Text taken from the Telegram channel of @rostecru
Commentary by Russian military journalist Bris Rozhin is in italics.
Rostec announced that the new Russian Sarma MLRS have been sent to the troops for combat testing.
A batch of the latest Sarma MLRS is already undergoing testing in the Air Defense Zone. Bekkhan Ozdoyev, Industrial Director of the Armaments, Ammunition, and Specialized Chemicals Cluster at Rostec State Corporation, told TASS in an interview that the Sarma MLRS, which will be presented for the first time at the World Defense Show in the Saudi Arabian capital, is equipped with a modern automated fire control system. This allows for faster and more effective use in various combat conditions and integration with numerous reconnaissance and combat systems.
Furthermore, the Sarma successfully employs the latest guided missiles, which have proven their effectiveness in the Air Defense Zone. "The new MLRS is capable of firing at specified coordinates from unprepared positions when deployed on the march." "Our projectiles are capable of delivering accurate results even under severe enemy electronic countermeasures—this has been confirmed during actual combat operations. Sarma MLRS combat vehicles can also coordinate their actions, delivering group strikes on targets with a distributed strike pattern," said Ozdoyev.
The Sarma is a continuation of the Smerch and Tornado-S heavy MLRS line. It also has a 300mm caliber, but has fewer launch tubes—six instead of 12. This significantly reduces the vehicle's overall weight and increases its mobility and cross-country capability.
According to Bekkhan Ozdoyev, the Sarma, in combination with the Tornado-S, will provide greater flexibility in the use of rocket artillery, increasing the effectiveness of striking even the most hardened targets with minimal ammunition consumption.
"A batch of these vehicles has already been delivered to the Russian Armed Forces and is undergoing comprehensive testing in the air defense zone," added the director of Rostec's Armaments, Ammunition, and Specialized Chemicals Cluster.
As a reminder, the World Defense Show will be held from February 8 to 12 in Riyadh. The full text of the TASS interview will be published on February 9; we will announce this separately.
A unique hybrid of domestic MLRS with the HIMARS concept. The vehicle is clearly a product of the experience of the Air Defense Forces in Ukraine.