M270 MLRS ( eng. M ultiple L aunch R ocket S ystem , also known as SPLL ( eng. Self-Propelled Loader / Launcher )) is an American universal launcher used as a MLRS and for launching tactical missiles . Also in the 1980s, the possibility of launching AGM-137 TSSAM cruise missiles from it was explored. Developed by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control . Adopted by the US Army in 1983 .
| M270 MLRS | |||||||||||||||||
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| Classification | MLRS | ||||||||||||||||
| Chassis | M2 Bradley | ||||||||||||||||
| Story | |||||||||||||||||
| Developer Country |  USA | ||||||||||||||||
| Years of production | 1980–2003 | ||||||||||||||||
| Years of operation | since 1983 [1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Number released | ~ 1300 pcs. | ||||||||||||||||
| Dimensions | |||||||||||||||||
| Weight in combat | 24 560 kg | ||||||||||||||||
| Length in the stowed position | 6970 mm | ||||||||||||||||
| Width in the stowed position | 2970 mm | ||||||||||||||||
| Height in the stowed position | 2620 mm | ||||||||||||||||
| Armament | |||||||||||||||||
| Caliber | 227 mm | ||||||||||||||||
| Number of guides | 12 [2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Minimum shooting range | 2000 m | ||||||||||||||||
| Maximum shooting range | 40,000 ( MFOM ), 80,000 ( AFOM )) m | ||||||||||||||||
| Lesion area | 25,000 [3] m² | ||||||||||||||||
| BM calculation | 3 people | ||||||||||||||||
| Volley time | 48 s | ||||||||||||||||
| Mobility | |||||||||||||||||
| engine's type |
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| Engine power | 500 l. with. | ||||||||||||||||
| Maximum speed on the highway | 64 km / h | ||||||||||||||||
| Cruising on the highway | 480 km | ||||||||||||||||
The launcher is mounted on the tracked base of the American Bradley platform. In the cockpit is a crew of three people: the commander of the installation, the gunner and the driver.
Content
History
Candidate cars at the competitive selection stage: Boeing (left) and Wout (right) | ||
In the second half of the 1960s. The US Army Missile Forces Directorate initiated the Multiple Artillery Rocket System program, abbreviated MARS, in the 1970s. called the General Support Rocket System , abbr. GSRS). At the initial stage of the program, five companies of the military industry presented their advance projects, five of which were selected by the jury in the spring of 1976 for further study. Contracts worth $ 855 thousand were signed with the companies that went to the qualifying round, with each one to conduct development work and to make prototypes. Prototypes were required to be simple, unpretentious and reliable machines, providing high mobility and fire density [5] . Samples of the Boeing and Vout companies (both on the chassis made by EF-EM- Corporation on the basis of the Bradley family of cars with a 500-hp diesel engine, 500 hp), which delivered to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland for troop testing of road performance of vehicles and their reliability by the method of wear and resistance tests of rockets and electronics against vibration and shock loads during movement. The test program envisaged seven hundred miles on each vehicle for various types of soil. The test period lasted until May 1980, when the winner was to be determined. The mass of the missile complex in relation to the total mass of the machine was at that time two-thirds (20 of 30 thousand pounds), the undercarriage ensured the overcoming of a 60-degree rise, 40-degree slope, a 90-centimeter wall, a meter trench and water obstacles of a meter depth wade [6] . In early 1980, in order to comply with the requirements of international agreements on standardization within the framework of the NATO partner countries , the program was renamed and received the name Multiple Launch Rocket System , abbr. MLRS. At this stage, the program went beyond the national armed forces, the military departments and companies of the military industry of Great Britain , Germany and France joined it, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the four countries to work together and adopt the system as soon as possible in the early 1980s years [7] .
Modifications
- The M270A1 resulted from the 2005 US Army Renewal Program. The missile looks identical to the M270, but includes a developed fire control system (IFCS) and an improved launcher (ILMS). All this greatly reduces deployment time and expands the range of used ammunition, including GPS-guided missiles.
- M270B1 upgrades for the British Army, similar to the M270A1, but has improved armor to protect the crew
For MLRS and HIMARS, there are 2 families of ammunition:
MFOM
MFOM ammunition ( M LRS F amily o f M unitions - MLRS family of ammunition ) include:
- M26 - 227-mm uncontrollable rocket projectile with a cluster head (cumulative fragmentation sub-elements M77 )
- M26A2 - a 227-mm unguided missile with a cluster head (cumulative fragmentation sub-elements M77 ) and an increased range ( ER MLRS )
- M26A1 - a 227-mm unguided missile with a cluster head (sub-elements M85 ) and an extended range ( ER MLRS ) (in development)
- GMLRS ( Eng. Guided MLRS - managed MLRS) - 240 mm guided (inertial + GPS) missile with a cluster head ( M85 subelements) and extended range ( ER MLRS ) (in development) [8]
- M28 - 227-mm training rocket
- M28A1 - 227-mm training missile with a reduced range
- AT-2 - 227-mm cluster missile - director of mines
AFOM
The AFOM Ammunition Family ( English A rmy TACMS) Amily o F M unitions - ATACMS family of ammunition includes the following types of ATACMS missiles:
- ATACMS Block I is a tactical missile with a cluster headpiece for 950 combat elements, with a range of up to 80 km and an inertial control system
- ATACMS Block IA - tactical missile with a cluster headpiece for 300 combat elements, with a range of up to 80 km and an inertial control system (SS) integrated with a GPS receiver
