The Chinese PHL03 MLRS

The Chinese PHL03 MLRS

The Russian BM-30 is probably the most gnarlyist self-propelled MLRS to date. Its intimidating traversable launcher is made up of 12, 300mm tubes, which are capable of firing rockets armed with a multitude of different lethal warheads to a range of 90km.

It has been exported to a number of countries and has been photographed in the Republic of China and having the same visible launcher, its clear that the PHL03 is yet another reversed engineer Russian military vehicle adopted by the PLA.

The Chinese PHL03 MLRS is believed to have entered the PLA service in 2004/05. The launcher has a crew of four and is capable of single or salvo firing. A reload vehicle based on the same wheeled chassis carries an additional 12 rockets.

No detailed information on the types of warheads is available but they are expected to include HE-FRAG (High Explosive Fragmentation) anti-armour/personnel sub-munitions similar to that of the Smerch.