British Defense Minister Ben Wallace announced the dispatch of M270 MLRS field rocket launchers to Ukrainians.
This decision comes in response to Ukrainian forces' demands for longer-range precision weapons to defend against Russian heavy artillery, which is achieving devastating results in the Donbass theater of operations.
The minister stated that: “The UK stands with Ukraine in this fight and is taking a leading role in providing its heroic troops with the vital weapons they need to defend their country from an unprovoked invasion. If the international community continues to support it, I believe that Ukraine can win ".
Ukrainian gunners will be trained in the use of MLRS in the UK, in order to maximize the effectiveness of the systems. Previously, Britain announced that Ukrainian personnel would be trained in the use of a range of protected vehicles, such as M, Husky e Wolfhound.
The 270 mm M227 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) field rocket launcher was created following a 1976 US Army specification. The first units entered service in 1983.
In the same year, the MLRS-EPG consortium was created in Munich, consisting of Dihel, Hunting Engineering, Aerospatiale and Snia-BPD, in charge of the production of vehicles and ammunition for the 4 European nations (including Italy). The consortium's first deliveries, which took place in 1989, involved a total of 284 launchers and 190 rockets.
The system consists of a launcher-loader vehicle Self Propelled Launcher-Loader (SPLL) and the 227 mm ammunition formed by various types of rockets.
On the back of the chassis (which is an elongated version of the IFV M-2 Bradley) the launcher-magazine is placed with two "packs", each containing 6 rockets.
Great Britain is equipped with about 40 M270B1, version equipped with INS / GPS GMLRS guided rockets (18 units also supplied to the 5th rgt land artillery Superga of the Italian Army) capable of reaching the maximum range of 70 km. Probably, in the coming months, the Ukrainians will also be able to receive the most recent version of the rocket, GMLRS-ER, credited with a maximum range of 150 km.
Photo: British Army
