The Soviet Union was the leader in creating the most advanced multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), which successfully combined the great power of volleys with high mobility and maneuverability. No other army in the world has achieved such a widespread use of rocket artillery as in the Soviet Armed Forces.
Rocket artillery, being a salvo fire weapon, has become one of the most powerful means of mass destruction of enemy personnel and equipment. Multiple launch rocket systems combine multiple charges, rate of fire and a significant mass of combat salvo. The multiple charges of the MLRS made it possible to achieve the simultaneous destruction of targets in large areas, and the volley fire provided surprise and a high effect of damaging and moral impact on the enemy.
During the Great Patriotic War, a number of rocket launchers were created in our country - BM-13 "Katyusha", BM-8-36, BM-8-24, BM-13-N, BM-31-12, BM-13 SN … After the end of World War II, work in the Soviet Union on jet systems continued actively in the 1950s.
The worthy successor of the BM-13 "Katyusha" rocket launcher, which took its place of honor in museums, was the Soviet system of the second post-war generation - the field 122-mm divisional multiple launch rocket system BM-21 "Grad", designed to defeat open and sheltered manpower. unarmored and lightly armored vehicles in concentration areas; in including the destruction of military-industrial infrastructure facilities, remote installation of anti-tank and anti-personnel minefields in the combat zone at a distance of up to 20 km.
By the mid-1950s, the Soviet army was armed with the BM-14-16 multiple launch rocket system with sixteen 140-mm rotating turbojet projectiles, but the military was not satisfied with the firing range of these MLRSs, limited to only 9.8 km. The Soviet Armed Forces needed a new, more powerful divisional multiple launch rocket system, designed to defeat manpower and unarmored equipment in the closest tactical depth of enemy defenses. Therefore, already in 1957, the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) announced a competition for the development of a new model of rocket artillery with the ability to destroy targets at ranges up to 20,000 meters from the launch site.
In accordance with the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of September 23, 1958 in Sverdlovsk, the Special Design Bureau No. 203 - the head organization for the development of launchers for rockets - began development work on the development of a project for a new combat vehicle 2 B5. The new combat vehicle was supposed to mount a package of 30 guides for rockets. This multiple launch rocket system was originally designed for R-115 unguided rockets of the Strizh (Raven) type. However, due to the peculiarities of their design and the limitations imposed by the railway dimensions, only 12 to 16 guides could be mounted on the new combat vehicle. Therefore, the chief designer of SKB-203 AI Yaskin decides to redesign the missile. To reduce its size and increase the number of guides, it was planned to make the tail fins foldable. This work was entrusted to the designer VV Vatolin, who had previously actively participated in the creation of the MLRS BM-14-16. He proposed to fit the stabilizers into the projectile size, making them not just folding, but also curved along a cylindrical surface, which made it possible to use tubular-type launch guides, as in the BM-14-16 MLRS. A draft study of a combat vehicle with a new version of the rocket showed that in this case the project meets all the requirements of the TTZ and a package of 30 guides can be mounted on the combat vehicle.
In February 1959, the State Committee for Defense Technology put forward the "Tactical and technical requirements for the development work" Divisional field rocket system "Grad", and soon the Tula NII-147 (later GNPP "Splav") was appointed the main executor on this topic, under the leadership of A. N. Ganichev engaged in the creation of new artillery ammunition, including rockets. In the course of a preliminary sketch study, the designers of the NII-147 also found that the selected caliber of a 122-mm projectile with a powder engine allows the closest approach to meeting the tactical and technical requirements for the total number of shells on the launcher and achieving the maximum firing range for a given weight of the rocket.
By the summer of 1959, the designers of the SKB-203 had developed four versions of the pre-draft designs of the 2 B5 combat vehicle. All developments were carried out for two types of projectiles: for a projectile with drop-down stabilizers and with a rigid tail.
Initially, variants based on the SU-100 P ACS with 30 guides and the YaAZ-214 truck with 60 guides were considered as a combat vehicle for a new multiple launch rocket system. In the end, the new three-axle all-wheel drive Ural-375 truck, which was the most successful for this type of combat vehicles, was chosen as the main chassis for the combat vehicle.
And a few months later, in the fall of the same year, the first tests of new rockets took place at the Pavlograd SKB-10 test site in order to test the strength, flight range, high-explosive and fragmentation effect of rockets, the accuracy of the battle, the durability of the equipment and the development of the elements of the launcher guides. For testing, two versions of the projectile were presented - with a rigid tail and with a drop-down tail. All works on preliminary sketching allowed to create a significant design groundwork for the design of a new multiple launch rocket system. Soon, these works reached a qualitatively new level.
