BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system. Reference

BM-21 (9K51) "Grad" is a multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) developed in the Soviet Union. Its task is to destroy manpower, equipment, as well as command posts, artillery and mortar batteries and other targets in the enemy’s tactical rear.

"Grad" belongs to the second generation of reactive systems. 9K51 "Grad" is the most massive multiple launch rocket system in the world. More than 8.5 thousand installations and more than 3 million missiles of various modifications were produced. The Grad MLRS is one of the most effective combat vehicles of this class; in many respects it has no equal today.

Currently, the Grad MLRS is in service with thirty armies around the world. This weapon has taken part in dozens of armed conflicts; several modifications of this combat vehicle have been developed.

The production of the Grad MLRS has been established in several countries: China, Romania, Iraq and South Africa.

History of creation

A couple of years after Stalin’s death, the country’s leadership decided to replace the BM-14 complex, which had been in service since 1945. work on the project was carried out simultaneously in several enterprises:

1. Tula Research Institute-147;
2. Moscow Research Institute-6;
3. Sverdlovsk SKB-203;
4. Moscow GSKB-47 "Basalt".

As a result, several modifications of missile designs with different types of stabilizers were considered: firmly installed and folding.

As a result of the study of projects, a decision was made to create a rocket with curved stabilizers located along a cylindrical surface. Thus, the caliber of the rocket was increased to 122 mm, and the guides acquired a tubular shape. According to the official Resolution of the Council of Ministers, the work was divided as follows:

1. The rocket and the entire firing installation - Tula;
2. Refinement of the engine powder charge - Moscow, NII 6;
3. The warhead of the projectile is Moscow, “Basalt”;
4. Car – Sverdlovsk.

Tula engineers proposed stabilizing the flight not only using the tail section, but also using its rotational energy for this. Although the rocket made only a few revolutions per second, this solution made it possible to reduce the load due to the rationally reduced mass of the ammunition.

In addition, a decision was made to manufacture the projectile body using the hot drawing method (using the method of manufacturing cartridges), in practice this significantly reduced the cost of production.

Tests of the Grad MLRS began in 1961, and a year later they were successfully completed.

However, they did not go without incident; during the firing process, the vehicle was damaged and was sent for modification, as a result of which the rear axle was strengthened. In 1963, on March 28, the vehicle was put into service.

Around this time, she was shown to N.S. Khrushchev. By the end of the 60s, the Soviet industrial complex, which had improved after the war, mastered production and managed to provide the troops with several hundred units of this equipment. The combat vehicle began to enter service with the troops only a year later, after serial production of the chassis for the vehicle was established in the Urals in Miass.

The vehicle served as a prototype for the design of a huge number of multiple launch rocket systems of this caliber. Over the following years, several modifications were developed and put into mass production, differing in basic characteristics and the number of guides. Interesting! The first baptism of fire of the MLRS took place on Damansky Island.

Military accounting

With the end of World War II, the arms race continued actively. All scientific achievements were aimed at improving military production. Prices for military products began to rise even more rapidly than during the war.

The price of modern weapons is also very high. One Grad rocket launcher costs $600-1000. After the combat vehicle was put into service (1963), the cost of the missile was comparable to the price of two Volga vehicles. And with mass production, the cost of the rocket was only two salaries of an engineer - 250 rubles (information from the film “Strike Force”).

The cost of installing "Grad" is a trade secret. According to one English magazine, the price of the Grad's successor, the Smerch, is $1.8 million (information taken from the Phaeton magazine, issue No. 8, January 1996, p. 117).

Design

The multiple launch rocket system received its unique characteristics thanks to the design of the complex, which can be divided into several separate elements:

1. A combat tractor created on the basis of a modified Ural 375D;
2. Fire control systems (KSAUO);
3. Transport-charging vehicle;
4. Missile.

The description of the system should begin with the combat vehicle based on the Ural on which it was installed. The maximum speed of a vehicle on combat duty and fully equipped with ammunition is 75 km/h.

The driver has the ability to disable the suspension, which eliminates the need to use support jacks during shots. A few seconds after the shooting stopped, you could change your position, which made it possible to avoid a retaliatory strike. Fire adjustment is carried out from another vehicle - KSAUO, which is part of the battery.

KSAUO is a set of fire control automation tools.

In addition, the battery and division included a topographic survey machine, whose task was to accurately locate the area for striking. Later, when modifying the Grad MLRS to the Prima level, the Kapustnik KSAUO complex was introduced into its composition, which simultaneously served as a topographic surveyor.

