Rocketry units of the Russian Army recently practiced mass bombardment with their upgraded
BM-21 “Grad” multiple launch rocket system (MLRS).
Russian Army drills in the Eastern Military District focused on specific tactics.
During the exercise, they demonstrated the ability to quickly fired and relocated so
that the enemy is not able to target them with counter fire.
According to Krasnaya Zvezda, which shared a video on of the training, the BM-21 “Grad”
MLRS systems used the Strelets C4ISR or Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence,
Surveillance, and Reconnaissance system for the first time to quickly calculate and coordinate
their fires at the Amur training ground.
They fired on targets at which were around 25 km or 15.5 miles away.
In this video, DefenseUpdates analyzes why BM-21 “Grad” is now a much more feared
weapon because of new enhancement & tactics?
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The BM-21 "Grad" is a Soviet truck-mounted 122 mm multiple rocket launcher.
The weapons system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw
their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-Soviet border conflict.
The launch vehicle consists of a Ural-375D six-by-six truck chassis fitted with a bank
of 40 launch tubes arranged in a rectangular shape that can be turned away from the unprotected
cab.
The vehicle is powered by a water-cooled V-8 180 hp gasoline engine, has a maximum road
speed of 75 km/h or 47 mph, road range of up to 750 kilometers or 470 mi.
The system has 3 crew and it can be made ready for engagement in 3 mins
The crew can fire the rockets from the cab or from a trigger at the end of a 64-meter
(210 ft) cable.
All 40 rockets can be launched in as little as 20 seconds, but can also be fired individually
or in small groups in several-second intervals.
A PG-1M panoramic telescope with a K-1 collimator can be used for sighting.
The BM-21 can be packed up and ready to move in about 2 min, which can be necessary when
engaged by counter-battery fire.
Reloading is done manually and takes about 10 minutes.
Each 2.87-meter (9 ft 5 in) rocket is slowly spun by rifling in its tube as it exits, which
along with its primary fin stabilization keeps it on course.
These rockets are of many different variants
Rockets armed with high explosive-fragmentation, incendiary, or chemical warheads can be fired
20 kilometers or 12 mi.
Newer high explosives and anti cargo rockets have a range of 30 kilometers or 19 mi and
more.
Warheads weigh around 20 kilograms or 44 lb, depending on the type.
The number of rockets that each vehicle is able to quickly bring to bear on an enemy
target makes it a devastating weapon, especially at shorter ranges.
One battalion of 18 launchers is able to deliver 720 rockets in a single volley.
The system has lower precision than typical artillery and cannot be used in situations
that call for pinpoint accuracy.
It relies on a large number of shells dissipating over an area for a certain hit rate on specific
targets.
Nonetheless, because of the short warning time for the impact of the whole volley, the
BM-21 an effective weapon to suppress enemy positions.
The addition of C4ISR will go a long easy to enhance its efficiency.
After firing their rockets, the BM-21 crews are moved quickly to reach a new position
and the enemy fire would soon be homing in on where they had launched their previous
attack.
The system is especially suitable for 'hit and run' tactics which are being optimized
in current drills.