On May 30, 1960, in accordance with the decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the domestic defense industry was to create a new field divisional multiple launch rocket system "Grad", intended to replace the BM-14 MLRS. The designers who took part in the development work of the "Grad field reactive system" had to create an easy-to-manufacture and use complex that was not inferior to foreign analogues in terms of its technical characteristics. The general management of all design work was carried out by a talented engineer - chief designer of NII-147 Alexander Nikitovich Ganichev, and the development of the launcher continued to be led by chief designer of SKB-203 AI Yaskin. Now work on the creation of the MLRS "Grad" was engaged in cooperation by a number of other development enterprises: the development of an unguided rocket was carried out by the teams of NII-147 and related enterprises (NII-6 was engaged in solid-propellant charges, GSKB-47 - equipping warheads of 122-mm unguided rocket shell), and SKB-203 continued to work on the creation of a mobile launcher 2 B-5.
The work on the creation of a new MLRS turned out to be fraught with many problems. First of all, the question arose of choosing the aerodynamic design of the rocket. In fact, work on the rocket projectile went on a competitive basis between NII-147 and NII-1, which offered a modernized Strizh-type anti-aircraft missile. Based on the results of considering both proposals, the GRAU considered the NII-147 projectile to be the best, whose main advantage was in a more advanced technology for manufacturing the hulls of rocket projectiles. If NII-1 proposed to produce them by the method of traditional cutting from a steel blank, then at NII-147 they proposed to use a new high-performance technological method of hot drawing from a steel sheet blank for the manufacture of the body of rockets, as was done in the production of artillery ammunition casings. This design had a revolutionary impact on all further development of rocket artillery systems in this caliber.
As a result of a large amount of work carried out at NII-147, an unguided 122-mm rocket M-21 OF (with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead with a two-chamber rocket engine and a stabilizer block) was created. The rocket charge, developed by the employees of NII-6 (now the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation, Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics”), contained in each chamber one single-chamber powder charge made of solid propellant, but of different sizes. The mass of the two charges was 20, 45 kg.
The M-21 PF rocket had a mixed stabilization system, stabilizing in flight both by folding blades and by rotating around its longitudinal axis. Although the rotation of the rocket in flight after derailing from the guide took place at a low speed of only a few tens of revolutions per second, and did not create a sufficient gyroscopic effect, it compensated for the deviation of the engine thrust, thus eliminating the most important reason for the dispersion of rockets. For the first time, the 122-mm Grad rocket used the plumage of four curved blades, which was deployed when the projectile descended from the guide, in the folded position secured by a special ring and tightly adhered to the cylindrical surface of the tail compartment, without going beyond the dimensions of the projectile. As a result, the designers of the NII-147 managed to create a fairly compact rocket that fits well into the tubular launch rail. The initial rotation was given due to the movement of the projectile in the guide, which has a spiral guiding U-shaped groove.
The rotation of the projectile in flight along the trajectory was supported by the blades of the drop-down stabilizer, fixed at an angle of 1 degree to the longitudinal axis of the projectile. This stabilization system turned out to be close to optimal. Thus, the design team under the leadership of A. N. Ganichev managed, with a large elongation of the feathered rocket projectile in transverse dimensions, in combination with a powerful engine, not to go beyond its diameter, which was previously achieved only in the design of turbojet projectiles, and at the same time to reach the specified firing range - 20 kilometers. In addition, thanks to this design, it became possible to increase the number of guides of the combat vehicle, increasing the salvo power, and reducing the number of combat vehicles required to hit the target.
The high-explosive effect of the new rocket was similar to the 152-mm artillery high-explosive fragmentation shells, while much more fragments were formed.
The chassis of the Ural-375 D off-road truck was finally chosen as the chassis for the 2 B5 combat vehicle. This three-axle all-wheel drive truck was equipped with a 180-horsepower carbureted gasoline engine. At the end of 1960, one of the first prototypes of the Ural-375 chassis was delivered to SKB-203, even with a canvas top of the cockpit, and already in January 1961, the first prototype MLRS was released. To simplify the design of the launcher, the guides received a tubular shape, and in the original version, the standard position of the package of guides for firing was chosen across the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. However, already the first test launches of rockets revealed the complete unsuitability of such a scheme, not only because of the strong swinging of the platform during firing, but also a decrease in the accuracy of the firing itself. Therefore, along with turning the guides, the designers had to significantly strengthen the suspension and take measures to stabilize the body. Now firing (both single projectiles and a salvo) has become possible not only strictly along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, but also at an acute angle to it.
