The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS)
is an American armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher
Since the first M270s were delivered to the U.S. Army in 1983
the MLRS has been adopted by several NATO countries
Some 1,300 M270 systems have been manufactured in the United States and in Europe
along with more than 700,000 rockets
The system can fire rockets or MGM-140 ATACMS missiles
which are contained in interchangeable pods
Each pod contains six standard rockets or one guided ATACMS missile
the two types cannot be mixed
The LLM can hold two pods at a time
which are hand-loaded using an integrated winch system
All twelve rockets or two ATACMS missiles can be fired in under a minute
One launcher firing twelve rockets can completely blanket one square kilometer with submunitions
A typical MLRS cluster salvo consisted of three M270 vehicles each firing all 12 rockets
With each rocket containing 644 M77 grenades
the entire salvo would drop 23,184 grenades in the target area
The M777 howitzer, is a towed 155 mm artillery piece in the howitzer class
It is used by the ground forces of Australia, Canada
India, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and the United States
First used in combat during the US war in Afghanistan
The M777 succeeded the M198 howitzer in the United States Marine Corps and United States Army in 2005
In 2014 the US military began fielding several upgrades to its M777 howitzers
including new liquid crystal display units
software updates, improved power systems
and muzzle sensors for onboard ballistic computing
The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS)
is a light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s
for the United States Army and mounted on a standard Army M1140 truck frame
The M142 carries one pod with either six GMLRS rockets
or two PrSM missiles, or one ATACMS missile
on the U.S. Army's new Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles five-ton truck
and can launch the entire Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions
M142 ammunition pods are interchangeable with the M270 MLRS
however, it is only able to carry one pod
rather than the standard two for the M270 and its variants