At present, in the headlines and television news reports in connection with the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, one can hear the name of such military equipment as the Grad installation. The characteristics of the multiple launch rocket system are impressive. A missile range of 20 km is provided by forty neatly folded fire tubes located on the basis of the Ural-375D all-wheel drive truck. Today, this mobile system is in service in more than 50 countries. And since 1963 she was in the operational service in the Soviet, and now she is also in the Russian army.
Historical information
The idea of developing a multiple launch rocket complex with a flight range of more than 20 km belongs to Soviet engineers and originates from the mid 50s of the last century. The Grad military installation was designed to replace the BM-14 system. The idea was to place a maneuverable artillery unit stuffed with rockets on the chassis of a truck capable of easily overcoming difficult terrain.
In 1957, the Main Rocket and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) gave the technical task to the Sverdlovsk Design Bureau to develop a combat vehicle. It was necessary to design a machine that could accommodate 30 guides for rocket-propelled deep shells. The goal was achieved by finalizing the rocket - by creating folding tail stabilizers curved along the cylindrical surface.
NII-147 was chosen as the developer of the projectile, which proposed such a technology for manufacturing the body as the hot drawing method. Under the patronage of A. N. Ganichev and with the support of the State Committee for Defense Technology, work began on the creation of a missile. The development of the warhead of the projectile was assigned to GSKB-47, and the powder charge of the engine to NII-6. NII-147 designed a projectile with mixed stabilization: tail and rotation.
Test
In 1960, firing tests of rocket engines were carried out. Within the framework of the plant, 53 piercing was carried out and 81 - as tests at the state level.
The first field tests were conducted in March 1962 near Leningrad. GRAU allocated 2 combat vehicles and five hundred rockets. With a planned mileage of 10, 000 km, the tested car passed only 3380 km without breakdowns. Damage was repaired by reinforcing the rear axle of the chassis. This increased the stability of the machine when firing.
After eliminating design flaws, the Grad installation was put into service and armament in 1963 by a resolution of the Council of Ministers, the characteristics of which were demonstrated to Khrushchev in the same year.
In January of the following year, the serial production of the BM-21 was launched. In the same 1964, at the November military parade, the first installations were shown to the people. Since 1971, the export of rocket launchers began, and its volume amounted to 124 cars, but by 1995 the number of Grads sold in 50 countries was more than two thousand.
Design
The unique combat technical characteristics of the Grad installation were also achieved due to the design of the complex, which includes:
- launcher;
- transport and loading vehicle based on ZIL-131;
- fire control system.
Unguided rockets (122 mm in diameter) are loaded into the artillery unit, which is represented by 40 guides of 3 meters each on a movable base. Guidance can be done horizontally and vertically using an electric drive or manually. The range of angles during horizontal fire is 102 ° to the left of the car and 70 ° to the right; with vertical - from 0 to 55 about.
The barrel channel is equipped with a helical groove, which, when the projectile is released, gives the latter a rotational movement.
The speed of the car is 75 km / h, and movement with charged shells is possible. The car has a suspension shutdown system, which eliminates the use of support jacks when shooting. After the volley, you can immediately leave the position, so as not to get hit back. The shooting is adjusted in a separate control machine, which is part of the battery.
Having examined the design of a jet combat vehicle, we can understand how the Grad installation works.
Exact aiming of the weapon at the target is achieved due to the presence of sighting devices: Hertz panorama, mechanical sight and K-1 collimator, which increases the degree of damage in conditions of insufficient visibility.
First shell
An unguided projectile, which is used in artillery volley fire, consists of 3 parts: combat, engine and stabilizer. The warhead is the projectile itself with a fuse and explosive charge. A jet engine consists of a nozzle, a chamber, an igniter and a powder charge. To ignite the igniter, which will activate the powder charge, pyro-cartridges or electric volleys are used. An electric circuit is closed from the shot, and the ignition igniter ignites the igniter.
The 9M22 missile was the first ammunition that the Grad multiple launch rocket fired. Projectile characteristics:
- type: high-explosive fragmentation;
- length - 2.87 m;
- weight - 66 kg;
- the maximum flight range is 20.4 km, the minimum is 1.6 km;
- flight speed - 715 m / s;
- warhead weight - 18.4 kg, of which one third is explosive.
A revolutionary discovery was the innovation of Alexander Ganichev. He proposed a method of manufacturing a projectile, which consisted in drawing the body out of steel plates, and not in a simple section of a steel cylinder, as before. Another achievement of the chief designer of NII-147 was the creation of a clamp that constrains the plumage of the projectile and gives stabilizers the opportunity to fit in the dimensions of the rocket.
The 9M22 projectile was equipped with the MRV-U and MRV head-mounted fuses, which can be set for 3 actions: instant, small and large deceleration. When hitting a target at short distances for accuracy, brake rings were used, the size of which was selected in direct proportion to the distance.
