Netherlands orders PULS MRLs

The Netherlands ordered 20 PULS MRLs on 17 May. (Elbit Systems)

The Netherlands ordered 20 Precise and Universal Launching System (PULS) multiple rocket launchers (MRLs) on 17 May under an agreement between the Israeli and Dutch ministries of defence (MoDs), Elbit Systems announced in a press release the next day. The Israeli company said the USD305 million contract would be conducted over a five-year period. It will supply PULSs integrated into Dutch-produced Scania Gryphus trucks selected by the Netherlands' Materiel and IT Command (Commando Materieel en IT: Commit), formerly the Defence Materiel Organisation, as well as rockets and missiles of various ranges and training and support services.

The Dutch MoD expects the Royal Netherlands Army to receive the first PULSs fully military off-the-shelf by the end of 2023, allowing training to begin and operations to be conducted during the first phase.

The second phase is scheduled to begin in 2024, with engineering for the full-rate production version. Serial production is planned for 2025–26, with assembly of PULSs on newly produced Scania Gryphus cargo vehicles with armoured cabins.

The Dutch MoD operates several hundred of these trucks and expects to use the same family of vehicles to control operating costs and simplify maintenance. During this second phase, national command-and-control (C2) systems, using a secure gateway, will be connected to the PULS fire-control system (FCS).