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U.S. Reveals Precision ATACMS Strikes from M142 HIMARS on Iranian Targets During Operation Epic Fury.
U.S. Central Command on 1 March 2026 released unclassified footage showing an M142 HIMARS launching ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles toward targets in Iran during Operation Epic Fury. The rare public disclosure highlights the use of U.S. ground-launched deep strike capabilities in a coordinated operation with Israel, signaling escalation control and deterrence messaging at the outset of a major campaign.
On 1 March 2026, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released an unclassified video on X showing an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launching tactical ballistic missiles toward targets in Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. The accompanying message stated that the Iranian leadership had been warned and described the action as “swift and decisive,” underlining that the strikes were carried out under presidential direction. The footage offers a rare, officially sanctioned view of ground-launched deep-strike systems being employed in the opening phase of a major US-led operation, conducted jointly with the United States’ ally Israel.
U.S. Central Command released unclassified footage showing an M142 HIMARS launching ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles toward targets in Iran during the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury, underscoring the use of U.S. ground-based deep strike capabilities in a joint action with Israel (Picture Source: CENTCOM)
The short clip, filmed at night, shows a single HIMARS vehicle elevating its launcher pod before firing an Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) round, followed by a bright exhaust plume and shockwave characteristic of a large solid-fuel missile. CENTCOM does not specify the launch location, the type of targets, or the immediate results of the strike, and at the time of writing, there is no official battle damage assessment publicly available for this particular salvo. The video is part of a broader communication effort around Operation Epic Fury, in which US officials say strikes are aimed at degrading Iranian command-and-control nodes, air-defense assets, and elements of the country’s missile and drone infrastructure, while acknowledging that details on individual engagements remain limited.
HIMARS itself is a wheeled, highly mobile launcher that carries a single pod able to fire either six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets or one ATACMS missile. Mounted on a 6x6 tactical truck, the system is designed for rapid “shoot-and-move” employment, reducing its exposure to counter-battery fire or retaliatory strikes once it has revealed its position. In the deep-fire role shown in the CENTCOM video, HIMARS functions less as a traditional artillery piece and more as a theater strike platform, delivering a small number of high-value munitions at long range. The system has been deployed for years at US bases across the Middle East, including in Kuwait and other Gulf states, providing ground forces with the option to conduct precision strikes from outside the range of many short- and medium-range threats.
The ATACMS missile family, designated MGM-140, is a 610 mm tactical ballistic missile with a maximum range of about 300 km in its later variants, enabling it to hit targets deep inside an adversary’s territory from positions well behind the front line or outside national borders. Weighing roughly 1.7 tonnes, ATACMS is launched vertically from the HIMARS pod before pitching over onto a ballistic trajectory and climbing to altitudes of tens of kilometers at supersonic speeds. Different versions carry either unitary high-explosive warheads or, in older configurations, cluster munitions, though US stockpiles have increasingly shifted toward unitary options in recent years. Guidance is provided by GPS-aided inertial navigation, a combination that allows the missile to maintain a programmed trajectory and retain a measure of accuracy even if satellite signals are degraded, a feature intended to improve resilience against electronic warfare.
In the context of Operation Epic Fury, ATACMS offers US planners the ability to engage fixed, high-value targets such as command bunkers, radar sites, air bases, and logistics hubs from dispersed ground launchers that are difficult to detect and track. US officials and media reports indicate that HIMARS is one of several systems used in the current campaign, alongside sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, air-delivered munitions, and newly introduced one-way attack drones, allowing a mix of ballistic, cruise, and unmanned capabilities to be applied against Iranian targets. The CENTCOM video does not clarify which ATACMS variant is fired, nor does it identify the exact target set, but its publication makes clear that ground-based deep-strike missiles form a visible part of the US toolkit in this operation.
ATACMS has previously been used in combat by US forces during the Gulf War and the Iraq War, and more recently by partner nations such as Ukraine, where the missiles have been employed against command posts, airfields, and logistics nodes. Its reappearance now in a large-scale operation against Iran marks a continuation of a trend towards long-range, precision surface-to-surface fires as a means of shaping the battlespace early in a campaign. The decision to publicly release missile-launch footage serves both an informational and signalling function: it documents one element of US operations while underscoring the message of reach and precision that Washington wishes to convey, even as the broader humanitarian and strategic consequences continue to be debated.
The newly released CENTCOM footage confirms that HIMARS-launched ATACMS missiles are being used as part of Operation Epic Fury, adding a ground-based ballistic component to an already complex mix of sea-, air-, and drone-delivered strikes. The video itself reveals little about specific targets or outcomes, but it does highlight the role of long-range, GPS-guided tactical missiles in US planning for deep precision strikes. From a technical perspective, the combination of a mobile HIMARS launcher and a 300 km-class ATACMS round offers the ability to engage high-value sites inside Iran from positions in neighboring states, while keeping launch crews relatively distant from direct retaliation. At the political and humanitarian level, however, the use of such systems in densely populated regions will likely remain under close international scrutiny, as independent assessments of the operation’s impact emerge. For now, the public record mainly shows that ATACMS is one of the principal tools the United States has chosen for ground-launched strikes in this phase of the confrontation with Iran, with many operational details still undisclosed.