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The M5 Sandstorm is a tracked self-propelled multiple rocket launcher vehicle used exclusively by NATO forces in ArmA 3.

Overview[]

  • Role:
    • Indirect fire support
« The Swedish Multiple Launch Rocket System is a replacement of the original U.S. MLRS platform. Built in 2021, it utilizes smaller rockets equipped with modern engines, resulting in longer range and better accuracy. The launch pod is mounted on a Slammer chassis and loads twelve 230 mm rockets.
Field Manual
»

Design[]

The Sandstorm is an armoured, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher. It shares the same chassis with its Main Battle Tank parent vehicle, and is capable of delivering a powerful payload of explosive rockets at distances of more than 30 kilometres.

Armament
The Sandstorm's standard loadout has the rocket launcher pod pre-loaded with 12 high-explosive (HE) 230 mm rockets.

These 230 mm rockets can damage, if not outright destroy even MBTs with direct impacts, making the Sandstorm a highly valuable asset in any situation. Optionally, the Sandstorm's launcher can also be loaded with alternate rockets fitted with clusterbomb payloads[note 1], which can raze entire towns in a single barrage of devastating explosive fragments.

Drawbacks
Care must be taken with the Sandstorm's operation. Even though it retains the same protection levels as its parent vehicle like its howitzer-armed counterpart, it completely lacks any form of defensive weaponry that would allow it to defend itself within a reasonable capacity.

Although direct fire is possible by aiming the launcher at the enemy, it is highly imprecise at close ranges and is a waste of the Sandstorm's limited stockpile of rockets.

Crew Capacity
The Sandstorm has a seating capacity of just two personnel for a crew that consists of the driver and gunner. It cannot transport any passengers or additional crewmen.

Camouflage[]

  • Sand: Standard pattern-less dark tan paint scheme used by all NATO ground vehicles and certain aircraft. This can be universally employed in all types of terrain, but is more suited to arid and forested environments. Any camo nets applied on the Sandstorm's hull will use a two-tone desert camouflage pattern scheme.
  • Olive: Tropical olive green paint scheme. Only useful for jungle or woodland environments. Camo nets attached to the Sandstorm use a two-tone woodland camouflage pattern when this scheme is used.

Protection[]

The Sandstorm has a base armour value of 900. It does not have any Explosive Reactive Armour blocks/panels fitted, nor does it have the ability to attach slat cages.

The following highlighted positions serve as weak points on the Sandstorm:

Arma3-sandstorm-hitpoints

LEGEND
Green = Hull
Orange = Engine
Violet = Fuel tanks
Light blue = Treads
Maroon = Missile pod

Note that in order to inflict actual damage, a munition must first penetrate through the surrounding armour plates and directly hit the component's weak point. Any strikes on non-highlighted parts will cause little (if any) noticeable damage.


Hull[]

The hull can resist up to 1,620 points of damage. Will cause a catastrophic kill if fully depleted.

Munition type Damage reduction (%) Velocity reduction (%)
Armour Piercing None 10
High-Explosive 80* 50
High-Explosive Anti-Tank 80* 80
Tandem High-Explosive Anti-Tank 80* 10

(*) Reductions only apply to the explosive component of the munition i.e. Tandem HEAT explosive charge

If the hull has been compromised, no reductions will be applied to the velocity/raw damage of incoming projectiles.

Engine[]

The Sandstorm's engine can only resist up to 360 points of damage. It takes 80% less damage from HE-type munitions.

20% of incoming damage onto the engine is always shared with the Sandstorm's main "health" pool. It will not however, result in a catastrophic kill if destroyed unless the Sandstorm is at critical health status.

If damaged: Reduces power output, acceleration is decreased and it may become impossible to climb uphill.
If destroyed: Instantly immobilises the Sandstorm.

Fuel tanks[]

The fuel tanks can only withstand a maximum of 270 points worth of damage. They do however, take 40% less damage from HE-type munitions.

At least 10% of it is shared with the Sandstorm's main "health" pool. Destroying the fuel tanks will not cause a catastrophic kill unless the Sandstorm is critically damaged.

If damaged: Gradually leak fuel over time, but it will stop at a threshold of 70% of the Sandstorm's total fuel capacity.
If destroyed: Causes it to rapidly lose its entire fuel capacity in just a few seconds.

Treads[]

Both treads can resist 650 points worth of damage. No amount of damage inflicted on them is transferred onto the Sandstorm's "health" pool. They take only 20% less damage from HE-type munitions.

