Dutch Defense Minister Christoph van der Maat announced on April 3, 2023 in the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament about the purchase of the Israeli ground-based modular multicalibre PULS missile system for the Dutch armed forces and the intention of the Dutch Ministry of Defense to purchase ship-based Tomahawk cruise missiles in the United States (for arming four LCF-type frigates and four non-nuclear submarines of the Dutch navy) and air-based AGM-158B JASSM-ER cruise missiles (for equipping Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighters of the Netherlands Air Force).
Published by the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands image of the combat vehicle of the Israeli ground-based modular multi-caliber missile system Elbit Systems PULS (Precise and Universal Launch System) on a Scania (8x8) car chassis (c) the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands and Elbit SystemsVan der Maat, in particular, stated:
"The war in Ukraine shows once again that fire support at short, medium and long distances is extremely important. This applies to land, air and sea. With the help of new systems, the Ministry of Defense [of the Netherlands] once again confirms the overall combat power and deterrence of NATO. This shows that the Netherlands is taking responsibility, making a big contribution to this. In addition, in this way, the Netherlands satisfies the desire to have its own rocket artillery and long-range weapons, as prescribed in the 2022 Defense Policy Document."
Van der Maat's statement also stated: "This year the [Netherlands] army will receive the Israeli PULS (Precise and Universal Launch System) system. As a result, the Ministry of Defense [of the Netherlands] will have its own rocket artillery for the first time in many years. This is necessary for effective ground fire support, because these systems have a greater range reach, have a greater combat load and can reach the target faster than existing means of fire support. The Dutch means of fire support are currently represented by armored self-propelled howitzers [PzH 2000], which can fire at a distance of up to 50 kilometers.
The systems research stage showed that there are two systems that meet the Dutch requirements: HIMARS system and PULS system. The PULS system excels in various areas. Compared to the American HIMARS system, it can carry more missiles. It is also possible to purchase more missiles within the budget and they will be available earlier. In addition, in the future PULS will be suitable for ammunition from European manufacturers.
Our partner, Denmark, is also buying the PULS system, while Germany is interested in it. This opens up prospects for international cooperation in order to increase the autonomy of Europe."
On the same day, April 3, the Israeli company Elbit Systems announced the conclusion of a contract with an unnamed European country for the supply of military products, including precision ammunition, radio communication systems and other military electronic systems. The contract has a value of about 280 million dollars and a term of execution of three years.
As you can understand, this contract was concluded with the Netherlands and its main part is the supply of PULS missile systems and missile ammunition to them. In 2004, the Netherlands decommissioned all their 23 MLRS M270 MLRS combat vehicles, which were then sold to Finland. Now the purchase of Israeli PULS systems will allow the Dutch army to restore the ability to hit targets at long distances to a new level.
Earlier in February 2023, the US Department of Defense Agency for Military Cooperation (Defense Security Cooperation Agency - DSCA) sent a notification to the US Congress about the possible upcoming sale to the Netherlands through the US program of intergovernmental foreign military sales Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of 20 combat vehicles of the M142 HIMARS ground-based missile systems manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation, including GMLRS guided missiles M30A2/M31A2 and 80 M57 ATACMS tactical missiles. The cost of the proposed delivery was estimated at $670 million, including missiles, and training and technical support packages. However, in the end, the Netherlands chose to purchase an Israeli alternative in the form of the PULS system of Elbit Systems. Apparently, this was primarily influenced by the high load of Lockheed Martin with orders for HIMARS systems and GMLRS missiles to them due to the war in Ukraine and the hype demand for HIMARS from other countries, which makes the possible delivery dates quite remote.
The Netherlands thus became the second known customer of the PULS system after Denmark. signed in early March a contract worth $ 133 million for the purchase of eight PULS missile systems (two batteries).
The PULS (Precise and Universal Launching System) multi-purpose multi-caliber rocket system produced by Elbit Systems is actually a rebranding of the system formerly known as Lynx. The PULS system can use 122-mm and 160-mm unguided and guided missiles, 306-mm guided precision missiles EXTRA, 370-mm guided Predator Hawk missiles, Delilah cruise missiles, as well as, apparently, standard missiles of the American MLRS and HIMARS missile systems.
The multi-purpose launcher of the PULS system can be carried on various chassis and has two transport and launch containers, each of which can accommodate 18 Accular 122 mm missiles with a range of up to 35 km, or ten Accular 160 mm missiles with a range of up to 40 km, or four EXTRA missiles with a range of up to 150 km, or two Predator Hawk missiles with a range of up to 300 km.
In the European market since the end of 2022, Elbit Systems has been promoting a variant of the PULS system in partnership with the German company KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) as a Euro-PULS concept for the next-generation European long-range rocket artillery, with its offer as a successor system to MLRS in European NATO countries - primarily for the armed forces German forces.
Image of a Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter jet with two Lockheed Martin AGM-158B JASSM-ER aircraft cruise missiles on an external suspension (c) Lockheed Martin
