LARS 2 - MARS

For several decades, rocket artillery of the German Bundeswehr was shaped by the use of US-manufactured weapon systems with nuclear capabilities. This changed with the fielding of the Raketenwerfer 110 mm SF rocket launcher, a conventional rocket artillery system used to engage area targets. The LKW 7 t gl (6x6) KHD Jupiter truck-based self-propelled Leichtes Artillerie Raketen System (LARS 1) light rocket artillery system proved itself well in service. After a new generation of vehicles had entered service in 1981 with the Follow-On-Generation, LARS 1 was modernised and the rocket launcher was integrated onto a new chassis, the LKW MAN 7 t mil gl (6x6) KAT I truck.

From 1990 the Mittleres Artillerie Raketen System MARS (MLRS) started to replace the LARS 2. Today, MARS is still in active service shaping the backbone of German missile artillery and will be modernised soon. This publication covers the LARS 2 and MARS in great detail.