Two experimental installations BM-21 "Grad" passed factory tests at the end of 1961. From March 1 to May 1, 1962, at the Rzhevsky artillery range in the Leningrad Military District, state range-military tests of the Grad divisional field reactive system were carried out. It was planned to fire 663 rounds of rockets on them and make a range of military vehicles at a distance of 10,000 km. However, the prototype 2 B5 traveled only 3380 km, after which it had a chassis spar breakage. After the installation of the artillery unit on the new chassis, tests were continued, but breakdowns continued to haunt this system. The deflections of the rear and middle axles were again revealed, the propeller shaft was bent from collision with the balance beam axis, etc. As a result, the specialists of the Ural Automobile Plant had to fundamentally improve their chassis. Work was carried out to improve the rear axles and use alloy steel frames for the manufacture of side members. It took about a year to eliminate the identified shortcomings and to more thoroughly fine-tune the complex.
On March 28, 1963, the Grad multiple launch rocket system entered service with individual rocket artillery divisions of motorized rifle and tank divisions of the Soviet Army. With the adoption of the Grad system in the artillery regiments of all divisions, a separate MLRS division was introduced, as a rule, consisting of 18 BM-21 combat vehicles.
The multiple charges of these rocket systems, which have small-sized and simple launchers, determined the possibility of simultaneous destruction of targets over large areas, and volley fire provided surprise and a high impact on the enemy. Combat vehicles BM-21 "Grad", being highly mobile, were able to open fire in a matter of minutes after arriving at a position and immediately leave it, having escaped return fire.
A number of structural elements and attachments of the BM-21 artillery unit were subsequently unified for assembling the artillery units of the 9 P125 Grad-V MLRS combat vehicle and the 9 P140 Uragan MLRS combat vehicle.
Serial production of the BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system was launched in 1964 at the Perm Machine-Building Plant. VI Lenin, and 122-mm unguided rockets M-21 OF - at the factory number 176 in Tula.
Already on November 7, 1964, the first two Grad BM-21 serial combat vehicles assembled in Perm marched at a military parade on Red Square in Moscow. However, they were still incomplete - they did not have electric drives for the artillery unit. And only in 1965 the Grad system began to enter the troops in massive quantities. By this time, at the automobile plant in Miass, serial production of Ural-375 D trucks for the BM-21 combat vehicle had been launched. Over time, the BM-21 combat vehicle was significantly improved, and the range of rockets for it was significantly expanded. The production of the 9 K51 Grad multiple launch rocket system continued by the Soviet defense industry on a large scale until 1988. During this time, 6,536 combat vehicles were supplied to the Soviet army alone, and at least 646 more vehicles were manufactured for export. By the beginning of 1994, 4,500 BM-21 MLRS were in service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, and in 1995, that is, several years after the end of serial production, more than 2,000 BM-21 Grad combat vehicles were used in more than 60 countries around the world. During the same time, more than 3,000,000 different 122-mm unguided rockets were manufactured for the Grad MLRS. And at present, the BM-21 MLRS continues to be the most massive combat vehicle of this class.
Fighting vehicle BM-21 "Grad" allows you to fire from the cockpit without preparing a firing position, which provides the ability to quickly open fire. MLRS BM-21 has high dynamic qualities and maneuverability, which allows it to be effectively used in conjunction with armored vehicles on the march and on the front line during hostilities. The launcher, having a high cross-country ability, can easily overcome difficult off-road conditions, steep descents and ascents, and when driving on paved roads, it can reach speeds of up to 75 km / h. In addition, the BM-21 combat vehicle is also capable of overcoming water obstacles without preliminary preparation with a ford depth of up to 1.5 meters. Thanks to this, rocket artillery units can, depending on the situation, be transferred from one position to another and suddenly strike the enemy. A salvo of one BM-21 combat vehicle provides an area of destruction of manpower - about 1000 square meters, and non-armored vehicles - 840 square meters.
The calculation of the BM-21 combat vehicle consists of 6 people and includes: commander; 1st crew number - gunner; 2nd number - fuse installer; 3rd number - loader (radiotelephone operator); 4th number - transport vehicle driver - loader; 5th number - the driver of the combat vehicle - the loader.
