By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
MLRS Might Seem Like a Super Weapon: At the very beginning of the war in Ukraine, when Russia began indiscriminate rocket attacks on civilian areas, neighborhoods and national institutions, children were being murdered. Families and civilians too, along with hospitals and other vital areas fell victim to what appeared to be a deliberate effort to terrorize and kill the Ukrainians in the hope of achieving rapid victory.
Ukrainians, however, did not back down but instead mounted a defensive effort and counterattack, which stunned the world with its intensity and unanticipated success.
The sheer will to fight to defend families and the country seemed to capture and motivate an irrepressible vigor within the entire population.
Ukraine Wanted MLRS: Why?
Tactically, there was an immediate need to blunt, intercept or stop these Russian attacks on children during the early days of the war. President Zelensky asked for MLRS, Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. Why these weapons?
The reason seems clear, as Ukraine did not have air superiority sufficient to destroy Russian rocket launchers from the air, and the rockets were being fired from several hundred miles away, which is beyond the 30km range of standard 155 artillery.
However, Ukraine did have satellite and NATO-supported surveillance such that they could likely track mobile Russian rocket launchers.
The only way to destroy the long-range, 200-to-300-mile-away Russian rocket attacks was to destroy the launchers from the ground with longer-range rockets. This is likely why Zelensky asked for MLRS.
Sure enough, MLRS and GPS-guided GMLRS began arriving in sufficient numbers, a development which clearly turned the tide of the war in favor of Ukrainian resistance.
Large numbers of rockets began to arrive and not long after, Ukrainians began launching some successful counterattacks and re-taking territory.
Once assumed to result in rapid victory, the Russian invasion has been stalled, stopped, slowed down and destroyed, generating what is now a protracted war.
What Is This Weapon?
MLRS and GMLRs can fire from truck-mounted HIMARS launchers, known as High Mobility Rocket Systems.
These weapons, loaded onto the back of a Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) truck, can position and fire 80km-ranged, precision-guided rockets from tactically advantageous positions.
Their arrival likely saved and continues to save thousands of Ukrainian lives.
The success of HIMARS and GMLRS did not go unnoticed at the Pentagon, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley was quoted by Reuters saying “We are seeing real and measurable gains from Ukraine in the use of these systems.
For example, the Ukrainians have struck over 400 targets with the HIMARS and they’ve had devastating effect.”
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
