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Rocket launcher MARS
Raketenwerfer MARS

The MLRS has been in use in Germany since 1990 under the designation MARS – Medium Artillery Rocket System. The Germans had the LARS family of MLRS and a consortium of NATO countries developed the M270. The former system entered service in 1969, while the latter entered service in 1983. During networked operating command, the MARS was an effective partner for engaging area targets in conflict scenarios in general and operative fire missions. MARS can fire different types of ammunition at individual targets over distances of 10 to 40 km.

The MARS rocket launcher Medium artillery missile system II is an automated artillery weapon system that can fire missiles of different modes of action. The MARS rocket launcherMedium artillery missile system II, with its crew of three, is used for short-term combat against soft and semi-hard point and individual targets and for blocking mechanized forces with anti-tank mines. All important shooting information is transmitted via radio data transmission.

The MARS II/MLRS-E rocket launcher unites maximum precision with long range. This artillery system is the advancement of the basic MLRS system, which was developed by the partner nations Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the USA and Italy in the early 1980s and introduced in the US armed forces in 1983.

MARS II/MLRS-E and the new GMLRS (Guided Multiple-Launch Rocket System): The development and procurement of modern GMLRS rockets required upgrades to the MLRS launcher, which now bears the name MARS II/MLRS-E. MARS II/MLRS-E in combination with GMLRS enables the high-precision engagement of point and individual targets (artillery sniper weapon).

In cooperation with various European partners, KMW upgraded and modernised the MLRS for several nations:

• Germany: from MARS to MARS II/MLRS-E
• Italy: from MLRS to MLRS Improved
• France: from MLRS to Lance Roquette Unitaire (LRU)

Individual upgrade measures include integration in the European Fire Control System (EFCS) with the additional function of firing guided GMLRS rockets. eplacement of the obsolescent hydraulic laying drives by an electric laying system (Electrical Launch Drive System – ELDS) developed by KMW, which enables rapid laying and reduces maintenance and repair effort as compared to the hydraulic system. Installation of a fully automatic halon and CFC-free fire extinguishing system which uses nitrogen as the extinguishing agent for the engine compartment. It enables automatic fire monitoring and fighting, even up to 24 hours after the MARS II/MLRS-E launcher has been shut down. This retrofit package is –unlike the other two upgrade measures – currently only used in Germany and Italy.

The MARS II/MLRS-E system is prepared for further future capability expansions. In addition to unguided rockets, the EFCS fire control system of the MARS II/MLRS-E – can currently fire the two GMLRS variants UNITARY (warhead) and SMArt (Sensor-fused Munition Artillery). Further GMLRS munitions types are currently in development.

The German army currently uses three different types of ammunition: guided missiles with GPSGlobal positioning system-Support for pinpoint combat, mine-ejecting missiles for blocking sections of terrain and training missiles used only for training. Weapon systems such as the MARS II are referred to in English as the Multiple Launch Rocket System.

In the presence of the vice president of the Federal Office for Defence Technology and Procurement, Reinhard Schütte, the artillery school in Idar Oberstein, Germany, received its first MARS II rocket launching system in the Guided Multiple-Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) edition. Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) thereby delivered a fully modernised combat system with an increased combat efficacy just 2¼ years after the signing of the pre-series-contract in December 2008. "With the rocket launcher MARS II and the guided artillery rocket GMLRS UNITARY we now have an efficient means with the necessary precision and outstanding range, which finally allows us to complete the tasks assigned to us under almost any condition and that with the desired effect", said Brigadier General Heribert Hupka, commander of the artillery school and General of the artillery troops in Germany.

More than 2.300 implemented new parts, 300 metres of integrated wiring per vehicle for a fully electric drive and a quality inspection covering more than 450 hours per launching system are not only stand for a guaranteed sustainability, but also ensure an unmatched functionality and targeting precision on missions. The rocket launcher MARS II with the guided artillery rocket GMLRS UNITARY thereby offers a device that combines highest precision and maximum range. With the delivery of the first rocket launcher the schooling will commence immediately at the artillery school. After the completion of final tests within the scope of a field test the system is due for compliance testing next month at the White Sands Missile Range in the southern USA.

The rocket launcher MARS is in service with the artillery troop for over 25 years now. Conceptualised and optimised for the combating of large surface area targets under cold war circumstances, it was adapted to the considerably changed requirements of current as well as future threat scenarios and subsequently upgraded. Today, it takes effect on targets faster and more accurately than ever before – and will be an efficient partner in general or functional gunfights in future conflict scenarios within the framework of network-centric warfare.

The exercise series Dynamic Front helped to build cohesion for field artillery units from Germany, the Czech Republic and the U.S., three countries who all executed live fire at Grafenwoehr Training Area 6-9 March 2017. With the Czech Republic bringing 152mm Howitzers, Germany shooting both 155mm Panzerhaubitze 2000s and MLRS MARS II, and the U.S. employing 155mm Lightweight Tower Howitzer M777A2s, multinational Soldiers had to learn to overcome differences on many levels. Exercise planners focused on working through procedural, human and technical challenges to improve multinational interoperability, and to ease communication and information exchange efforts. This included clearing up terminology interpretations between different nations' and NATO's procedures, synching up technical interoperability for weapons systems, and building relationships. The Artillery Systems Cooperation Activities, or ASCA, enhances interoperability among NATO nations' theater-level fires systems by allowing fires information to be exchanged digitally.

The MARS II/MLRS-E together with the guided GMLRS UNITARY artillery rocket forms a system which, with its outstanding range of over 70 km, completes tasks with the necessary precision and desired effect under any operating conditions. The MLRS system is very good as a battlefield clearance weapon and certainly has a greater accuracy than the Russian Grad.