility.
The strikes underscore the Pentagon’s growing reliance on land-based missiles in its war plans, and the arrival of newer versions of the weapons fired from mobile Himars truck launchers that can shoot and move, making them less vulnerable in an era of drone warfare. In a conflict largely described as an air war, the land-based systems provide another dimension to the U.S. attack on Iran.
It reflects a larger shift by the U.S. military in recent years away from the kind of weaponry needed to fight a counterinsurgency, like the ones the U.S. fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, to rearming for conventional wars against major powers, like China.
Atacms stands for Army Tactical Missile System, while Himars is an acronym for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, an Army truck that carries expendable pods of rockets or missiles.
The short-range missiles can travel 200 to 300 miles, meaning they likely were fired from the territory of Persian Gulf countries that have taken the brunt of Iranian drone and missile attacks. None has admitted to allowing their land or airspace to be used to attack Iran.
Gulf countries that allow their territory to be used to fire the missiles are walking a careful line between aiding the U.S. militarily while publicly insisting they are seeking to keep out of the fight.
“If the Americans could show them a way to finish off the regime, then they would be more likely to take risks in terms of openly siding against the regime than they are today,” said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. “At the same time, they aren’t going to say no to the U.S. in the midst of a shooting war.”
The missiles fly at supersonic speeds and are highly accurate. The Precision Strike Missile and Atacms, both developed by Lockheed Martin, have satellite-guidance systems, making them useful for striking stationary targets. A version that can hit ships at sea and other moving targets is in the works. The Army is also developing a hypersonic missile with a range of over 1,000 miles that travels at five times the speed of sound.
Using different types of weapons that hit targets from multiple directions and trajectories is intended to blunt Iran’s ability to defend itself. It also frees up jet fighters to hit moving targets, and bombers to handle heavily fortified locations that the missile warheads can’t destroy.
“This has been planned for a long time,” said Frank McKenzie, the former top U.S. commander in the Middle East, speaking about the use of missiles. “You are optimizing your weapons.”
It was also a chance to test the Precision Strike missile, which has a longer range than older Atacms, under combat conditions. “It can be seen as a bit of an operational test,” he said.
The Pentagon accelerated making the missiles operational by delaying some testing, according to a 2025 report by the Government Accountability Office. “Army officials acknowledge that they may discover deficiencies during testing that require modifications,” the report said.
Early in Ukraine’s war with Russia, the U.S. provided Kyiv with Himars launchers for firing short-range rockets and Atacms missiles. The weapons hit command centers, ammunition stockpiles and refueling depots across the Russian border.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. on Saturday of using Himars to fire missiles at Kharg Island from the United Arab Emirates. The U.A.E.’s government didn’t reply to a request for comment on Araghchi’s claims. The country’s foreign-policy adviser, Anwar Gargash, said in a social-media post Saturday that the U.A.E. “has the right to self-defense” but didn’t directly address Araghchi’s claims.
Videos verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, indicate that at least some of the launches came from Bahrain, the tiny kingdom just 125 miles across the Gulf from Iran.
A spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which conducts military operations against Iran, wouldn’t say where the missiles originated.
Bahrain’s government didn’t respond to questions about whether the kingdom gave the U.S. permission to launch such attacks from its territory. “Bahrain’s armed forces have not conducted strikes against Iran,” a spokesman said. The New York Times previously reported that Himars had fired from Bahrain.
“No country can indefinitely take attacks without any response,” said William Wechsler, a former senior Pentagon official who is the senior director of Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank. “Over time, the Gulf countries will be under more pressure to respond militarily. But before they get to that point, they can allow the U.S. to use their territory.”
Though Iran’s air-defense batteries can in theory intercept incoming ballistic missiles as well, those systems have been severely degraded from strikes by U.S. and Israeli warplanes, making it more likely the missiles will hit their targets.
The use of ground-based missile systems against the Iranian navy reflects the Pentagon’s goal of knocking out mine-laying ships in port in the early stages of a conflict with Iran, according to a former military official, including small speedboats the Iranians employ to harass ships and potentially drop mines.
More than 100 Iranian naval vessels have been severely damaged, destroyed or sunk, including four Soleimani-class warships known as corvettes, more than 30 minelayers and a drone carrier, U.S. officials say. It is unclear how many were hit by U.S. missiles.
For the Pentagon, there is another benefit to demonstrating its missile capabilities in combat: It sends a message to China and other potential adversaries. The strikes on Iranian vessels from across the Persian Gulf were conducted with the same types of missiles the U.S. is planning to use in the Pacific in case of war with China.
In the Pacific, U.S. mobile missiles deployed to islands in places like the Philippines could strike enemy ships from afar. That would complicate any effort by China to send an invasion force across the Taiwan Strait, or to blockade the island with its huge navy.
Grant Rumley, a former Pentagon official and a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, a Washington think tank, said use of the missiles against Iran “will give Chinese military planners another wrinkle to consider.”