Destroying either one of the treads will hamper the Sandstorm's handling but will not prevent it from moving. Destroying both will severely degrade the Sandstorm's handling and can prevent it from moving while on rough terrain.

Missile pod[]

The Sandstorm's MLRS pod can withstand up to 720 points of damage. It takes 80% reduced damage from HE-type munitions.

Disabling the pod will prevent the gunner from adjusting its rotation. However, no amount of damage inflicted onto it is shared with the Sandstorm's main "health" pool.

Components[]

  • Camo Net (Hull): Drapes the entire hull with camouflage netting. Partially conceals covered sections from thermal sensors.
  • Camo Net (Turret): Identical to the Hull camo net, but for the launcher pod instead.

Armament[]

The gunner position exclusively controls the 230 mm Rocket pod. For optics, they have access to three fields of view and can switch between day, night or black-/white-hot thermal vision modes:

230 mm Rocket[]

Arma3-vehicleweapons-m5sandstorm-mlrs
Payload Base damage value Damage type Initial velocity (m/s)
HE 1,200 High-Explosive 850
Cluster (Primary) 300 High-Explosive 850
Cluster (Secondary) 35 High-Explosive N/A

Multiple rocket launcher. Can fire unguided 230 mm rockets with either a high-explosive (HE) or cluster payload.

Rockets are always fired with an initial launch velocity of 850 m/s. Without a firing solution selected, the gunner can launch one rocket every 0.8 seconds. It takes a total of 90 seconds to swap between rocket types, assuming that the Sandstorm has been granted access to cluster rockets or an additional spare "magazine".

The destructive potential of each rocket type varies depending on the payload:

  • High-Explosive (HE): The rocket's actual warhead will separate once it is 500 metres above the impact point. It has a blast radius of 30 metres and an armour penetration depth of 433.5 millimetres (direct impact only).
  • Cluster:[note 1] The cluster fragments will separate once the rocket reaches a height of 250 metres above the impact point, spreading across a radius of 50 metres.
    • Each fragment has a blast radius of 8 metres and has a 7% chance of failing to detonate properly. Undetonated fragments will be left behind as Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) pieces.

Capabilities[]

It can fire all twelve of its rockets in under 10 seconds, giving it one of the fastest firing rates of any artillery piece in ArmA 3 alongside the AAF's Zamak MRL.

The M5 Sandstorm has eleven usable range modes available for firing:

  • 997 to 1,342 metres (ETA 21-17 seconds)
  • 1,281 to 1,724 metres (ETA 24-19 seconds)
  • 1,676 to 2,256 metres (ETA 27-22 seconds)
  • 2,190 to 2,946 metres (ETA 31-25 seconds)
  • 2,846 to 3,829 metres (ETA 36-38 seconds)
  • 3,729 to 5,018 metres (ETA 41-35 seconds)
  • 4,927 to 6,630 metres (ETA 47-38 seconds)
  • 6,366 to 8,566 metres (ETA 53-44 seconds)
  • 8,242 to 11,091 metres (ETA 61-51 seconds)
  • 10,599 to 14,263 metres (ETA 69-59 seconds)
  • 13,415 to 18,052 metres (ETA 78-65 seconds)

It also has two more selectable (but barely targetable) range modes:

  • 17,169 to 23,104 metres (ETA 88-73 seconds)
  • 22,356 to 30,083 metres (ETA 101-82 seconds)

Selectable but completely untargetable range modes:[note 2]

  • 29,981 to 40,344 metres (ETA N/A)
  • 38,816 to 52,232 metres (ETA N/A)
  • 50,458 to 67,898 metres (ETA N/A)

The last three range modes cannot actually be used because the artillery computer's map is not large enough to allow the user to target a position from within the minimum/maximum range arcs.[note 2] This means that the Sandstorm's real effective range is limited to between just 1,000-18,000 metres.