Targeting occurs by using an aiming device consisting of the following devices:

1. Hertz Panorama;
2. Mechanical sight;
3. Collimator K 1.

With the help of this sighting system, accurate salvo fire is possible even in conditions of poor visibility.

The guides located at the rear of the Ural frame are connected into a package consisting of 40 pipes. The block with shells is fixed in the cradle, which is controlled using lifting and rotating mechanisms. The movement of the latter is carried out by electric drives, with the ability to switch to manual mode.

Fire control

The fire control system allows you to fire shots in one gulp or alone. The pyrotechnic ignition of the rocket engine comes from a pulse sensor, which can be controlled in the BM-21 cockpit through a current distributor or through a mobile remote control at a distance of up to 50 m.

The “Grad” installation has a full salvo cycle lasting 20 seconds. Characteristics regarding temperature conditions are as follows: uninterrupted operation is guaranteed at temperatures from -40 °C to +50 °C.

The installation control group consists of a commander and 5 assistants: a gunner; fuse installer; radiotelephone operator/charger; combat vehicle driver/loader and transport vehicle driver/loader.

The transport vehicle is designed to transport shells; stationary racks are fixed on its board.

Performance characteristics

The combat crew of the "Grad" consists of 3 people, who are enough to move the vehicle and fire while aiming at the target. The tactical and technical characteristics of the vehicle are presented in the table below:

As can be seen from the given performance characteristics, the flight range and range of destruction of the enemy’s combat force was impressive. This allowed Grad to become the pride of the nation for some time.

Important! MLRS "Grad 1" can use various types of projectiles for firing: high-explosive fragmentation, cassette, radio jammers, mine laying, smoke.

Modernization

Technical progress requires constant work on modernizing weapons. Otherwise, even the strongest market positions may be lost.

The Grad rocket launcher was improved in 1986. The BM-21-1 model was released. Now the base of the combat vehicle was located on the chassis of the Ural vehicle. A package of guide pipes protected the heat shield from solar exposure. It also became possible to fire quickly.

Based on the GAZ-66B vehicle, by reducing the number of barrels firing projectiles to 12, a lightweight installation for airborne troops was created - BM-21 V.

Based on BM-21-1 in the early 2000s. work was done to produce an automated combat vehicle - 2B17-1. The advantage of the improved installation is guided shooting without sighting devices and crew exit. That is, the determination of the enemy’s coordinates was carried out by the navigation system.

The Damba combat vehicle (BM-21PD) was intended to destroy submarines in order to ensure the protection of the maritime border. The system could work in conjunction with a hydroacoustic station or independently.

The Prima complex, created in the 80s, had 50 guides, but due to insufficient funding it did not receive the right to further mass production.

The Grad MLRS were produced in Czechoslovakia, Belarus and Italy. The Ukrainian version of the BM-21 was placed on the KrAE chassis. The Belarusian "Grad-1A" is capable of placing 2 ammunition loads at a time instead of one. The Italian rocket launcher system (abbreviated FIROS) is different in that the projectiles are equipped with different jet engines, which is why the firing range is not the same.

Combat use

Since their creation, batteries of rocket launchers have been used in almost all local conflicts in which the Soviet Union took part. The machine has been successfully tested in different climatic conditions.

Daman conflict

As mentioned earlier, it was first used in the area of ​​Damansky Island, during the conflict between the USSR and China. What happened in the Far East in the late 60s of the twentieth century. It all started when a group of Chinese soldiers violated the border and shot Soviet soldiers.

This happened on 02.03. 1969 On March 15, negotiations reached a dead end, and the Chinese government sent rifle units towards the island, which were reinforced by artillery fire.

Towards evening, the surviving Soviet border guards abandoned their positions, as they were unable to resist the artillery. After a short period of time, the Grad 1 RZSO division, belonging to the 135th Motorized Rifle Division, which was standing ready, opened fire, and the fire attack continued for 9-12 minutes.

The blow fell on enemy positions located on their own territory. For 20 km, nothing was left alive: reserve warehouses, checkpoints, observation posts - everything was burned or disabled.

At the same time, armored vehicles and soldiers of the motorized rifle and border regiments were sent to the island, and the Chinese were quickly driven out of their positions.

Interesting! At that time, the weapon had not yet been officially presented, so for the surviving Chinese occupiers, the rocket fire, which lasted 10 minutes, made a depressing impression, suppressing the desire to resist.

Tactical schemes

The Armed Forces used various firing patterns from MLRS. They took both maneuvering actions, which consisted of numerous changes of positions, and covering them with heavy fire.

