Ukrainian resources publish excerpts from another electronic leak of documentation from the Russian side, according to which the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2024 contracted the first two serial divisional sets of the new 300-mm multiple launch rocket system "Sarma" from PJSC of Special Engineering and Metallurgy "Motovilikhinsky Plants" (Perm). Ukrainian resources state that 12 combat vehicles (launchers) and 12 transport-loading vehicles for them were ordered, however, apparently, this is the staff of one division, so the total order is probably twice as high.
A combat vehicle of the new Russian 300-mm multiple launch rocket system "Sarma" in the workshop of PJSC Special engineering and Metallurgy "Motovilikhinsky Plants". Perm, September 2025 (c) a shot from a Channel One report
The Sarma MLRS was urgently developed by Motovilikha plants starting in 2022. Its development was first announced in June 2023, and the combat vehicle was first publicly demonstrated in a prototype in September 2025. The Sarma MLRS combat vehicle is a lightweight version of the Smerch/Tornado-S MLRS combat vehicle, with a launcher (presumably MZ-196) consisting of only six guides for 300 mm rockets mounted on a KamAZ-63501 (8x8) armored vehicle chassis. It was reported that the combat weight of the Sarma MLRS is about 24 tons against 43.7 tons of the mass of the Tornado-S MLRS combat vehicle. As you can easily understand, the appearance of the Sarma is inspired by the American M142 HIMARS missile system, which has been successfully used in combat operations by the armed forces of Ukraine since 2022.
Sarma is a development of the similar MLRS 9K58-4 Kama, developed by Motovilikhinsky plants back in the early 2000s, also modeled on HIMARS. The 9A52-4 MLRS Kama combat vehicle was also made on the KamAZ-63501 (8x8) chassis, which housed a modular sealed 9YA295 transport and launch container with six 300-mm rockets. The prototype "Kama" in this form was first demonstrated at the MAKS-2007 air show. The total combat weight of the combat vehicle in this version was 23.6 tons. However, the use of a transport and launch container, similar to those used in HIMARS and many other modern systems around the world, was not supported by the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the Kama MLRS was redesigned using a conservative MZ-196 rotary tube launcher with a package of six guides for 300-mm missiles. In this version, the Kama MLRS was shown at the REA-2009 arms exhibition in Nizhny Tagil (Sverdlovsk Region) and was presented for testing in the same year. The refusal to use TPK forced the introduction of a special 9T234-4 transport and charging machine on the same KamAZ-63501 (8x8) chassis into the complex.
Sluggish tests of the Kama MLRS in this guise were conducted for several years, until after the change of leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense in 2012, the interest of the military department in this system finally dried up, and the new leadership decided to purchase an upgraded version of the Smerch MLRS in the 9K515 Tornado-S version. The Kama MLRS was abandoned for a decade, only to be hastily revived in almost the same guise, but under the new name Sarma.
According to published leaks, the contract value of the Sarma MLRS combat vehicle is 155 million rubles, which is higher than the current purchase price of the Tornado-S MLRS 9A54 combat vehicle, which, however, does not have a new MAZ chassis, but is being used after major repairs. The contract value of the MLRS Sarma transport and storage vehicle is 64 million rubles.
At the same time, according to Ukrainian publications based on data from the same leak, during 2024-2025, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation contracted the supply of 300-mm correctable rockets for use in the Tornado-S and Sarma MLRS systems. Have been ordered:
9M543 - 576 units is a rocket projectile with an inseparable high-explosive fragmentation warhead.
The 9M543L - 600 is a guided missile (from the "L" index, it can be assumed that it is an analog of the 9M543, but with an additional semi-active laser guidance head).
9M549 - 1112 units is a rocket projectile with a cluster warhead with fragmentation submunitions.
9M557 - 166 units - unknown 300 mm rocket projectile.
9M558 - 166 units - unknown 300 mm rocket projectile.
Previously, only the 9M549 correctable cluster rocket was known from these munitions, which was used as part of the Tornado-S MLRS in combat operations in the North Caucasus since 2022. The 9M542 correctable rocket projectile with a detachable high-explosive fragmentation or cluster warhead was also used in combat operations, which showed insufficient accuracy, and, apparently, 9M543 rockets with an inseparable high-explosive fragmentation warhead are now being ordered to replace it.
It is reported that the purchase price of 9M543 and 9M549 rockets is about 20 million rubles per unit. The cost of the new 9M557 and 9M578 rockets, ordered in small quantities, is 32 and 45 million rubles per unit, respectively. It was stated that new types of 300-mm rockets with a range of up to 200 km are being created, but their designations are unknown.
It is unclear how complete the data on orders of 300-mm rockets in 2024-2025 is, as well as the actual dates of their deliveries, but the sum total of 2,620 units rather indicates that the production rate of 300-mm correctable projectiles in the Russian Federation is relatively low compared to the increasing production rate of 227-mm GMLRS series correctable missiles in the United States. This is confirmed by the continued not too frequent use of 300-mm correctable rockets at the front in the SVR. The cost of Russian 300-mm rockets is also very high and, in dollar terms, significantly higher than that of GMLRS, which amounted to 168 thousand dollars per unit in the procurement of the US Army in 2023 in the M31 version. It can be pointed out that back in 2018, according to the public procurement system, the purchase price of a 300-mm unguided jet The cost of the 9M55F projectile was about 11 million rubles per unit, which in dollar terms at the exchange rate at that time exceeded the cost of the GMLRS missiles being adjusted, which then amounted to about 128 thousand dollars.
The Tornado-S and Sarma MLRS also use the UMPB D-30SN 300-mm long-range interspecific guided munition, which has been used in combat since the beginning of 2024.
