Norway and UK to provide Ukraine with new MLRS and ARTHUR radars

Norway, together with the UK, will transfer eight rocket launchers and 3 ARTHUR artillery reconnaissance radars to Ukraine.

The Minister of Defense of Norway reported on such plans.

The specific type of MLRS is not directly named in the statement, but the illustration shows a system similar to the M270, which Ukraine previously received from Britain.

“We must continue to support Ukraine so that it can continue its struggle for freedom and independence. More weapons are needed,” reads the statement of the Norwegian Defense Ministry.

According to the Minister of Defense of Norway Bjørn Arild Gram, “these weapons have already greatly influenced the course of military operations, gave Ukraine the opportunity to disrupt Russian supply lines, as well as disable a number of important targets behind the front line.”

Norway also decided to transfer three ARTHUR counter-battery radars to Ukraine.

It is noted that this transfer is also carried out in cooperation with the UK, which previously transferred this type of radar to Ukraine.

Norway is in the process of replacing its artillery reconnaissance radars with new ones. As part of the current investment project, it is planned to supply new radars to the Norwegian Armed Forces in 2024 and 2025. The rocket launchers were decommissioned by the Norwegian Armed Forces and, therefore, cannot be replaced.

ARTHUR

ARTHUR (Artillery Hunting Radar) counter-battery and artillery reconnaissance radars are already in service with the Ukrainian army.

ARTHUR counter-battery radar was developed by the Swedish company Ericsson Microwave Systems in conjunction with the armed forces of Norway and Sweden. It is called the mobile artillery monitoring asset (MAMBA) in the British military.

The C-band passive phased array mobile radar is designed to detect enemy field artillery. It was developed as a primary element of the brigade- or division-level sensor battery countermeasures system. The radar is mounted on the chassis of the Bandvagn 206 tracked rover, and was developed by Hägglunds (now part of British BAE Systems Platforms & Services).

It can determine the location of enemy howitzers at a distance of 20-25 km, and of the 120mm mortars at a distance of 35-40 km with a circular probable error of 0.35%. Based in part on the same technology as the Saab Giraffe radar, ARTHUR can simultaneously scan up to 100 targets per minute, track the flight of shells, and calculate hit points to correct its own artillery.