Since the time of the famous Katyushas, much has changed. Battle tactics, weapons, state borders … But to this day systems of volley fire of Russia are extremely important on the battlefield. With their help, you can throw shells of huge destructive power for tens of kilometers, destroying and incapacitating fortified areas, enemy armored vehicles and their manpower.
Our country occupies a leading position in the development of MLRS: old developments are constantly being improved and new models of these weapons appear. Today we will consider what systems of volley fire of Russia are in service with the army today.
"Hail"
MLRS caliber 122 mm. It is intended for the destruction of enemy manpower, remote placement of minefields, the destruction of the fortified positions of the enemy. It can fight light and medium armored vehicles. When creating the machine, the Ural-4320 chassis was used, on which the guides for 122 mm caliber shells were placed. Ammunition can be transported to Grad by any machine that has suitable dimensions.
The number of guides for shells is 40 pieces, arranged in four rows of ten pieces each. Fire can be fired either by single shots or by a one-shot volley, which takes less than a minute (no more than 20 seconds). The maximum firing range is up to 20.5 kilometers. The affected area is four hectares. Grad can be successfully operated in the widest temperature range: from -50 to +50 degrees Celsius.
Fire control is possible both from the cockpit and outside it, and in the latter case, the calculation uses an external wired remote control (range - up to 50 meters). Since the designers provided for the sequential descent of the shells from the guides, the combat vehicle swings relatively weakly during firing. To bring the installation into combat position requires no more than three to four minutes. The chassis can cross fords up to one and a half meters deep.
Combat use
Where did you use these multiple launch rocket systems in Russia? Firstly, their baptism of fire took place in Afghanistan. As the Mujahideen who survived the shelling recall (and there were very few of them): “Around hell reigned, clods of earth soared up to heaven. We thought it was the end of the world. " The installation was widely used during both Chechen campaigns, during the “war of three eights”, forcing Georgia to peace.
However, the first experience of using these, then still secret installations was obtained long before the events described. This happened during the incident on the Damansky Peninsula, subsequently surrendered to China. When the second wave of Chinese troops was still able to break into its territory and gain a foothold there, an order was issued to use the Grad. At first, the Soviet Union generally wanted to use atomic weapons, but there were concerns about the reaction from the international community. Whatever it was, but the PLA was enough of this: a directed volley of dozens of "Grads" simply plowed this piece of disputed territory.
How many Chinese have died there, probably already will not work. Soviet military leaders believed that at least three thousand people crossed the peninsula. In any case, there were no survivors for sure.
Current state of affairs
Today it is believed that the Grads are morally and technically outdated. Many of these machines that are currently in service with our army have almost completely exhausted their resources. In addition, now there is a re-equipment of troops and saturation of their MLRS "Tornado". But for the "oldies" it is still far from over. The fact is that the Ministry of Defense still wants to leave a well-proven, cheap and efficient machine in the army.
In this regard, a special project was created to modernize them and bring them to a modern look and efficiency. In particular, a normal satellite navigation system was finally installed on the old model, as well as a Baget computer, which controls the process of launching shells. According to the assurances of the military, the relatively uncomplicated update procedure went to Grad to the advantage, as their combat potential grew several times at once.
This technique is used by all parties to the conflict on Ukrainian territory. Militant Africans, who received MLRS from the USSR, also love this weapon. In a word, the geography of distribution of the installation is huge. This is what the Grad multiple launch rocket system is characterized by. The “tornado”, which we describe below, is many times more powerful and has terrible destructive power.
"Tornado"
Truly awesome weapons. In comparison, Grad is really similar in effectiveness to the natural phenomenon of the same name. Judge for yourselves: the Americans believe that the "Tornado" is a multiple launch rocket launcher, the characteristic of which would be more suitable for a compact complex with nuclear weapons.
And they are absolutely right. This installation for one volley only “covers” unrealistic 629 hectares of area with a firing range of up to 70 kilometers. And that's not it. Today, new types of shells are being developed that will fly a hundred kilometers. In the area covered by these multiple launch rocket systems in Russia, everything burns down, including heavy armored vehicles. Like the previous MLRS, the Smerch can be operated in the widest temperature range.
Designed for large-scale processing of enemy positions before the offensive, the destruction of particularly strong bunkers and bunkers, the destruction of large concentrations of enemy manpower and enemy equipment.
Chassis guides for launching shells
The chassis is based on the MAZ-543 off-road vehicle. Unlike the Grad, this installation is much more dangerous for the enemy because the battery includes the Vivarium fire control system, which allows to achieve the highest efficiency, which is more characteristic of artillery receiver systems.
