Our Military's Hidden Weapon 'MLRS'

[Monthly Defense Times Editor-in-Chief An Seung-beom] North Korea has operated more than 300 units of the M-1985/M-1991 240mm multiple rocket launchers with ranges of 43km/65km since the early 1990s.

The Republic of Korea Armed Forces decided to adopt the U.S. M270 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) as a counter weapon system and introduced the first batch of 29 units in 1998 through the U.S. government's Foreign Military Sale (FMS) program, followed by a second batch of 29 units (including 10 M270A1s) in 2004.

The M270 MLRS is mounted on the chassis (M993) of the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle and features an automated multiple rocket launcher capable of firing 227mm pod rockets as well as tactical surface-to-surface missiles (ATACMS), enabling rapid strikes on deep tactical targets or enemy mechanized units.

The tracked vehicle is operated by a crew of three per unit and is equipped with light armor caps that provide protection against small arms fire, shell fragments, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats.

The primary ammunition used is the KM26A2 dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) pods, which have a maximum range of 45km and contain approximately 600 submunitions. Reloading can be completed within 5 minutes after firing (3 minutes for the M270A1) using the crane mounted on top of the launcher cage.

The MLRS is designed for long-range and precision strikes. The ATACMS tactical surface-to-surface missiles introduced include the inertially guided Block I (with a range of about 165km) and the Block IA, which features both inertial and GPS guidance (with a range of about 300km). There is no public information on additional procurements since then.

While the M270 can technically fire the Block IA, to utilize the GPS guidance capability for precision strikes, the upgraded M270A1 equipped with a GPS guidance system must be operated. Therefore, some vehicles in the second batch of MLRS were procured as M270A1s. The M270A1 units introduced by the ROK Armed Forces have almost no external differences from the M270 except for the GPS antenna.

Both the first and second batches of M270 MLRS were procured as used equipment previously operated by the U.S. military, while the 10 M270A1 units were newly purchased. The M270 serves as the main firepower for artillery brigades in the western and central front corps, and the M270A1 is operated by the firepower brigade directly under the Ground Operations Command.

Along with these, the M985 8×8 ammunition resupply vehicles, M577A2 command armored vehicles for fire direction control (FDC), and M88A1 recovery vehicles were also introduced. However, the M577A2 command armored vehicles have been replaced by the K77 fire control armored vehicles, and the M88A1 recovery vehicles have been replaced by the K1 recovery vehicles. The M985 ammunition resupply vehicles are still in use but due to vehicle aging, replacement with the K239T Cheonmu ammunition resupply vehicles is necessary.