Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Friday announced his nation has received
its first tranche of M270s.
The "first MLRS M270 has arrived!” he stated in a Tweet.
“They will be good company for #HIMARS on the battlefield.
Thank you to our partners.
No mercy for the enemy.”
Reznikov did not state which nation provided these.
Viewers may note that both the United Kingdom and Norway have promised to provide versions
of the U.S.-made system to Ukraine.
Also, the German government has pledged to supply MARS II systems, which is essentially
a country-specific variant of the M270.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why the arrival of American M270 MLRS in Ukraine
is worrisome for Russia?
Let's get into the details.
The M270 MLRS is a highly mobile automatic system that fires surface-to-surface rockets.
The launcher, which is mounted on a stretched Bradley chassis, is a self-loading and self-aiming
system.
It contains a fire control computer that integrates the vehicle and rocket launching operations.
As per Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer , the MLRS Family of Munitions (MLRS MFOM) can be
fired in less than one minute by the three-man crew
M270 MLRS is essentially the big daddy of HIMARS.
The main difference between the M270 and M142 HIMARS is the chassis they use.
HIMARS uses wheeled chassis designed for rapid deployment, and dismantling of the complex.
M270 MLRS has a crawler chassis, is slightly less agile but can be deployed in very rough
terrains.
Like HIMARS, M142 can cover a distance of 300 miles or 480 km on a single refueling.
Importantly, M270 MLRS can also support more weight.
While HIMARS has one universal canisterized pod that can accommodate 6 unguided/guided
missiles of 227 mm caliber each or one MGM-140 ATACMS with a diameter of 610 mm, M270 MLRS
carry two such universal pods.
So, M270 has twice the strike package.
All of these rounds come preloaded in ammunition pods so reloading is quick.
M270 employs the "shoot and scoot" principle to limit vulnerability to counter-battery
fire.
M270 like HIMARS designed to support joint early and forced entry expeditionary operations
with high-volume destructive, suppressive, and counter-battery fires.
Similar to HIMARS, M270 is able to fire a wide range of rockets and missiles.
1.
M270 can fire standard rockets at a maximum range of 28 miles or 45 km.
2.
With the extended range guided rocket GMLRS or Guided MLRS, M270 can reach a land target
at a maximum range of 46 miles or 75 km.
GMLRS rockets have a reliability rating exceeding 98 %. There are different types of GMLRS that
have different types of warheads.
The Guided MLRS Unitary round integrates a 200-pound unitary warhead, providing precision
strike for point targets.
Guided MLRS AW or Alternative Warhead round delivers a 200-pound class fragmenting warhead
that has 160,000 preformed tungsten fragments.
It is designed to blanket a large area with a single rocket.
3.
M270 can strike 186 miles or 300 km with the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System or ATACMS.
The ATACMS weighs 1,670 kg or 3680 lbs, develops a maximum speed of Max 3, and has integrated
a system for GPS-aided inertial navigation guidance.
It is likely to be the most potent armament for the M270 since the longer-range Precision
Strike Missile is still under development.
M270 can carry two of these.
It is to be noted that ATACMS have not been provided to Ukraine.
HIMARS has been used to take out Russian long-range artillery batteries, ammunition depots as
well as command centers.
Ukraine said it had recently killed another Russian commander after HIMARS missiles struck
a Russian command and control center in the southern Kherson region.
It is evident that HIMARS is having an impact on the battlefield though only about 8 are
presently thought to be deployed.
M270 MLRS will have a similar impact with less number of units.
While Russian forces could potentially intercept these with a system like Tor-M2, Pantsir-S,
the likelihood is low.
It is also unrealistic to jam GPS-guided missiles.
Some reports suggest that Ukrainian forces are using them along with Russian-made systems
such as BM-21 Grad to make defense even more difficult since Air defense gets saturated.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov credited western-supplied arms, which have a longer
range and are more accurate than Ukraine’s old Soviet-era artillery, with reducing the
death toll among Ukrainian troops in the eastern Donbas region, which reached an average of
100 a day in May.
More rockets and artillery would be essential for any Ukrainian attempt to push back Russian
forces in a counter-offensive, he said, adding: “By the end of this year there will be a
serious change in the battlefield in Ukraine’s favor.
I hope we will see the counter-offensive campaign this year and [that] it will be successful.”
It is pretty clear that M270 MLRS with its massive firepower will play a critical role
going forward.
If a decent amount of this system is made available to Ukraine, it is not hard to see
that Russia will have a very hard time dealing with their accurate firepower.