Trivia[]

  • The Sandstorm's rocket launcher pod is based on the "M993 Launcher" fitted onto the real-world "M270 MLRS". The chassis on the other hand, like its parent vehicle and its gun-armed counterpart, is based on the "Merkava Mark IV" MBT.
  • Functionally, the Sandstorm's overall role and operation is also similar to that of the Russian-made "TOS-1 Buratino". Like the Sandstorm, the Buratino combines an MRL pod with a tank chassis.
  • It was not originally featured as a usable vehicle in the Alpha and were only added in the Beta's final patch (coinciding with the game's full launch as part of Game Update 1.00).[1]
  • After Game Update 1.12, the Sandstorms's side skirts were changed so that they would animate if the vehicle was driving over rough terrain (the skirts would remain static before the patch's release).[2]
  • Prior to the release of the Tanks DLC, the Sandstorm was the only rocket-based artillery vehicle of its kind in ArmA 3 until the inclusion of the Zamak MRL.[3]
    • The DLC's release also gave the Sandstorm the option of loading cluster rockets, though they are not a part of the Sandstorm's default loadout and must be added by scripting commands.[4]
  • Before Game Update 1.82, it was possible to get into the Sandstorm's gunner position from the side of the hull rather than from the rear entry hatch.[3]

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 The M5 Sandstorm's cluster rockets can only be added through the use of scripting commands (see below).
  2. 2.0 2.1 These range modes are technically usable if the Sandstorm is being employed on a terrain that is physically large enough to allow for the map display to be zoomed out. Therefore, this range limitation only applies to official terrains from ArmA 3 itself.
this removeMagazinesTurret ["12Rnd_230mm_rockets",[0]];
this removeWeaponTurret ["rockets_230mm_GAT",[0]];
this addMagazineTurret ["12Rnd_230mm_rockets_cluster",[0]];
this addWeaponTurret ["rockets_230mm_GAT",[0]];

References[]

  1. van 't Land, J.J. 2013, SPOTREP #00010, Arma 3, viewed 6 October 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00010>.
  2. van 't Land, J.J. 2014, SPOTREP #00019, Arma 3, viewed 10 March 2024, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00019>.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Kovařič, V 2018, SPOTREP #00079, Arma 3, viewed 25 March 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00079>.
  4. Mořický, K et al. 2013, Arma 3: CfgMagazines, Bohemia Interactive Community Wiki, viewed 25 March 2023, <https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3:_CfgMagazines>.

External links[]

See also[]

Variants[]

Vehicles of comparable role and configuration[]

Vehicles of ArmA 3
Wheeled AFV-4 GorgonAMV-7 MarshallHatchbackHEMTTHunterIfritKartMB 4WDMSE-3 MaridOffroadProwlerQilinRhino MGS (UP) • StriderSUVTempestTractorTruckQuadbikeUGV StomperVanZamak (MRL)
Tracked 2S9 SochorAWC NyxBTR-K KamyshCRV-6e BobcatED-1D Mini UGV (ED-1E) • IFV-6a CheetahIFV-6c PantherFV-720 MoraM2A1 Slammer (A4 UP) • M4 ScorcherM5 SandstormMBT-52 KumaT-100 Varsuk (X Futura) • T-140 Angara (T-140K) • ZSU-39 Tigris
Rotor-wing AH-9 PawneeAH-99 BlackfootAR-2 DarterCH-49 MohawkCH-67 HuronDemining DroneMH-9 Hummingbird (M900) • Mi-48 KajmanMi-290 TaruMQ-12 FalconPO-30 OrcaUH-80 Ghost HawkUtility DroneWY-55 Hellcat
Fixed-wing A-143 BuzzardA-149 GryphonA-164 WipeoutCaesar BTTF/A-181 Black Wasp IIKH-3A FenghuangMQ-4A GreyhawkTo-199 NeophronTo-201 ShikraUCAV SentinelV-44X BlackfishY-32 Xi'an
Aquatic Assault BoatMotorboatRHIBSpeedboatSDVWater Scooter
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Karts DLC | Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
Arma3-factionicon-nato NATO - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
Wheeled AMV-7 MarshallHEMTTHunterProwlerQuadbikeRhino MGS (UP) • UGV Stomper
Tracked CRV-6e BobcatED-1D Pelter (ED-1E Roller) • IFV-6a CheetahIFV-6c PantherM2A1 Slammer (A4 UP) • M4 ScorcherM5 Sandstorm
Rotor-wing AH-9 PawneeAH-99 BlackfootAL-6 PelicanAR-2 DarterCH-67 HuronMH-9 HummingbirdMQ-12 FalconUH-80 Ghost Hawk
Fixed-wing A-164 WipeoutF/A-181 Black Wasp IIMQ-4A GreyhawkUCAV SentinelV-44X Blackfish
Aquatic Assault Boat (Rescue) • Speedboat MinigunSDV
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
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