The duration of a full volley is 20 seconds. Due to the consistent descent of shells from the guides, the rocking of the launcher during firing is minimized. The time for transferring the BM-21 Grad combat vehicle from the traveling position to the combat position does not exceed 3.5 minutes.
The guides are reloaded manually. Each pipe in the BM-21 guide package is loaded from a transport vehicle by at least 2 people, and loading from the ground - by at least 3 people.
High dynamic qualities and maneuverability make it possible to effectively use the Grad complex in conjunction with armored vehicles both on the march and at forward positions during combat operations. The 9 K51 Grad multiple launch rocket system is not only one of the most effective multiple launch rocket systems, but has itself become the base for a number of other domestic systems created in the interests of various branches of the armed forces.
The BM-21 system is constantly being modernized - today there are several modifications of warheads and rockets for them.
BM-21 V Grad-V (9 K54) - field airborne multiple launch rocket system for airborne troops with 12 guides mounted on the chassis of the GAZ-66 V. Its design took into account the specific requirements for combat airborne troops: increased reliability, compactness and low weight. Due to the use of a lighter chassis and a reduction in the number of guides from 40 to 12 pieces, the mass of this combat vehicle was more than halved - to 6 tons in a combat position, which was achieved by its air transportability on the most massive military transport aircraft of the USSR Air Force - An -12, and later on the Il-76.
Subsequently, on the basis of the BTR-D armored personnel carrier for the airborne troops, another airborne complex of the Grad-VD multiple launch rocket system was developed, which was a tracked version of the Grad-V system. It included a BM-21 VD combat vehicle with a mounted package of 12 guides and a transport-loading vehicle.
BM-21 "Grad-1" (9 K55) - 36-barreled multiple launch rocket system. MLRS "Grad-1" was adopted in 1976 by artillery units of motorized rifle regiments of the Soviet army and regiments of the navy and was intended to destroy enemy manpower and military equipment in concentration areas, artillery and mortar batteries, command posts and other targets directly on leading edge of the front. Based on the smaller front width and the depth of the regiment's combat operations, in comparison with the division, it was considered possible to reduce the maximum range of this system to 15 km.
The 9 P138 combat vehicle of the Grad-1 system, which was supposed to be more massive than the original version, was developed on the basis of the cheaper and more massive chassis of the ZIL-131 all-terrain truck and the artillery unit of the Grad rocket system. Unlike the BM-21 MLRS, the 9 P138 combat vehicle guide package consisted not of 40, but of 36 guides arranged in four rows (the two upper rows had 10 guides each, and the two lower ones - 8 each). The new design of the package of 36 guides made it possible to reduce the weight of the Grad-1 combat vehicle by almost a quarter (compared to the BM-21) - to 10.425 tons. The area of destruction by a salvo of rockets was: for manpower - 2, 06 hectares, for equipment - 3, 6 hectares.
BM-21 "Grad-1" (9 K55-1). To arm the artillery regiments of tank divisions, another, tracked, version of the Grad-1 multiple launch rocket system was created based on the chassis of a 122-mm self-propelled howitzer 2 C1 "Gvozdika" with a package of 36 guides.
"Grad-M" (A-215) - shipborne multiple launch rocket system, adopted in 1978 by the large amphibious assault ships of the USSR Navy. Grad-M included an MS-73 launcher with 40 guides. The A-215 Grad-M complex, first installed on the large landing ship BDK-104, was tested in the Baltic Fleet in the spring of 1972. The shipborne launcher differed from the BM-21 MLRS in the ability to quickly (within two minutes) reload and high vertical and horizontal guidance speeds - 26 ° per second and 29 ° per second (respectively), which made it possible, in conjunction with the fire control system that provided its use "Thunderstorm-1171" to stabilize the launcher and conduct effective firing with an interval between shots of 0.8 seconds at a sea state of up to 6 points.
