Multiple-launch rocket systems, or MLRS for short, are perhaps the most effective weapons the West has given Ukraine. Unlike conventional artillery, which fire shells, the M270 and its little brother the HIMARS fire rockets which travel much further and are much more accurate. In less than 60 seconds, these weapon systems can unleash a salvo of up to 12 rockets, then pack up and drive off before the target even knows they’re being shot at. This makes the a nightmare to find and destroy, and they have caused particular problems for Russia.
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NewsTranscript
00:00What we're looking at here is an M270 multiple launch rocket system opening fire on Russian
00:05targets in Ukraine.
00:07Rocket artillery like the M270 and its little brother HIMARS are perhaps the most effective
00:12weapons the West has given to Kiev to date.
00:16They have blown up tons of precious Russian ammunition, brought down bridges and railway
00:20lines and helped level the battlefield between Ukraine and its much larger opponent.
00:26But what makes them so good?
00:28We are going to examine this table, explain the tactics, get up close with the M270 on
00:33a NATO training base in Finland and speak to the commander of an MLRS battery to find
00:38out.
00:39This is the M270 multiple launch rocket system, or MLRS for short.
00:45It's a type of artillery, but rather than firing shells like a howitzer, it shoots rockets.
00:50It can carry up to 12 of them, which are stored in two pods with six rockets in each pod.
00:56These pods are loaded by hand, then winched into place on top of the vehicle using built-in
01:01cranes.
01:02They're stored up here, inside a launcher loader module, or LLM for short.
01:08This can rotate left and right and tilt up and down to point the rockets at their target.
01:13The LLM is mounted on the back of a vehicle called a carrier, which is armoured to protect
01:17it against light weapons like machine guns and grenades.
01:20It weighs about 25 tonnes and has tracks which, unlike tyres, cannot puncture and are less
01:26likely to get stuck in mud, meaning it can cross rough terrain.
01:30The tracks do make it kind of slow though, and it has a top speed of just 40mph.
01:35Inside are three crew, the driver, the gunner and the commander.
01:40Without leaving the cab, these three can get the M270 into position, lock on to a target
01:46and unload all 12 missiles in just 60 seconds.
01:50Once the missiles have been fired, they'll drive away to an ammo storage point where
01:54two more loaded missile pods will be waiting for them, they'll winch those into place,
01:58then drive on to a hiding location where the M270 can be concealed until it's time for
02:03its next mission.
02:04The M270 also has a little brother, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS,
02:11which works basically the same way, except it's half the size.
02:15It only has one pod on top, holding 6 rockets instead of 12, and has wheels instead of tracks.
02:21This makes it lighter, faster and quicker to fire and reload.
02:25If we go back to the tape, we can see the M270 in action.
02:29Here's the driver, and here's his commander and gunner.
02:33You can see the rocket pods are already loaded on top of their vehicle.
02:37This one is full of rockets, and this one here is empty.
02:40On the bottom of the rocket tubes, they've written messages for the Russians.
02:44This one says for Dnipro, a Ukrainian city that has been the target of Russian attacks.
02:50After receiving orders, they drive the vehicle into position.
02:53Then they use the onboard computer to lock on to their target.
02:57You can see the launch module on the back is now elevated to point at the target.
03:04Once they're locked on, it's rockets away.
03:08The M270 can be loaded with various types of rocket, but the ones donated to Ukraine
03:13mostly fire the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GIMLAS for short.
03:18Each rocket is 13ft long, 227mm wide, weighs up to 660lbs, and has a range of more than
03:2745 miles.
03:29That is much further than standard artillery, which can only range around 18 miles.
03:35GIMLAS rockets have four main sections.
03:38At the back is the tail, with the engine and fins that help stabilise the rocket in the
03:42air.
03:43In front of that is the fuel tank, which powers the rocket.
03:46And in front of that is the payload.
03:49Ukraine has been given two variants, one which includes a single explosive charge weighing
03:54around 200lbs, and a second that has a smaller explosive charge but is packed with thousands
04:00of metal ball bearings.
04:02Near the top of the missile is the guidance system, which includes these little fins,
04:06or canards, that help steer the rocket in the air.
04:10And at the tip is the fuse, which is responsible for detonating it.
04:14If the missile is loaded with a single large explosive, the fuse will detonate on contact,
04:19making it effective against well-protected, high-value targets like command posts or
04:24ammo dumps.
04:25If it is loaded with ball bearings, the fuse will trigger just above the target, throwing
04:30them out across a wide area, which is useful for taking out troops and lightly armoured
04:34vehicles.
04:35Here, I've got some additional footage which shows what I'm talking about.
