DefenseUS Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ricardo Davila
US Army soldiers fire a high mobility artillery rocket system during a live fire exercise at Adazi Training Grounds, Latvia, June 8, 2017.
The tactic essentially turns the US's tried and tested HIMARS into a scoot and shoot weapons system with wings, and it's the perfect solution for the problems posed by the South China Sea.
"This is a critical step in validating our role in the Asia-Pacific response force," 2nd Lt. Joe McNeil, a platoon leader involved in the exercise said in a statement. "It validates our ability to integrate into different units from the Army, Air Force and Marines, and to support any kind of mission with fires."
To China's potent missile forces, large US bases in the Pacific look like appetizing targets, so the US has been coming up with ways to fight smarter from smaller, spread out, and even improvised locations. The C-17 lends itself perfectly to this application, as it can land on dirt runways under difficult conditions.