Elbit Systems and KNDS have signed a teaming agreement to co-operate on the development of the EuroPULS rocket artillery launcher; a weapon system that responds to the “growing needs for precision rocket artillery capabilities in Europe as well as Nato nations.”
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has revived the global defence industry, transforming it from a shrinking sector on the periphery of government to a state of mobilisation that has not been seen since the Second World War.
In response, European countries are learning lessons from Ukraine, and the nation’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, continually emphasises one teaching that he has lately echoed: “Air defence and artillery are a priority.”
In that respect, the EuroPULS rocket artillery system combines capabilities from KNDS with those of the Elbit Systems. EuroPULS is a scalable and flexible artillery system that operators can integrate to fire from any mobility platform with pinpoint accuracy and safety.
EuroPULS’s open architecture does not exclude any provider of respective missiles. This is a desirable quality for Europe, a continent that is hastily procuring a diverse range of munitions.
In March, GlobalData estimates indicated that Russian forces fired in excess of 20,000 artillery shells per day, with the Ukrainian Armed Forces firing around one third of that at 6,000-7,000 per day in late February 2023. Figures will have swelled since June, when Ukraine began its slow counteroffensive against invading Russian forces dug-in across the south and east of the country. These figures indicate the desperate sustainment of a diverse range of munitions in continual production.
For Ukraine’s military allies in the West, the continued provision of munitions and other military aid to offset Ukraine’s material disadvantage has only highlighted the glaring flaws in their own defence industrial complexes and prompted collective munition production efforts.
Transforming from the Elbit PULS to EuroPULS
Building on Elbit’s existing PULS multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), the prominent European land systems supplier KNDS will integrate its modular fire control system to the open architecture of Elbit’s launcher to transform the system into the new EuroPULS system.
Morever, EuroPULS will provide capabilities to fire the full spectrum of Elbit’s precision guided and training rocket artillery munitions from any mobility platform.
These munitions include Elbit’s ‘Accular’ rockets, which are highly accurate guided artillery munitions that support ground forces, particularly in urban warfare scenarios where traditional artillery may be limited by terrain, distance, and accuracy. Other Elbit munitions include the ‘EXTRA’ rockets, which are supersonic long-range rockets that can reach targets at a range of 150km in less than five minutes.
