Russia's Own HIMARS 'Far More Potent' Than US MLRS? Moscow Prepares Sale To Gulf Nations

Amid rising concern over Russia's growing military prowess, Moscow has unveiled its Tornado-S multi-target rocket system at the IDEX 2023 international arms show in Abu Dhabi. The rocket system is similar to the US-made HIMARS.

Rostec State Corporation, which is marketing the weapon system in the Gulf region, issued a statement Monday revealing the capabilities of the Tornado-S rocket system, according to TASS.

"The Tornado-S control system unit allows for programming an individual flight assignment for each munition, which enables the combat vehicle to strike several targets in a salvo. The unit is based on a strap-down inertial navigation system and can assign each separate MLRS projectile a flight range and its trajectory. The precision-strike rockets have an effective range of over 100 km and the fire accuracy of Tornado-S projectiles is 15-20 times higher than that of the munitions used by the Smerch predecessor," Rostec said in a statement.

The weapon system has already been deployed in Ukraine, EurAsian Times reported, and Moscow is now all set to prepare for its sale to Gulf Nations.

Earlier, an article in the EurAsian Times cited a Russian military expert stating that Russia's own HIMARS is "far more potent" than U.S.' MLRS.

Yuri Knutov, a Russian military expert, described the weapon system has a shooting range of 75 miles and can direct each missile individually.

The 300-millimeter caliber MLRS Tornado-S is also known as the 9K515 "Tornado-S." It uses the latest new guidance and fire control system (ASUNO) with several key enhancements.

At the IDEX 2023 weapons expo, Russia also displayed 122mm Tornado-S projectiles, which can destroy targets in mountainous terrain. Russia's 57mm 53-UOR-281U high-explosive tracer shell was also showcased at the expo, which began on Feb. 20 and will continue till Feb. 24.

Recently, another Russian weapon, showcased at an air show held in India, was dubbed to be more accurate than a similar war system by the U.S. A top analyst from Moscow said that Russia's latest S-350 Vityaz surface-to-air missile system is cheaper and more accurate than the American Patriot missile system.

"The American equipment is always more overestimated. The Vityaz will be far cheaper than the similar Patriot system. It is far more advantageous to buy Vityaz systems as Russia is a considerably more reliable partner than the U.S.," Alexander Mikhailov, the director of the Military-Political Analysis Bureau--a think tank based in Moscow--told Russia state-owned TASS news agency, during the Aero India 2023 international air show held at Yelahanka Air Force base in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.

"The Patriot does not shoot down targets flying at an altitude of lower than 100 meters, whereas the Vityaz knocks out targets at an altitude of 10 meters and higher," the Russian expert told TASS.