M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS)
| Type: | Surface-to-surface rocket artillery |
| Range: | Variant-dependent, up to 40 miles (64km) |
| Number of rockets: | Up to 12 |
| Launch Rate: | Individually or up to 12 rockets in less than one minute |
| Propulsion: | Solid propellant |
| Guidance: | Variant-dependent, free-flying or guided |
| Warhead: | MLRS Family of Munitions (MFOM) |
| Length: | 13 feet (4.0m) |
| Diameter: | 9 inches (23cm) |
| First tested: | October 1977 |
The Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) was a surface-to-surface field artillery weapons system developed under the Army’s General Support Rocket System (GSRS) in the 1970s to replace older single-round missile artillery systems, such as the Little John, Honest John, Lacrosse, etc., while augmenting conventional gun-type artillery. The original MLRS carrier vehicle was based on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle family and held two rocket pods with six rockets each. The crew of three operated the fire mission control system from inside the cab and could launch a ripple of up to twelve rockets with a five-second launch interval between each round. Following completion of the firing mission, the crew could immediately begin movement to a resupply point to reload or to another position for the next mission, a tactical concept known as “shoot and scoot.”
The MLRS system led to the development of a wide variety of rounds, collectively known as the MLRS Family of Munitions (MFOM). MFOM rounds could carry a large, single warhead or Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) grenades numbering in the hundreds. Examples of the MFOM submunitions, excluding the Army
Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), include the M77, M85 and M101 DPICMs (each warhead carried 644, 518, and 404 DPICMs, respectively), twenty-eight AT-2 anti-tank mines, six M898 Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM) submunitions, and three Terminal Guidance Warhead (TGM) submunitions.
Following the First Gulf War, in which the MLRS and its submunitions were heavily used and referred to as “steel rain” in an extremely successful propaganda campaign, the Army began multiple lines of effort directed at upgrading the MLRS. The Gulf War had shown that the MLRS was not mobile enough for rapid deployment, necessitating the development of the M142 High Mobility Rocket Artillery System (HIMARS), which replaced the tracked vehicle with a wheeled truck frame. However, the improvement in mobility also required sacrificing firepower, with the HIMARS only carrying one six-round rocket pod. Updates to the MLRS round focused on extending its range and adding guidance capabilities. Called the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), these improved missiles have also traded in their hundreds of submunitions for preformed fragments and single high-explosive warheads. The first successful GMLRS round was fired on 13 May 1998 at WSMR.