These multiple launch rocket launchers have 12 tube guides for projectiles. Each of them weighs 80 kilograms, and 280 of them are charged with a powerful explosive. Arms experts believe that this ratio is ideal for unguided shells, as it allows you to combine powerful marching engines and huge destructive potential in the ammunition.
And one more feature of the Tornado shells. The designers worked on this for a long time, but achieved that their angle of incidence on the ground was 90 degrees. Such a “meteorite” will easily pierce through any MBT of a probable enemy, and concrete structures are unlikely to withstand such power. Currently, the production of new "Tornadoes" is not planned (most likely), since at the combat post they will be replaced by new "Tornadoes".
However, there is some likelihood that the old complexes will still be modernized. It is absolutely certain that new types of active-guided missiles can be included in their ammunition, so the combat capabilities of the complex are still far from exhausted.
What else do we have multiple launch rocket launchers?
"Hurricane"
Adopted in the 70s of the last century. In terms of combat effectiveness, it occupies an intermediate position between Grad and Tornado. So, the maximum firing range is 35 kilometers. In general, “Hurricane” is a multiple launch rocket installation, during the design of which many principles were laid, which are still guided by the developers of such weapons in our country. It was created by the famous designer Kalachnikov Yuri Nikolaevich.
By the way, “Hurricane” is a multiple launch rocket launcher, which the Soviet Union at one time supplied in considerable quantities to Yemen, where military operations are now beginning to take place intensively. Surely we will soon find out how efficiently the old Soviet equipment proved to be in battle. At the same time as the Grads, the domestic armed forces also used the Hurricane during the war in Afghanistan.
Also, the installation was widely used in Chechnya, and then in Georgia. There is evidence that with the help of Hurricanes, a convoy of advancing Georgian tanks was once completely destroyed (according to other sources, it was Grad).
The composition of the complex
On the chassis of the cross-country vehicle ZIL-135LM 16 tubular guides were mounted (it was originally planned that there would be 20 of them). The Ukrainians at one time modernized their cars, putting them on the chassis of their Kremenchug KrAZ. The combat compartment of these installations includes the following components:
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Directly 9P140 machine.
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Vehicles for transporting and loading 9T452 shells.
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Ammunition Kit
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Fire control machine based on the 1B126 Kapustnik-B installation.
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Tools for training and training calculation.
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Topographic intelligence station 1T12-2M.
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Complex of direction finding and meteorology 1B44.
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A complete set of equipment and tools 9F381, designed for repair and maintenance of machines from the complex.
What else characterizes the Russian hurricane volley fire system "Hurricane"? The artillery unit is made on a rotary base of the balancing mechanism, and is also equipped with hydraulic and electromechanical drives. A massive package of guides can be induced in the range from 5 to 55 degrees.
Horizontal aiming can be done at an angle of 30 degrees to the right and left of the central axis of the combat vehicle. In order to avoid the risk of heavy landing of the chassis during a massive salvo, two powerful combat stops are provided in its rear part. The complex is also equipped with night vision devices, and therefore can be operated in the dark.
Currently, the Armed Forces of Russia still operate about one and a half hundred of these machines. Most likely, they will not be subjected to modernization, but will be written off immediately after the full development of the combat resource. This is due to the fact that a new MLRS was adopted, which includes all the advantages of old models.
"Tornado"
This is the new Russian multiple launch rocket system. Its development began due to the fact that the old "Grad", which had been in operation for more than forty years, urgently needed a replacement. As a result of intense design work, this machine appeared.
Unlike its predecessors, the Russian Tornado multiple launch rocket systems are much more advanced in the field of guidance and firing accuracy, as they can use topographic data transmitted from satellites. But not only this is unique in the newly created MLRS.
The fact is that before, for each task, Soviet industry created a separate installation: in fact, this is how the meteorological “zoo” appeared in the form of “Grad”, “Tornado” and “Hurricane”. But modern Russian multiple launch rocket systems (Tornadoes) will be available in three versions at once, using shells from all three of the vehicles described above. It is assumed that the designers will provide the ability to quickly replace the artillery unit, so that one chassis can be used in different qualities.
New shells
In addition, all previous systems had one major drawback associated with the uncontrollability of ammunition. Simply put, it was impossible to adjust the course of already fired shells. All this was quite suitable for the wars of the past decades, but in the current conditions it is already unacceptable. To solve this problem, new types of projectiles with active optical and laser guidance were created for the Tornado. From now on, MLRS turned into a fundamentally new, extremely dangerous type of weapon.
Thus, modern multiple launch rocket systems in Russia can now be compared in terms of efficiency with the most advanced models of barrel artillery, striking a target for tens of kilometers. Unlike the most advanced “Tornado” in this regard, the firing range of the “Tornado” is already up to 100 kilometers (using the appropriate shells).
