The BM-30 Smerch or 9A52-2 Smerch-M is a Soviet heavy multiple rocket launcher. The system
is designed to defeat personnel, armored, and soft-skinned targets in concentration
areas, artillery batteries, command posts and ammunition depots. It was created in the
early 1980s and entered service in the Soviet Army in 1989. When first observed by the West
in 1983, it received the code MRL 280mm M1983. It is expected to be superseded by the 9A52-4
Tornado.
Components The main components of the RSZO 9K58 "Smerch"
system are the following: Rockets 9M55 or 9M528;
BM 9A52-2 launch vehicle; TZM 9T234-2 transloader with an 850 kg crane
and 12 spare rockets; Automated fire control equipment in the command
post 1K123 "Vivary"; Maintenance vehicle PM-2-70 MTO-V;
Set of arsenal equipment 9F819; Training facilities 9F827 and 9F840.
The 300mm rockets with a firing range of 70 and 90 km and various warheads have been
developed for the Smerch MLRS. The 9A52-2 vehicle with the automated system
ensures: delivery of fire from an un-surveyed fire
position; laying of the launch tube cluster with the
crew staying in the cabin and without using aiming points;
autonomous determination of an azimuth of the launch tube cluster’s longitudinal axis;
visual representation of graphical information for the launch tube cluster laying, the route
of vehicle movement and location as well as a point of destination and direction of movement
on the video terminal; increase in MLRS survivability owing to reduced
time of staying at a fire position; increased comfort for the laying operator,
especially in adverse weather conditions and at night;
increased independent operation owing to the navigation and survey equipment, which allows
the vehicle to rapidly change fire positions and move autonomously;
reduction of the combat crew. General characteristics
Chassis: MAZ-543M or MAZ-79111 Emplacement Time: 3 min
Displacement Time: 2 min Launch Rate
Salvo Time: 12 rounds in 38 seconds Reload Time: 20 min
Rocket projectiles Operators
Algeria - 18 systems in 1999. Azerbaijan - 30 systems.
Belarus - 48 systems in 1990. India - 42 9A52-2T systems in service. Total
cost $750 million. Kazakhstan
Kuwait - 27 systems in 1996. Morocco - 36 systems PHL03/AR2 Chinese version.
Pakistan - 36 A-100E MLRS systems in service. To be locally produced by Supako factory,
Karachi. Russia - 106.
Syria - Unknown number, used in the Syrian civil war.
Tanzania - Unknown number of A-100 MLRS in service.
Turkmenistan - 6 systems 9A52-2T in 2008/2009. Ukraine - 99 systems in 2008.
United Arab Emirates - 6 systems. Venezuela - 12 systems.
Former operators Soviet Union: Passed on to successor states.
Variants 9A52-4 - Lighter, airmobile version on KamAZ-6350
truck with modular 6-round rocket pack. Demonstrated in 2007.
9A52-2T - Export version, based on the Tatra T816 10x10 truck.
Similar systems PHL96 - Aesthetically similar missile based
on the Wanshan WS-2400 8 x 8 cross country truck. However, the PHL03 and BM30 do not
share interchangeable parts, so they are distinct missiles despite their similar appearance.
The advantage of the Chinese vehicle is that it utilizes German diesel engine, transmission
and hydraulics manufactured by Wanshan in China, following a technology transfer from
ZF Friedrichshafen. The program actually begun in the late 1990s, with the '96' in the designation
reportedly meaning 1996, the year that the Chinese military first issued the requirement
for a new long range SPMRLS. The program went through major redesign changes when the BM-30
Smerch was purchased. Although dubbed by many Chinese as a guided self-propelled multiple
rocket launching system, the PHL96 is not strictly speaking a guided SPMRLS because,
technically, none of rockets are guided - the guidance is actually achieved via the sub-munitions,
such as the 9M55K1 cluster munition. Only a very limited number of the PHL96 entered
Chinese service because its successor, the PHL03, entered service shortly after.
A-100 - A 300 mm, 10-tube multiple rocket launcher developed by the Beijing-based China
Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in the late 1990s. The A-100 has a minimum firing
range of 40 km & a maximum firing range of 100 km.
PHL03 - Chinese development of the PHL96. The PHL03 is a highly digitized PHL96 with
a computerized fire control system incorporating GPS/GLONASS, similar to that of the Type 90A
SPMRL, with a four-man crew, which entered service around 2004-2005, only a year or two
after its predecessor, the PHL96. As with the PHL96, the PHL03 is not exactly a guided
SPMRL because it is the submunitions that are guided, not the rockets themselves.
AR-1 - Chinese development of the PHL03. This is actually the first model of the Chinese
versions of the BM-30 SPMRL that is a truly a guided rocket system, in that the rockets
themselves are guided by the simple primitive cascade inertial terminal guidance used on
the WS series SPMRL, which became standard for later Chinese versions. Russia had already
developed a guided version of the BM-30 with mid-course radio command guidance to immediately
correct the error in the flight of the rocket once detected by the ballistic tracking radar,
but this was not adopted due to financial constraints.
AR-1A - Chinese development of the AR-1. A 10 round version of the AR-1, with two launching
boxes, each containing five expandable launching tubes. Once rockets are launched, the entire
launch box is replaced, instead of individually reloading each tube as in earlier versions,
thus greatly reducing the reload time. A-100E - Export variant of the AR-1A. In service
with the Pakistan Army. AR-2 - Chinese development of the AR-1/1A
manufactured by Norinco, with range increased to 130 km.
AR-3 - Chinese development of the AR-2 manufactured by Norinco, with its caliber increased to
370 mm; although it can still fire the 300 mm rockets. As with the AR-12, the AR-3 adopts
a modular design by incorporating two launching boxes containing several launching tubes,
with the launching boxes replaced after the launching of rockets. When using 300 mm caliber
rockets, each launching box contains five launching tubes like the earlier AR-12, and
when using 370 mm caliber rockets, each launching box contains four launching tubes.
See also
Katyusha, BM-13, BM-8, and BM-31 multiple rocket launchers of World War II
BM-14 140mm multiple rocket launcher BM-21 Grad 122mm multiple rocket launcher
BM-27 Uragan 220mm multiple rocket launcher M270, U.S. multiple rocket launcher
Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher, 214mm Indian multiple rocket launcher
TOS-1 Buratino Heavy Flame Thrower System References
Russia's Arms Catalog 2004 External links
Smerch - 9A52 - 300mm multi-barreled rocket launcher – Walk around photos
Splav State Research and Production Enterprise