BM-21 PD "Dam" - coastal complex. The self-propelled 40-barreled multiple launch rocket system is designed to engage surface and underwater targets, as well as to protect naval bases from the actions of small submarines and to combat saboteurs. The Damba coastal complex, created at the Splav State Scientific and Production Enterprise in Tula, was adopted in 1980 by the Navy. In the modernized version, the DP-62 40-barreled launcher was mounted on the chassis of the Ural-4320 truck. Firing from the BM-21 PD system could be carried out both with single launches of rockets, and with partial or full volleys. In contrast to the standard BM-21, the Damba complex was equipped with means of receiving, targeting and inserting installations into the warheads of rockets. The "Dam" complex worked in conjunction with a hydroacoustic station, which is part of the coastal defense system, or in an autonomous mode. The head of the projectile was made cylindrical to exclude ricochet from the water surface. The warhead was detonated similarly to a conventional depth charge at a given depth.
"Grad-P" (9 P132) - 122-mm portable multiple launch rocket system. At the request of the government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam for special operations in South Vietnam in 1965, the designers of NII-147, together with colleagues from the Tula Central Design and Research Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons, created a portable single-shot launcher 9 P132. It was part of the "Grad-P" ("Partizan") complex and was a tubular guide launcher with a length of 2500 mm, mounted on a tripod folding machine with vertical and horizontal guidance mechanisms. The installation was completed with sighting devices: an artillery compass and a PBO-2 sight. The total weight of the installation did not exceed 55 kg. It was easily disassembled and carried by a crew of 5 people in two packs of 25 and 28 kg. The installation was transferred from the traveling position to the combat position - in 2.5 minutes. To control the fire, a sealed remote control was used, connected to the launcher with an electric cable 20 meters long. Especially for the Grad-P complex, the NII-147 developed a 122-mm unguided missile 9 M22 M ("Malysh") with a total weight of 46 kg, also adapted for carrying in two packs. The maximum launch range did not exceed 10,800 meters. Serial production of the 122-mm portable multiple launch rocket system "Grad-P" (9 P132) was organized at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant in 1966. In 1966 - early 1970s, several hundred Grad-P units were delivered to Vietnam from the USSR. The "Grad-P" installation was not accepted into the armament of the Soviet army, but was produced only for export.
BM-21-1 "Grad". In 1986, the Perm Machine-Building Plant named after I. VI Lenin completed the development work "Creation of the BM-21-1 combat vehicle of the 122-mm MLRS" Grad "complex. The designers carried out a radical modernization of the BM-21 Grad 40-barreled multiple launch rocket system. A modified chassis of the Ural-4320 diesel truck was used as a base for the combat vehicle. The BM-21-1 combat vehicle had a new artillery unit, consisting of two 20-barrel packages of guides mounted in single-use transport and launch containers (TPK) made of polymer composite materials. They were installed on a combat vehicle using a special additional transition frame. In this system, the accelerated reloading of the system was carried out not by manually installing each missile in the guide tube, but immediately with the help of lifting means by a general replacement of containers, the mass of which in the charged state was 1770 kg each. The loading time was reduced to 5 minutes, but the total weight of the installation increased to 14 tons. In addition, thanks to the accumulated combat experience of the war in Afghanistan in the new complex, unlike the BM-21, the BM-21-1 guide tube packages received a heat shield that protects the pipes from direct exposure to sunlight. From the cockpit of the BM-21-1 combat vehicle, it was now possible to fire immediately, without preparing a firing position, which made it possible to open fire quickly. However, in the late 1980s, during the restructuring and massive disarmament of the Soviet Armed Forces, this version of the MLRS was never put into mass production, and its phased modernization continues to this day. While retaining the previous one package of guides, an upgraded fire control system with a navigation system and an on-board computer was mounted on it, and new rockets were used to increase the firing range to 35 km.
"Prima" (9 K59) is a deep modernization of the multi-purpose 122-mm multiple launch rocket system "Grad" with increased firepower on the chassis of the Ural-4320 truck. The Prima complex included a 9 A51 combat vehicle with a 50-barrel multiple launch rocket system and a 9 T232 M transport and loading vehicle based on the Ural-4320 truck with a mechanized reloading process that took no more than 10 minutes. Complex 9 K59 "Prima" was adopted by the Soviet army in 1989, however, due to the policy of limiting weapons carried out by the Soviet leadership during the years of restructuring, this system never went into mass production.
The most noticeable external difference between the "Prima" and the "Grad" is the longer box-shaped casing, in which the package of tubular guides of the launcher is mounted. The number of combat crew has been reduced to 3 people against 7 in the "Grad" BM-21 system. A feature of the "Prima" system is that, along with the use of standard rockets from the BM-21 "Grad", it was for the first time used a new more effective unguided 122-mm high-explosive fragmentation rocket 9 M53 F with a parachute stabilization system, as well as a smoke shell 9 M43. The firing range was also 21 km, but the affected area was 7-8 times larger than that of the BM-21 combat vehicle. The duration of one salvo was 30 seconds, which was 4–5 times less than that of the BM-21, with the same range and firing accuracy.
