Ексклюзивно у день Служби безпеки України АрміяInform після спілкування з представником Обʼєднаного центру координації пошуку та звільнення полонених, незаконно позбавлених…
You might have seen that the US is already helping a lot. This is true. Ukrainians are thankful a lot. But it’s not enough for Ukraine to protect the whole world from a massive threat to humanity.
Ukraine uses old soviet MLRSs like Grad, Smerch and Tornado, and is currently lacking both MRLS units and ammo. In particular, MLRS such as multiple fire jet systems M270, M142 HIMARS or NATO alternatives. At present, such systems have not yet been supplied to Ukraine by the Allies. We will talk about them in more detail and why Ukraine needs them.
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an 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 production of the M270 ended in 2003, when a last batch was delivered to the Egyptian Army.
The M270 MLRS includes combat vehicle M270 (self-propelled launcher); 227-mm unguided rockets (NKR) in transport and launch containers (TPK) and fire control equipment; transport and charging machine; communication and control system.
Another type of MLRS that Ukraine needs is M142 HIMARS. The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is a light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s for the United States Army, mounted on a standard Army M1140 truck frame.
The HIMARS carries six rockets or one MGM-140 ATACMS missile on the U.S. Army’s new Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) five-ton truck, and can launch the entire Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions (MFOM). HIMARS ammunition is interchangeable with the MLRS M270A1; however, it is only able to carry one pod rather than the standard two for the M270 and A1 variants.
The launcher is C-130 transportable. The chassis was initially produced by BAE Systems Mobility & Protection Systems (formerly Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defense Group Tactical Vehicle Systems Division), the original equipment manufacturer of the FMTV. In 2010, production of the chassis was taken over by the Oshkosh Corporation. This ended in 2017; both chassis and launcher system are now produced by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control in Camden, Arkansas.
Currently, Ukraine needs 100 units + rockets of the systems described above. This military support will enable Ukraine to reclaim territory lost since February 24th and bring Russia to the negotiating table — not as a superpower throwing ultimatums, but as a neighbor willing to make real concessions. However, without additional weaponry, this war will become an endless bloodbath, spreading misery, suffering, and destruction.
Mykola Fedorkiv