The development of 9M22 rockets improved the technical characteristics of the Grad installation. Damage to manpower when the Grad is fully loaded is inflicted on an area of up to 1050 m 2, and for unarmored vehicles - up to 840 m 2.
Serial production of rockets began in 1964 at the Stump iron foundry.
Enhanced Combat Capabilities
With the development of the first projectile for the destruction and suppression of enemy forces, the Grad installation was intended, the characteristics (radius of destruction) of which were constantly being improved. So, the following types of shells were created:
- Advanced ammunition of high-explosive fragmentation type 9M22U, 9M28F, 9M521;
- fragmentation-chemical type - 9M23, identical in flight performance to М22С;
- incendiary - 9M22S;
- smoke-generating - 9M43, ten of these ammunition can create a smoke screen on an area of 50 hectares;
- from anti-tank minefields - 9M28K, 3M16;
- for radio interference - 9M519;
- with toxic chemicals - 9M23.
Other countries that produce the complex under license or illegally, are also dynamically developing new types of shells.
Fire control
The fire control system allows you to make shots in one gulp and alone. The pyrotechnic fuse of the rocket engine comes from a pulse sensor, which can be controlled in the BM-21 cabin through a current distributor or through a mobile remote control at a distance of up to 50 m.
The cycle of a full salvo lasting 20 seconds has a Grad installation. The characteristics regarding the temperature regime 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 / loader; the driver of the combat vehicle / loader and the driver of the transport vehicle / loader.
The transport machine is designed to transport shells, stationary racks are fixed on its board.
Modernization
Technological progress requires constant work on upgrading 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 tubes protected the heat shield from sun exposure. There was also the possibility of operational firing.
On the basis of the GAZ-66B car, due to the reduction in the number of projectile shells to 12, a lightweight installation for the airborne troops was created - BM-21 V.
Based on the BM-21-1 in the early 2000s. work was done to produce an automated combat vehicle - 2B17-1. The advantage of an advanced installation is guided shooting without sighting devices and calculation output. That is, the enemy coordinates were determined by the navigation system.
Fighting vehicle "Dam" (BM-21PD) was intended to defeat submarines in order to ensure the protection of the sea border. The system could work in conjunction with a sonar 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.
MLRS "Grad" were issued 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 deploying 2 ammunition at a time instead of one. The Italian rocket launcher system (abbreviated FIROS) is distinguished by the fact that the shells are equipped with different jet engines, which makes the firing range different.
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 grow even faster than during the war.
The price of modern weapons is also very high. One missile launcher "Grad" costs 600-1000 dollars. After the adoption of the combat vehicle (1963), the cost of a missile was comparable to the price of two Volga cars. And in mass production, the cost of the rocket was only two salaries of an engineer - 250 rubles (information from the film "Shock Force").
The cost of installing Grad is a trade secret. According to one English magazine, the price of Grad’s follower, Smercha, is $ 1.8 million (information taken from Phaeton magazine, issue No. 8, January 1996, p. 117).
How does the Grad installation shoot?
The principle of firing from the BM-21 is identical to the mechanism for using the famous Katyusha and is based on the volley fire system. In the 40s, the shell artillery shells always surpassed single missiles, which lacked accuracy and mass. Engineers were able to level this shortcoming, using several barrels to launch rockets.
Due to the volley principle of operation, the Grad installation in action is a weapon capable of destroying 30 hectares of enemy territory, a column of military equipment, launch positions of missiles, a mortar battery, and supply units. One shell fired by this war machine kills all life in a radius of 100 meters.
The world's first MLRS, capable of hitting a target over long distances, is the Grad installation. Soviet engineers improved the characteristics and radius of destruction of a combat vehicle until they achieved a result in the form of a maximum projectile deviation of 30 meters from the target. Foreign designers believed that such accuracy can be achieved at a distance of no more than 10 kilometers. However, the brainchild from the USSR hits the enemy from a distance of 40 km, in 20 seconds it fires 720 shells, which is equivalent to 2 tons of explosives.
Military application
The Grad complex was first tested in practice in 1969, during the conflict between the PRC and the USSR. An attempt to break the enemy and knock out his forces from Damansky Island with tanks failed, in addition, the Chinese captured a damaged T-62, which was a secret model. Therefore, high-explosive shells from the Grad installation were used, which destroyed the enemy and thereby completed the conflict.
In 1975-1976 used a combat vehicle in Angola. There were no encirclement operations in this conflict; battles between the coming columns were periodically ensued. So, the feature of the Grad is that a “dead ellipse” forms at the place where the projectile falls, so the convoy of troops, which is an elongated line, became the ideal target in the battles in Angola.
Direct fire was fired from the Grad in Afghanistan. In the Chechen war, they also actively used a combat vehicle.
The Grad of our time is about 2, 500 units, which are in service with the Russian army. Combat vehicles have been exported to 70 countries since 1970. The BM-21 did not go unnoticed in armed conflicts around the world: in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Somalia, Syria, Libya and the recent confrontation in eastern Ukraine.