2 B17-1 "Tornado-G" (9 K51 M). In 1998, the design bureau of Motovilikhinskiye Zavody OJSC completed work on the creation of a modernized version of the Grad - an automated combat vehicle based on BM-21-1 with new 122-mm unguided rockets with a maximum firing range increased to 40 km. The upgraded model of the MLRS 9 K51 M "Tornado-G" received the designation "2 B17-1". Fighting vehicle 2 B17-1 "Tornado-G" is equipped with an automated guidance and fire control system, satellite navigation system, preparation and launch equipment based on the "Baget-41" computer and other additional equipment. This entire complex provides information and technical interface with the control machine; automated high-speed reception (transmission) of information and its protection from unauthorized access, visual display of information on the computer screen and its storage; autonomous topographic location (determination of initial coordinates, determination of current coordinates during movement) using satellite navigation equipment with displaying the location and route of movement on an electronic map of the area with display on the computer screen; initial orientation of the package of guides and automated guidance of the package of guides to the target without leaving the crew from the cockpit and using sighting devices; automated remote data entry into the missile fuse; launching unguided rockets without leaving the crew from the cockpit.
All this made it possible to dramatically increase the effectiveness of hitting targets. And soon another option appeared - an automated combat vehicle 2 B17 M, equipped with protection for the information transmission device. Recently, there has been another modernization of the MLRS "Grad". As a result of these works, a new combat vehicle 2 B26 was created on the modified chassis of the KamAZ-5350 truck.
Illumination (9 K510) is a portable multiple launch rocket system for firing 122-mm unguided rockets. The Illumination complex was developed by the designers of the Tula NPO Splav and related enterprises. It is designed to provide light support for combat operations, for units guarding the border at night, important state facilities, as well as in case of accidents and natural disasters. The Illumination complex included a single-barreled launcher weighing 35 kg, a 9 M42 unguided missile and a launch pad. Complex 9 K510 is served by a crew of two.
"Beaver" (9 Ф689) is a target complex. In 1997, the Bobr target complex was adopted by the Russian army. It is designed to staff training centers and ranges for training and test firing using portable anti-aircraft missile systems and anti-aircraft missile systems in the regimental and divisional level. Air target simulators provide simulated flight of air attack weapons both in speed and trajectory parameters, as well as in characteristics of electromagnetic radiation, including stealth aircraft at extremely low altitudes; cruise missiles; striking elements of precision weapons and remotely piloted aircraft. The complex "Bobr" includes a single-barreled launcher weighing 24.5 kg, unguided rockets - simulators of air targets and a remote launch panel. The target complex "Bobr" is served by a crew of two. Projectiles - simulators of air targets can be launched at a distance of up to 10 km. All simulator projectiles contain a tracer that provides visual observation of them along the flight path.
Along with Russia, work on the Grad MLRS is currently continuing in the former Soviet republics - the CIS countries.
Thus, in Belarus in the early 2000s, the Grad-1 A (BelGrad) multiple launch rocket system was released, which is a Belarusian modification of the Grad system with a BM-21 warhead mounted on a MAZ truck chassis. 6317-05.
Ukrainian designers have created their own modernization of the MLRS BM-21 "Grad" - BM-21 U "Grad-M". Ukrainian RZSO "Grad-M" is a BM-21 artillery unit mounted on a KrAZ-6322 or KrAZ-6322-120-82 truck chassis. The new chassis made it possible to provide the combat system with a doubled ammunition load.
The improvement of 122-mm unguided rockets for the BM-21 "Grad" system was carried out by the Research Institute-147, which since 1966 was called the Tula State Research Institute of Precision Engineering (now called "State Unitary Enterprise GNPP" Splav ").
The main types of ammunition for the BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system are rockets with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead and a detachable high-explosive fragmentation warhead and a parachute stabilization system, with incendiary, smoke-smoking and propaganda warheads, rockets for setting up anti-personnel and anti-personnel minefields, for setting radio interference, lighting rockets.
