“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 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 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 described as an air war, land-based systems provide another dimension.
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. Himars is an acronym for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, an Army truck that carries pods of rockets or missiles. The missiles can travel from 200 to 300 miles, meaning they likely were fired from territory of Persian Gulf countries. No country 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. while 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. "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 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 fighter jets 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."
Thomas Karako, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the decision to use the land-based missiles early in the war reflected the Pentagon's desire to use Army ground-based missiles with Air Force and Navy warplanes as well as longer-range cruise missiles from submarines or warships to attack Iran. It was also a chance to test the Precision Strike missile, which has a longer range than older ATACMS, in 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.
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. U.A.E.'s government didn't reply to a request for comment on 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 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 permission to the U.S. 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.
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 the targets.” [1]
1. World News: Land-Based Missiles Crucial to War. Cloud, David S. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 19 Mar 2026: A6.
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