China shows a light truck that fires 20 guided rockets, its smaller take on HIMARS

China has shown a new light rocket launcher that mounts a single 20-round pod of 122mm rockets on a 4x4 tactical truck, according to images that began circulating on 13 October and were reported by Defence Blog and Defense WarRoom. Defense WarRoom said the pictures, which show the launcher firing in salvo, carried the watermark of an official People's Liberation Army social media account. A description posted on X by the Chinese military commentator DS Beifeng said the rockets can be guided or unguided and reach a maximum range of 40 kilometres.

The Liberty Times military channel, reporting the images on 14 October, said the launcher uses a box-type module that crews swap out as a whole after firing instead of reloading each tube by hand. It cautioned that the public information so far comes mainly from social media images and claims, that no independent test data have been released, and that it is not yet possible to confirm whether the system has formally entered service or been delivered to units.

Reports differ on the truck itself. Defence Blog and the Liberty Times describe it as an upgraded third-generation Dongfeng Mengshi, known as the MV3, while Defense WarRoom attributes the MV3 family to First Automobile Works and says it became a standard PLA military truck in 2011. All three agree the launcher rides on a light 4x4 chassis rather than the heavier trucks that carry most Chinese rocket artillery, and Defense WarRoom said the PLA has released no designation, unit assignment or official specifications.

Defense WarRoom said the single pod carries half the load of the in-service PHL-11, which mounts two 20-round pods on a heavier truck, and that the layout resembles the SR7 launcher Norinco showed at IDEX in 2017. It noted that the same chassis already carries the PCL-161 truck-mounted howitzer, and that Chinese state television aired footage in July 2021 of a similar 20-tube launcher with a Tibet Military Command brigade, so it remains unclear whether this is a new design or a matured version. The outlet linked the push for lighter wheeled fires mainly to brigades on the high plateau facing India.

Times of Defence, a Turkish defence outlet, went further, describing the launcher as built for air-assault, airborne, amphibious light infantry and mountain units and saying it can be carried inside Y-20 transport aircraft or slung under heavy-lift helicopters. The PLA has not confirmed those claims, and Defense WarRoom said the launcher's weight, and therefore its air-mobility, has not been released.

Both specialist outlets compared the concept with the US M142 HIMARS, which carries one pod of six 227mm GMLRS guided rockets on a five-ton 6x6 truck. Defense WarRoom put the GMLRS range at about 70 kilometres with a warhead of roughly 90 kilograms, against about 18 kilograms for a standard Grad-class 122mm rocket, and judged the Chinese launcher closer to brigade and battalion close support than to the deep-strike role HIMARS fills for US and allied forces.

Taiwan is building its own rocket force around HIMARS. A military source told the Taipei Times in May that Taiwan would hold 111 HIMARS launchers and 504 ATACMS missiles once all batches arrive, and that the army planned to station some on Penghu and Dongyin so that PLA landing assembly points in Fujian would fall within range. The Liberty Times noted that the PLA already fields wheeled and tracked 122mm launchers and the long-range PHL-191, and said the new vehicle stands out for putting short-range rocket fire on a lighter truck.

For Taiwan, the more useful question is where such a launcher could travel rather than how far it shoots. If it reaches light or air-assault units with guided rounds, a 40-kilometre rocket on a small truck would give them their own fire support close to the front, while Taiwan's HIMARS and ATACMS are meant to reach much deeper, into the staging areas those units would leave from. Defense WarRoom said the designation, maker, service status and munition mix are still unknown, and suggested Airshow China in Zhuhai from 10 to 15 November could bring the first confirmed details.