In addition, rockets with a cluster warhead equipped with two self-aiming (adjustable) combat elements and a dual-band infrared guidance system are used. They are intended to destroy armored and other self-propelled vehicles (tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, self-propelled guns). Also used is a missile with a cluster warhead equipped with cumulative fragmentation warheads. Designed to destroy lightly armored vehicles (infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, self-propelled guns), manpower, aircraft and helicopters in the parking lot.
Especially for the BM-21 "Grad" was created and a rocket with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead of increased power. It was intended to destroy open and sheltered manpower, unarmored vehicles and armored personnel carriers in concentration areas, artillery and mortar batteries, command posts and other targets. Due to the specific design of the projectile, the effectiveness of the destruction increased on average twice as compared to the warhead of the standard projectile.
In the process of creating the MLRS BM-21 "Grad" in the Soviet Union, a number of experimental design and research work was carried out to create rockets for this system for various purposes. As a result, in 1968, the Soviet army adopted and mastered in mass production rockets in special filling with chemical warheads.
Currently, the BM-21 Grad MLRS in various modifications continues to be in service with armies in more than 60 countries around the world. The most diverse copies and variants of installations of the BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system were produced in Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and South Africa. Many of these countries have mastered the production of unguided rockets for them.
For fifty years of use, the BM-21 "Grad" system has been repeatedly and very successfully used in hostilities in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The baptism of fire BM-21 "Grad" received on March 15, 1969 during the military conflict between the USSR and China on the Ussuri River on Damansky Island. On this day, units and subunits of the 135th motorized rifle division deployed along the Ussuri River took part in hostilities. At 17.00, in a critical situation, by order of the commander of the Far Eastern Military District, Colonel-General OA Losik, a separate division of the then secret multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) "Grad" opened fire. After the massive use of the Grad installations, which fired high-explosive unguided missiles, the island was completely torn apart. The rockets destroyed most of the material and technical resources of the Chinese group, including reinforcements, mortars, piles of shells, and the Chinese border trespassers were completely destroyed. The volleys of the Grad launchers brought a logical end to the military conflict on this island.
In the 1970s - 2000s, the Grad complex was used in almost all local military conflicts in the world, in various climatic conditions, including the most extreme ones.
BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket launchers were widely used by Soviet units from the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan during the fighting in 1979-1989. In Afghanistan, BM-21 "Grad" installations have won a well-deserved prestige with sudden and accurate fire. Possessing significant destructive power in combination with a large area of destruction, this system was used to destroy an openly located enemy on the crests of heights, mountain plateaus and in valleys. In some cases, the BM-21 MLRS was used for remote mining of the terrain, which made it difficult and partially excluded the enemy's exit from the "blocked" areas of the terrain. A wide range of ammunition for various purposes made it possible to use MLRS at a maximum firing range of 20-30 km, including for avalanches, fires and stone blockages on enemy territory. Terrain conditions in Afghanistan often required a special approach to the choice of terrain for the placement of MLRS firing positions. If on the flat terrain there were practically no problems in this regard, then in the mountains the lack of flat areas necessary for the deployment of BM-21 combat vehicles was acutely affected. This led to the fact that fire platoons of rocket artillery batteries were often deployed at reduced distances (intervals). In some cases, only one combat vehicle could be accommodated in a firing position. Having made a volley, she quickly went to reload, and another Grad took her place. Thus, the shooting was carried out until the completion of the firing mission or the achievement of the required degree of destruction of the target. Often, due to the specific conditions of warfare in the mountains, multiple launch rocket launchers were forced to fire at short ranges (mainly 5-6 km). The low altitude of the trajectory at these ranges did not always allow firing through the ridge of the shelter. The use of large brake rings made it possible to increase the trajectory height by 60 percent. Moreover, if in Afghanistan firing from the BM-21 MLRS was most often carried out in areas, including settlements (while Soviet artillerymen for the first time began to use shooting at low elevation angles and direct fire), then, for example, the Palestinian partisans in Lebanon used tactics nomadic multiple launch rocket launchers. Only one BM-21 installation hit the Israeli troops, which then immediately changed its position.
BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket launchers were also used in large numbers in hostilities during armed conflicts in Africa (Angola, Algeria, Mozambique, Libya, Somalia), Asia (Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Kampuchea, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria), in Latin America (in Nicaragua), as well as in the course of recent conflicts in the territory of the former USSR (in Armenia, Azerbaijan, in Transnistria). "Grads" were also successfully used in Russia itself - during the first and second Chechen campaigns, as well as for the fight against Georgian troops in South Ossetia.