1. Angola - maneuver tactics were used. A continuous front was never formed; both sides used detachment methods of movement, moving in combat columns. No one was involved in their encirclement; the fighting mainly began when two warring parties met, heading towards each other. In this case, the method of dispersing a reactive salvo was used. The impact points form an open circle, within which the enemy’s forces are concentrated. Thus, stretched out columns of enemy military equipment provided ideal targets for the Grad;
2. Afghanistan is a completely opposite situation. The “burnout” type of salvos was used to a greater extent. Mostly large areas were covered in fire, including settlements in which a concentration of Mujahideen was discovered. Here, Soviet artillerymen used low-angle direct fire for the first time;
3. Lebanon. In the confrontation with Israel, the Soviet Union took the side of the Arabs. To resolve the military conflict, one combat unit of the multiple launch rocket system was allocated. She periodically fired well-aimed volleys at the positions of Israeli troops and instantly changed her position. Characteristics that allow you to move at high speed and prepare the vehicle for shooting in just 3.5 minutes made this tactic very effective;
4. Somalia - Soviet vehicles were used by both sides in this clash. This happened due to the fact that 4 “Grads” sent to resolve the conflict did not reach their destination, as they were captured by the Ethiopians. Later they used them against the Somalis, who also had several Grads.

In addition to the listed military conflicts, the BM 21 Grad MLRS was used by Azerbaijani troops in an attempt to resolve the Karabakh conflict, by Russian troops in the First and Second Chechen Companies, and fired at the Georgian army at Prisskaya Heights in 2008, trying to protect South Ossetia from it. Currently, this technique is used in eastern Ukraine, and fire is fired from both sides.

Interesting! Throughout the production of the Grad, many armies around the world tried to obtain it. Throughout its history, it was exported to approximately 70 armies of various states. Based on this, now few people can say how many machines of this type are used all over the world.

Guides

The internal diameter of the guides is 122.4 millimeters, their length is three meters. In order for the projectiles to rotate in flight, there is a U-shaped guide groove in the wall of each pipe. The guides are arranged in a package of four rows, each of which has ten pipes. The entire mechanism is rigidly mounted on a separate welded cradle. In the vertical plane, aiming can be performed in the range from 0 to +55 degrees.

Accordingly, in horizontal projection this figure is 173 degrees (that is, 70 degrees to the right and 103 degrees to the left of the car). Guidance is carried out through the operation of an electric drive.

Mark on history

Despite the fact that the BM 21 Grad MLRS is gradually being withdrawn from service in Russia, as well as throughout the world. As an example, the following statistics can be cited:

1. In 2016, the Russian Armed Forces have 2,500 vehicles in service, of which only 500 are on combat duty, the rest are mothballed;
2. Completely abandoned such weapons: Moldova, Nigeria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Hungary, USA, Finland and many other countries. In total, during the period of serial production, which lasted from 1960 to 1988, more than 8,000 combat vehicles were produced, most of which are still on combat duty and ready to fire.

The machine is forever inscribed in modern history textbooks as a way to resolve military conflicts, for example the situation with Damansky.

In addition, Grad 21 became a major step in the development of domestic and world rocketry. Using the experience gained during its operation, all subsequent modifications were designed:

1. First of all, it should be noted the following model, which became the third generation “Hurricane”, developed in the early 70s and at the same time put into service. It fires 220 mm shells, capable of covering enemy combat positions located at a distance of 35 km in one salvo. It is in service with the Russian Armed Forces;
2. The Smerch RZSO is the most powerful weapon using RS in the world. Designed and produced since 1984, after 3 years of testing it was put into service. Unlike its predecessors, it is designed to fire 300 mm unguided rockets. Another distinctive feature is the use of the Vivarium control system, adopted for service in the early 90s.

It is worth noting that due to the obsolescence of the Grad system, there was an attempt to create a deep modification of it, called the Prima MLRS; the complex was put into service in 1988, but due to the collapse of the Union, production of this vehicle was discontinued. Therefore, today the 122 mm RS niche is still occupied by the Grad, however, there is confidence that the development of a cheap and mass-produced medium-caliber MLRS is currently underway.

Despite numerous modifications developed on the basis of the Grad MLRS, none of them surpassed its prototype in terms of the number of copies produced. Today it is an active history, which is immortalized in the hearts of people by monuments located in the Perm NIIPM and in Tula near the entrance.

Photo BM-21 Grad

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0 Georgy Malygin 01/07/2017 08:29 Good rapid-fire weapon; -)

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