04:40This shows several precise Gimliz rockets hitting the headquarters of Russian special
04:44forces located in the Kherson region.
04:47You can see one rocket landing just here, and another a few moments later, here.
04:52They kick up a lot of rubble and debris, which means a large and powerful explosion, but
04:56only in one spot, and only as the missile hits.
05:00That means they're armed with the 200lbs single explosive charge set to detonate on contact.
05:06Whereas this tape shows a Gimliz rocket filled with ball bearings hitting a Russian Pion
05:11artillery gun.
05:12You can clearly see the rocket explodes in the air a fraction of a second before it would
05:17have struck its target.
05:19That throws the ball bearings out in a very distinctive circle pattern, which you can
05:22see on the ground here.
05:25This causes far less damage than the impact warhead.
05:28You can actually see the Pion gun is still intact even after a direct hit, although it
05:33is on fire.
05:34It spreads that damage over a far wider area, ensuring any nearby ammo, supply vehicles
05:39or troops are also destroyed.
05:41But the M270 has one more trick up its sleeve.
05:45Instead of being armed with Gimliz rockets, it can be loaded with the Army Tactical Missile
05:49System, or ATACMS for short.
05:53These are the same length as the Gimliz, 13 feet, so they can fit in the same launcher,
05:58but are much wider and heavier.
06:01Because of this, only two of them can fit on top of the M270, one in each pod, or a
06:06single one on HIMARS.
06:08Each missile measures 610mm across, triple the size of the Gimliz, and weighs up to 3,700
06:15pounds, or 1.6 tonnes.
06:20Like the Gimliz, it has four sections.
06:23At the rear is the control section, with the rocket motor and fins used for stability and
06:28steering.
06:29Above that is the fuel tank, and then the warhead.
06:33Again there are two variants, one containing 300 bomblets, small explosive charges designed
06:39to blanket a wide area, or a single high explosive charge weighing 500 pounds.
06:46At the tip is the guidance system, which works off GPS, and the fuse, which can be programmed
06:52to detonate above a target or on impact.
06:55Because the Atacams is so much larger than the Gimliz, it has room for a lot more fuel,
07:00and therefore has a much longer range, up to 186 miles.
07:07For that reason, it's mostly used by Ukraine to carry out strikes deep behind the Russian
07:12front line.
07:13Early last year, Atacams were used to strike sensitive military bases in Crimea, and, more
07:19recently, inside Russia itself.
07:22Taken together, these features make the M270 and HIMARS extremely effective weapons, and
07:27especially against Russia.
07:30But why?
07:31It's because the Russian army relies very heavily on its own artillery to advance on
07:34the battlefield.
07:36Since at least the Second World War, Russia's tactics have been to flatten enemy defences
07:40from long range with lots of big guns, then send in troops to take over the rubble.
07:45In fairness to Putin and his generals, they did try to break their reliance on this tactic
07:49in 2022.
07:50Their initial invasion plan for Ukraine called for a Western-style advance, using skilled
07:55soldiers and a complementary mix of weapons to achieve a rapid victory.
07:59But that went very wrong, very quickly.
08:03After retreating from Kiev and much of the north of Ukraine in spring 2022, Russia refocused
08:08on the Donbass and went back to its age-old artillery barrage tactics.
08:13In the spring and early summer of 2022, Ukraine lost a lot of troops and territory in the
08:19Donbass because they simply couldn't match the Russians' firepower.
08:22At one point, Putin's men were thought to be firing 10 shells for every one Ukrainian.
08:29The artillery barrage tactic may lack sophistication, but it is very effective.
08:34There seemed to be little the Ukrainians could do to stop this onslaught, and Putin promised
08:38the Russian people that soon the whole of the Donbass would be under their control.
08:43It was MLRS that helped level the playing field.
08:47Artillery barrages require lots of readily available ammunition, meaning huge stockpiles
08:52of the stuff have to be stored close to the front lines.
08:55These Russian ammo dumps were outside the range of conventional Ukrainian artillery,
08:59but well within range of M270 and HIMARS.
09:03When America donated these weapons to Ukraine in June 2022, the ammo dumps were their first
09:08target.
09:09In just four weeks, Ukraine said it hit no fewer than 50 of them, blowing up tons of
09:15ammunition in the process.
09:16They then turned the rockets on bridges and railways, making the task of getting what
09:20ammunition remained to the front line more difficult.
09:24Because MLRS are capable of firing their rockets, moving and reloading so quickly, a tactic
09:28known as shoot and scoot, they proved impossible for Russia to destroy.
