Slide 45 of 94
Notes:
Title: Battery Responsibilities
Dialogue: The MLRS battery is the final level of tactical fire direction. The battery FDC selects the launchers to fire based on the tactical solution derived by FDS (MLRS;CFF). The battery engages targets as either scheduled or unscheduled fires. This influences the way the FDS processes the mission. Scheduled fires include all fire plans and schedules transmitted from higher headquarters, or timed missions in conjunction with fires from other units. On-call schedules for MLRS support should be requested no less than 30 minutes before the desired support. This rule is based on the reaction time required by the MLRS FDS and the average cycle time of 20 to 30 minutes to include receiving the fire mission, reloading and moving to the fire point or hide area. Depending on the time between missions in a single fire plan, launchers can fire, reload and fire again (from 20 to 45 minutes may be required for a launcher to reload and be ready for another mission). The total rockets in the plan should not exceed 72 (6 launchers X 12 rockets each) and cannot exceed 108 (9 launchers X 12 rockets each). Because of maintenance, personnel and other factors, a “rule of thumb” is to plan for no more than six launchers at one time. Schedules of fires must be coordinated with the operations officer so he can manage launcher posture and/or response time. If surge conditions arise, the unit can be tasked to provide a higher number. If all available launchers fire on a schedule, temporary loss of this FS asset (20 to 45 minutes) can be expected while the launchers move to reload points, reload and return to the firing point.
