How MLRS Ground Rockets Saved Ukrainians

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.