How Russia’s Tornado-S
MLRS is Outgunning & Outnumbering HIMARS in Ukraine
·
Mohammed Ahmedullah
·
Wednesday, November 30, 2022 @ 01:07 PM
Russia’s "Tornado-S" Multiple
Launch Rocket System (MLRS) has a greater range, a highly accurate guidance
system and is deployed in significantly more numbers in Ukraine than the U.S.
supplied High Mobility Artillery Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
The
Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced
November 21 “the
Tornado-S MRLS units launched an attack at Ukrainian military facilities
destroying command posts, depots of munitions and fuel, signal nodes, air
defence facilities, and other targets located at distances of over 100
kilometers.”
More
than long range missiles, Russian forces have relied on the Tornado-S in recent
attacks on Ukrainian assets. The reason being that following the annexation (or
referendum as Moscow calls it) of DPR and LPR, they are able to move
artillery within range of Ukrainian ground forces attempting to beat back the
Russians.
While Ukraine has some 16 HIMARS supplied by the Americans and around 10 MLRS donated by NATO allies, Russia is rumored to have some 50 plus Tornado-S system and earlier versions of Tornado and Smerch MLRS in their hundreds. It can move them to quickly to the frontine if required. The sheer numbers of MLRS available with Moscow allows it to spread its artillery rocket capability over a wide area and quickly replace damaged equipment.
HIMARS systems @Lockheed Martin
HIMARS spread
thin in Ukraine, Tornado-S, other Russian MLRS aplenty
In
comparison, Ukraine’s HIMARS are spread thin and the rockets that the Americans
supplied with the HIMARS have a 70 km range. While the Pentagon says the
shorter range rockets are so that the Ukrainians do not hit Russian territory
(for fear of sparking a wider conflict), military experts assert that the
shorter range rockets were given to provide greater mobility allowing
shoot-and-scoot capability.
Last
week, the Washington Post reported that Ukraine was burning through a lot of
artillery ammunition (including that of HIMARS), without commensurate gains on
the battlefield. Some 6000-8000 shells are fired every day indicating poor
targeting ability.
Izvestia
quoted Russian military expert Yuri Knutov as saying, “If we talk about HIMARS, then our
Tornado-S systems with a firing range of 120 km and the ability to direct each
missile individually have already gone to the front line. They are much more
powerful than HIMARS and Turkish systems."
The
Russian MoD had earlier revealed the operation of GRAD MLRS in ukraine.
GRAD MRS being loaded in Ukraine @Russian MoD
Individual
flight mission for each Tornado-S rocket
According
to a Russian MoD’s posting on its Telegram channel, the Tornado-S MLRS is a deeply modernized version of the Smerch
MLRS. The improvement include significant increase to firing range,
accuracy and firepower of this type of MLRS.
The
Tornado-S has 12 rails for 300mm missiles and is capable of hitting
targets at 120 km versus 70-90 km for the Smerch.
Its
most significant feature is that each rocket of the Tornado-S MLRS
can receive an individual flight mission using the GLONASS satellite
navigation system, which significantly increases the accuracy of the strike and
minimizes collateral damage.
Projectiles
can be fired at different distances and in different directions. The launch
angle is almost 90 degrees.
Tornado-S
software and hardware allows it to exchange information with command
& control automatically with a high level of protection against
interception, display and store the information received, navigate the terrain
offline using an electronic map, and also direct and launch missiles without
having to leave the cabin
Russian artillery strike on Ukrainian targets (file
photo) @Russian MoD
Ground-based
missile systems from various countries delay absorption for Ukraine
Perhaps
it is the inability of the U.S. to provide HIMARS systems at a speed requested
by Ukraine that its allies have stepped in with their own versions of
ground-launched missile systems.
Last
week Turkey announced the delivery of TLRG-230 MLRS that can team-up with
Bayratkar drones for target designation. In addition, the U.K. announced that
it will provide its ground-launched Brimstone 2 missile system.
However,
each new system has its own learning curve and its effective usage depends upon
how quickly Ukrainian forces learn to use them optimally.
Now
there is talk of supplying a ground-launched version of Boeing's GBU-39 bomb
that has greater range and accuracy than the HIMARS rocket.
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