- ATACMS Block IA Unitary - a tactical missile with a high-explosive warhead weighing 500 pounds, with a range of up to 80 km and an inertial control system (SS) integrated with a GPS receiver
- ATACMS Block II - a tactical missile with a cluster headpiece on 13 BAT self-aiming combat elements, with a range of up to 140 km (in development)
- ATACMS Block IIA - tactical missile with a cluster head on 6 BAT (improved design) self-aiming combat elements, with a range of up to 160 km (in development)
TTX
- Projectile diameter: 227 mm
- Projectile length: 3960 mm
- Projectile weight: 258-310 kg (depending on the type of warhead)
- Weight BS: 107—159 kg
- Minimum shooting range: 10 km
- Firing range:
- M26A1 / A2 missiles - 45 km [9]
- With the GMLRS M30 missiles - 70 km [9]
- ATACMS Block IA missiles — 80km [9]
- Fighting machine
- Length: 6.9 m
- Width: 2.97 m
- Height: 2.6 m
- Mass BM in the combat position: 25 tons
- Maximum speed on the highway: 65 km / h
- Power reserve: 500 km
- Preparation time for shooting BM: 2 min. (from the moment of engaging the firing position)
- Full salvo time (12 missiles): 60 s
- Year of adoption: 1983
- Price: $ 4.0 million [10]
In service
Currently it is in service with the armies of 16 countries of the world:
- Bahrain - 9 MLRS, as of 2016 [11]
- Great Britain - 35 M270, as of 2016 [12]
- Germany - 38 MLRS, as of 2016 [13]
- Greece - 36 MLRS, as of 2016 [14]
- Denmark - 12 MLRS in, as of 2016 (pending disposal / decommissioning) [15]
- Egypt - 26 M270, as of 2016 [16]
- Israel - 60 M270 (of which 30 are in storage), as of 2016 [17]
- Italy - 21 MLRS, as of 2016 [18]
- The Netherlands - 22 MLRS, as of 2007 [19]
- Norway - 12 MLRS, as of 2007 [20]
- Republic of Korea - 29 M270, as of 2016 [21]
- United States - 830 M270A1 and an unknown number of M270, as of 2016 [22]
- Turkey - 12 MLRS, as of 2016 [23]
- Finland - 22 M270, as of 2016 [24]
- France - 13 M270, as of 2016 [25]
- Japan - 99 M270, as of 2016 [26]
Combat use
Gulf War (1991)
The M270 MLRS was used during Operation Desert Storm (a total of 32 MGM-140A missiles were launched against Iraqi targets [27] ).
The Iraq War (2003–2011)
GMLRS actively used to destroy the Iraqi partisans and the country's infrastructure. [28]
Second Lebanon War (2006)
M270 MLRS (called “Menatets” - “destroyer” in AOI ) were used in the war in July 2006 for the first time in 12 years [29] of being in the AOI formation (since 1994) . Dozens of rocket launchers and dozens of militants from the Hezbollah movement were destroyed as a result of the use of the MLRS M270, and about 24 civilians were killed [30] , some of whom died from unexploded bombs from M270 cluster munitions left over from the war. The use of the MLRS and its consequences have caused criticism throughout the world. Due to criticism, Chief of the General Staff Dan Halutz denied that he had ordered MLRS to be used near populated areas, and appointed a commission to check the possible order at the lower command levels [31] . In the same war were first used so-called. Israeli-developed “ trajectory-adjusted ” missiles , which are now replacing standard M270 cluster munitions in IDF [32] .
Notes
- ↑ M270 MLRS
- ↑ MLRS, United States of America
- ↑ MLRS multiple launch rocket system
- ↑ VTA 903-T660
- ↑ Under Study GSRS System . // Field Artillery Journal , May-June 1976, v. 44, no. 3, p. 52.
- ↑ GSRS Prototypes Begin Mobility Testing . // Army Research and Development , September-October 1979, v. 20, no. 5, p. 6
- ↑ GSRS Renamed Multiple Launch Rocket System . // Army Research, Development & Acquisition Magazine , January-February 1980, v. 21, no. 1, p. 29.
- ↑ US ordered a new rocket for multiple rocket launchers
- ↑ 1 2 3 MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System (English) (inaccessible link) . - The official booklet of the company Lockheed Martin. The appeal date is April 23, 2010. Archived on October 23, 2007.
- ↑ Rosoboronexport, press review (inaccessible link)
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 322.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 152.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 101.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - P. 104.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 89.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 324.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 334.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - P. 11.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2007. - p. 130.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2007. - p. 132.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 267.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 40.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 148.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 93.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - P. 96.
- ↑ The Military Balance 2016. - p. 261.
- ↑ Lockheed Martin (LTV) MGM-140 ATACMS (English) . Designation-Systems.net (September 19, 2006). The appeal date is November 22, 2009. Archived March 29, 2012.
- ↑ GMLRS was successfully applied in Iraq
- ↑ צה"ל מפעיל לראשונה רקטות MLRS - כללי - הארץ
- ↑ עדות: המטכ"ל אישר את כל היעדים לירי רקטות מצרר - כללי - הארץ
- ↑ חדשות - צבא וביטחון nrg - ... חלוץ: מי הורה על שימוש בפצצות
- ↑ Error in footnotes ? : Invalid
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Literature
- Gogin V., Fedoseev A. Prospects for the development of multiple launch rocket systems (Rus.) // Foreign Military Review. - M. , 1995. - № 1 . - p . 26-32 . - ISSN 0134-921X .
- Regents M. American MLRS MLRS (rus.) // Foreign Military Review. - M .: "Red Star", 1987. - № 4 . - pp . 23-25 . - ISSN 0134-921X .
Links
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to M270 MLRS
- MLRS multiple launch rocket system
- MLRS multiple launch rocket system
- Lockheed Martin (Vought) MLRS Rockets (M26 / M30 / M31) in English