Pros and cons of rocket artillery
At first glance, the M270 launcher with M26 missiles belongs to the same class as a large number of Soviet MLRS. (multiple launch rocket systems), its first and most famous model was the BM-13 Katyusha. Unlike howitzers, which required a long reload, Katyusha allowed 16 missiles to be fired at the enemy in 10 seconds, after which they immediately changed positions.
Cannon barrels wear out over time and the manufacture of new ones requires high quality steel, high craftsmanship and hard work. A primitive rocket projectile, on the other hand, is a welded cylinder with a charge of powder that burns and flows out of a nozzle, creating thrust. Rail guides for launch are even simpler and can be made from any quality material if desired.
Simple and inexpensive rocket artillery turned out to be an effective weapon for the Red Army, and the post-war Soviet MLRS BM-14, BM-21 Grad, BM-27 Uragan and others were direct descendants of the Katyushas. Equivalents, II. It was used by both the Germans (Nebelwerfer) and the Americans (T34 Calliope) in World War II, but only as secondary and niche weapons. The Western Allies had little faith in rocket artillery and therefore forgot for a long time after the war.
The distrust of the MLRS is easy to understand due to its obvious minus – extreme inaccuracies. When fired from a relatively short distance of six kilometers, Katyusha shells can deviate to the side by 50 m and at range 250 m. To make up for this inaccuracy, large numbers of shells must be produced, delivered and stocked on the frontline.
Alternatively, you can go directly to the enemy – therefore, the T34 Calliope was an M4 Sherman tank with 60 launch tubes in its turret, and the fire from this MLRS was directed to direct fire and from a distance of less than four kilometers. meaningless distance for a howitzer. The American military is known for its obsession with precision shooting and therefore did not want to use guns whose bullets plowed the field in most cases to no avail.
What is unique about the M270?
It makes no sense to consider the M26 missile apart from the M270 launcher, which began to be developed after the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab states. During hostilities, Israeli missiles successfully destroyed two types of area targets – anti-aircraft missile systems and artillery batteries deployed on the front. The United States was interested in this experience, because in the event of a war in Europe against the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries, NATO would be lower in artillery numbers. Therefore, in 1974, Washington began developing its own MLRS, which was originally called the General Support Rocket System.
At the same time, the US military was not going to abandon its principles and tried to make the M270 as accurate as possible for weapons of this class. Theoretically, if you launch physically identical rockets from perfectly level rails from the same point in perfectly stable weather conditions, they will fall close to each other. The inaccuracy of the MLRS is due to the fact that it does not exist. Each rocket projectile differs from the other due to a manufacturing defect in terms of weight, fuel supply, center of mass, aerodynamic stabilizer mounting angle, head coating resistance, friction to the guide and many other parameters. The weather is even more unstable: wind at different altitudes, temperature, humidity and air density.
They tried to solve the first set of problems due to the maximum quality of workmanship. The second – due to the on-board fire control computer. It takes weather data digitally and even takes into account air density, which is dependent on altitude above sea level and atmospheric pressure fluctuations, when calculating gravity. Linking to the terrain is carried out automatically using the navigation system, so only the coordinates and parameters of the target received in digital form must be entered into the computer. It was the computer that made the M270 unique at the time of its creation, as it allowed convenient and efficient communication with intelligence equipment.
The rate of fire is low – a volley of 12 missiles lasts 48 seconds, the interval between launches is four seconds, the BM-27 “Hurricane” of equal caliber launches missiles one at a time. Rapid ignition is not provided on the M270, since between each launch the computer corrects the “sight” deviating from the rocket engine, and in general the mechanism for turning and lifting the guides is made as accurate as possible. But the M270 reloads much faster, in just 5-8 minutes – because the missiles are loaded into it not individually, but in six cassettes.
Why is M270 called “steel rain”?
The system was first tested in real combat during Desert Storm against Iraqi forces in 1991. It was used only with M26 cluster rockets, which were requested to be supplied to Ukraine. The range of each missile is up to 32 km (ER variant – 45 km), and bears 644 (ER – 518) DPICM sub-grenades that sow an area of one hundred or two meters in diameter. There is no publicly available data on the true circular possible deflection of the M26, but according to Western military publications, the M270 with this missile is much more accurate than any Soviet MLRS. Indirectly, accuracy can be judged by the fact that the official tactical manual states the need to locate the target with an error of less than 150 yards.
During the 1991 hostilities, the M270 received good reviews and was nicknamed “steel rain” by soldiers. It has proven particularly effective in counter-battery combat.
When the American armored vehicles attacked, they tried to destroy them with artillery fire. After that, the positions of the Iraqi guns were quickly calculated, including with the help of counter-battery radars, and covered with an accurate volley of musket missiles.
M270 managed to prove itself in another incarnation. Because the MLRS is mounted on the chassis of the M2 Bradley BMP, it can approach enemy positions at almost close range, quickly fire a salvo to the rear and leave before the Iraqis can react. The 2000s saw the entry into service of the M142 HIMARS, a six-track version of the M270 with six rails instead of twelve. At the same time, the Americans decided to make the main projectiles of their MLRS guided, not the rockets supplied to Ukraine since the summer of 2022.
Will the M26 be a “magic wand” for Kiev?
With idea Two thousand rockets will be able to “end the conflict”, said Dan Rice, a former US Army officer and former adviser to General Valery Zalozhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The main supporter of the supply of 155 mm DPICM fragmentation shells to Kiev was the American army, so his new statement should probably not be understood as an honest expert assessment of the situation, but as a lobbying technique. However, the arguments he cited are quite consistent with the original doctrine regarding the use of the M270/M26 pair. Unguided missiles are much cheaper than guided missiles, their stocks are large, and the Pentagon will give them away without regrets for their long decommissioning. The main purpose of the M26 should be counter-battery warfare.
“If you’re the Ukrainian forces trying to break through a two-mile minefield, you’re advancing meter by meter. You have thousands of Russian guns firing continuously. While trying to break through a minefield, you are under fire and under attack from Russian kamikaze drones. And then the Russian artillery moves in, and you should at least get rid of it. The calculation is this: if both sides have the same artillery range, you cannot finish off the defenders while attacking. [орудий]. The artillery of the advancing must either be at a wider range or be directly on the front line. At the same time, you can’t place your artillery in the front line because then you lose,” Rice says.
He claims that cluster rockets for the M270 HIMARS can equalize the forces of opponents.
socialbites.ca asked Colonel Mikhail Khodarenko, a military analyst and former operations officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, to comment on Rice’s remarks.
“The American officer is partly right: cluster rockets, when used against artillery positions and manpower deployed in the open, are really effective in combating batteries. However, it all depends on the engineering equipment of the positions. You can open trenches and distribute weapons and ammunition. The effectiveness of group tours is greatly reduced if the staff has protection.
And about “ending the conflict” – this is a big exaggeration, for the Ukrainians every new weapon was supposed to end it, but nothing happened. Cluster rockets are a really effective weapon, but it is definitely not a magic wand, ”said the expert.
According to Khodarenko, Rice waits in vain for thousands of missiles: “The United States has no goal of defeating Russia, only weakening it and throwing it to the edges of the world. That’s why the Americans will never procure so many weapons to make Ukraine feel safe on the battlefield. They have always sent a teaspoon per hour, and this time they will not be given the volumes they dreamed of.
Russia has repeatedly protested the American supply of any cluster munitions to Ukraine because of the dangers to the civilian population.