09:33In fact, it would be two whole years before Russia scored a confirmed kill on either the
09:38M270 or HIMARS.
09:41And the rockets they fire, which travel up to three times the speed of sound, proved
09:45equally impossible for the Russians to shoot down.
09:48So the Russians had no choice but to move their ammunition away from the front line
09:53to get it out of range.
09:55Less ammunition stored further away and harder to transport meant no more blanket barrages
10:00from the Russian guns.
10:01And no more blanket barrages meant Russian troops found it much harder to advance.
10:06It took the Russians just a few weeks to capture the two cities of Severodonetsk and Lysishansk
10:12using their barrage tactics.
10:14But after the arrival of M270 and HIMARS, it took them a full 11 months to capture the
10:20nearby city of Bakhmut.
10:22And they lost an astonishing number of men in the effort.
10:26The Wagner Group alone, which was spearheading the effort to take the city, is thought to
10:30have suffered at least 20,000 casualties.
10:34In fact, HIMARS and M270 actually allowed Ukraine to recapture a huge swathe of territory
10:40in Kharkiv as the Battle of Bakhmut was taking place.
10:44In a little over a month, Ukraine recaptured 5,000 square miles of territory, including
10:50500 towns and villages, taking minimal casualties in return.
10:55This offensive rattled Putin so badly that he was forced to call up Russia's military
11:00reserves, press-ganging 300,000 men into the army to stabilise the front line.
11:05M270 and HIMARS were absolutely key to this assault.
11:09Blowing up Russian command posts and ammo dumps before the troops started advancing.
11:14One HIMARS strike on Izium even managed to kill the commander of all Russian artillery
11:18units in the area, ensuring the Russians couldn't effectively fire back.
11:23Using just a handful of M270 and HIMARS, Ukraine was able to silence entire Russian artillery
11:29batteries and grind their army to a halt.
11:32To this day, the Russian military has not come close to taking the whole of the Donbass.
11:38And at the same time, these weapons contributed to the most successful counter-attack that
11:42Ukraine has ever mounted.
11:44Russia is still fighting to retake all of the territory it lost during that offensive.
11:50And that's why MLRS are arguably the most effective weapons the West has donated to
11:55Ukraine so far.
11:57Next, we went to a NATO live-fire drill in Finland, just days after President Biden gave
12:03Ukraine permission to fire MLS rockets into Russia, to see how the M270 works.
12:09This is the M270 MLRS.
12:11We believe this system, or a system very like it, has probably been used by Ukraine to strike
12:16at targets within Russia.
12:19This is a Chu rocket artillery system.
12:22You can see it has two pods, with six rockets in each, up here.
12:26They can be used to fire a salvo of missiles at enemies deep in the rear of the battlefield,
12:32interdicting logistics, taking out command posts, and eliminating other high-value targets.
12:37This system can also be configured to fire two ATAKMS rockets, the very weapons that
12:42we believe Ukraine has used to strike inside Russia itself.
12:47And we're here in Rovaniemi, Finland, to analyze how it works.
12:51Here's what the M270 looks like up close.
12:55At the front, you can see the armored cab with three windows, one for the driver, one
13:00for the commander, and one for the gunner.
13:02Here's the driver in position.
13:05You can see how thick the door is with armored plating.
13:09And you can also see locking levers here, and a rubber seal around the door here.
13:14This is to keep the cab hermetically sealed, so the crew are safe, even if biological,
13:19chemical, or nuclear weapons have contaminated the air.
13:24Down here are the tracks, which help the M270 traverse the rough, snowy terrain with ease.
13:30Here, you can see the LLM in the elevated position just after firing.
13:36There's scorch marks around the ends of the launch tubes, where the heat and force
13:40from the rockets has removed the paint.
13:42And here, you can see the inside of the rocket tubes.
13:46These grooves are called rifling.
13:48They spin the rocket as it's launched to stabilize it in the air and give it extra range.
13:53And this little bit of metal down here is responsible for igniting the rocket when the
13:57commander hits the fire button.
13:59Here's how the M270 gets into position.
14:04Because this is a training exercise, the commander is poking his head out of the cabin for a
14:08better view, but in combat, he'd be inside.
14:13You can see the tracks traversing easily over the snow.
14:19Each of the tracks can be operated independently, so the system can make very tight turns.
14:24Here's how the LLM elevates, turns, and tips up and down to lock onto targets.
14:40If we take a look at this footage, we can also see how the M270 reloads.
14:46You can see the cranes clipping onto the rocket pods and the pods being winched into place.
14:55This video shows how maintenance is carried out on the engine.
15:01You can see the whole cab tips forward to allow mechanics to access the components.