Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery's Bravo Battery inspect their M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System at the battalion's motor pool in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Sept. 24, 2024. The new mobile armored launcher was fired at the Grafenwoehr Training Area for the first time on Sept. 12. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — Breaking in the U.S. Army’s latest mobile armored launcher was all in a day’s work recently for a group of artillerymen in the rural reaches of northeastern Bavaria.
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery were the first in the service to receive 27 M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, battalion commander Lt. Col. Benjamin Roark said Tuesday. The launchers arrived in July.
After weeks of instruction and certification drills, the 330-man unit from Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr fired the new system for the first time Sept. 12. The M270A2 is replacing the A1 variant, which entered service in a previous format in 1983.
Spc. Matthew Bauer, a gunner from Bravo Battery, lauded the new vehicle for its spaciousness, increased survivability and hydraulics, which tilt the cab for maintenance.
“These are still relatively new, and they’re just being field-tested,” Bauer said. “So there will be improvements in the future, with the software as well as the vehicle.”
Many of the soldiers polled Tuesday at the unit’s motor pool thought it was too soon to say whether the A2 is better than its predecessor and more easily maintained. It will be further tested during exercise Dynamic Front next month in Finland.
The A2 variant is over 10,000 pounds heavier with revamped armor, fire control systems and rebuilt transmissions that soldiers hope will reduce the time needed to work on it in the maintenance bay.
Spc. Matthew Bauer, a gunner from 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery’s Bravo Battery, sits on his track at the battalion’s motor pool in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery were said to be the first in the service to receive the M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System, seen here Sept. 24, 2024, in Grafenwoehr, Germany. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery’s Charlie Battery inspect their M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Sept. 24, 2024. The new mobile armored launcher garnered mostly positive feedback from soldiers after field testing Sept. 12. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
The inner workings of the M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System are shown Sept. 24, 2024, at the U.S. Army's Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
The M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System, seen here in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Sept. 24, 2024, can fire an assortment of rockets, ATACMS guided missiles or precision strike missiles. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
The M270A1 is an armored launcher mounted on a stretched Bradley chassis. It is crewed by a three-man team equipped with two containers capable of firing either 12 rockets or two ATACMS guided missiles with a range of up to 190 miles.
The A2 builds off the specifications of the A1 but can be equipped with four precision strike missiles capable of hitting targets over 300 miles away.
The Army received the missiles in December 2023 and chose not to put them on the A1, given that it was at the end of its life cycle.
The new tracks also have the same fire control system as the Army’s wheeled variant, the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, which makes for easier cross-training, Roark said.
“The soldiers were happy with them,” he said. “They drive a little bit different as far as the new engine, transmission, so the soldiers have to learn how to drive them, as far as modulating the throttle and stuff like that, but it’s positive feedback from the ground up.”
Soldiers during the Grafenwoehr testing experienced some minor issues, which Bauer said were reported up the chain.
Switches on his vehicle’s accelerator and brakes had a tendency to shake loose when his crew was driving, he said. That nixes any planned fire mission.
Also, tow cables aren’t strong enough to pull the heavier A2 variant, so a tow bar is needed, Bauer said.
“But other than that, they’re pretty sweet,” he said.
About a dozen U.S. Army M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems are parked at the 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery motor pool at Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Sept. 24, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
