Setting "Grad": characteristics, cost and radius of damage. How does the Grad system of volley fire work?

At present, in the headlines of articles and reports of television news in connection with the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, one can hear the name of such military equipment as the Grad installation. The volley fire system is impressive. The range of the missile's flight in 20 km is provided by forty neatly folded fire tubes located on the basis of the all-wheel drive truck "Ural-375D". To date, 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 is in the Russian army.

Historical background

The idea of developing a salvo-fire complex with a flight range of more than 20 km belongs to Soviet engineers and began in the mid-1950s. Military installation "Grad" was developed to replace the BM-14 system. The idea was to place a maneuverable artillery piece stuffed with rockets on the chassis of a lorry capable of easily overcoming a difficult terrain.

In 1957, the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) gave a technical assignment to the Sverdlovsk Design Bureau to develop a combat vehicle. It was necessary to design a machine capable of placing 30 guides for reactive deep-seated projectiles. The goal was achieved through the completion of the rocket - the creation of folded tail stabilizers bent along the cylindrical surface.

The developer of the projectile was NII-147, who proposed such a technology for manufacturing the hull as a method of hot drawing. Under the patronage of AN Ganichev and with the support of the State Committee for Defense Technology, work was begun on developing a missile. The development of the warhead of the projectile was entrusted to the GSKB-47, and the engine's propellant charge to the NII-6. NII-147 designed a projectile with mixed stabilization: tail and tail rotations.

Testing

In 1960, fire tests were carried out on rocket engines . Within the plant, 53 burnings were carried out and 81 - as tests at the state level.

The first polygon tests were conducted in March 1962 near Leningrad. GRAU allocated 2 combat vehicles and half a thousand rockets. At the planned run of 10 000 km, the test vehicle without breakages has passed only 3380 km. Damage was eliminated by strengthening the rear axle of the chassis. This increased the stability of the machine when firing.

After eliminating the shortcomings of the design, the Council of Ministers decreed the installation of Grad in service in 1963, the characteristics of which were demonstrated to Khrushchev in the same year.

In January of the following year, the serial production of BM-21 was started. In the same year of 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 was 124 cars, but by 1995 the number of Grads sold to 50 countries in the world was over two thousand.

Design

The unique combat technical characteristics of the Grad installation were achieved due to the design of the complex, which includes:

• launcher;
• Transport-loading machine based on ZIL-131;
• Fire control system.

Reactive unguided projectiles (122 mm in diameter) are loaded into the artillery unit, which is represented by 40 rails of 3 meters each on a movable base. Guidance can be carried out in a horizontal and vertical plane by electric drive or manually. The range of angles for horizontal firing is 102 ^{о to the} left of the car and 70 ^о to the right; At vertical - from 0 to 55 ^о .

The barrel channel is equipped with a screw slot, which, when the projectile is launched, gives the latter a rotational motion.

The speed of the car is 75 km / h, and it is possible to move with loaded shells. The car has a suspension system, which eliminates the use of support jacks when firing. After the volley you can immediately leave the position, so as not to get hit back. Adjustment of the shooting is carried out in a separate control machine, which is part of the battery.

Having disassembled the design of a reactive combat vehicle, one can understand how the Grad installation works.

Precise aiming of the weapon on the target is achieved due to the presence of sighting devices: Hertz panoramas, a mechanical sight and a collimator K-1, which increases the degree of damage in conditions of insufficient visibility.

The first projectile

A shell of unguided type, which is used in artillery designs of salvo fire, consists of 3 parts: combat, engine and stabilizer. The combat unit is a shell with a detonator and a bursting charge. The jet engine consists of a nozzle, a chamber, an igniter and a powder charge. To ignite the igniter, which will activate the powder charge, use pyroclutrons or electro-soles. The electric circuit is closed from the shot, and the igniter is ignited from the incandescent lamp.

The 9M22 missile became the first ammunition fired by the Grad rocket launcher. Characteristics of the projectile:

• Type: high explosive fragmentation;
• Length - 2.87 m;
• Weight - 66 kg;
• The maximum flight range is 20.4 km, the minimum - 1.6 km;
• The speed of the flight is 715 m / s;
• The weight of the warhead is 18.4 kg, of which the third part is an explosive.

The revolutionary discovery was the innovation of Alexander Ganichev. He proposed a method of manufacturing a projectile, which consisted in drawing a hull from 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, restraining the plumage of the projectile and giving stabilizers the opportunity to be placed in the dimensions of the rocket.

The 9M22 missile was equipped with head impact fuses MPV-U and MRI, which can be set to 3 actions: instantaneous, small and large deceleration. When the target was defeated at short distances, the brake rings were used for accuracy, the size of which was directly proportional to the distance.

Development of rockets 9M22 improved the technical characteristics of the installation "Grad". Damage to manpower at full load of "Grad" is applied on an area of up to 1050 m ² , and unarmored equipment - up to 840 m ² .

Serial production of rockets began in 1964 at the cast-iron foundry "Stamp".

Increase of 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 damage) of which were constantly being improved. Thus, the following types of shells were created:

• Advanced ammunition of high-explosive fragmentation-type 9M22U, 9M28F, 9M521;
• Fragmentation-chemical type - 9M23, identical in flight characteristics of M22S;
• Incendiary - 9M22S;
• Smoke-generating 9M43, ten such munitions are capable of creating a smoke screen on an area of 50 hectares;
• From anti-tank minefields - 9M28K, 3M16;
• For radio interference - 9M519;
• With toxic chemical substances - 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 fire at a salvo and alone. The pyrotechnical fuse of the rocket engine comes from a pulse sensor that can be controlled in the BM-21 cockpit through a distribution box or via a mobile console at a distance of up to 50 m.

The cycle of a full volley lasting 20 seconds has a "Grad" setting. Characteristics relating to the temperature regime are as follows: uninterrupted operation is guaranteed at a temperature of -40 ° C to +50 ° C.

The group of installation managers consists of a commander and 5 assistants: a gunner; Fuse installer; Radiotelephone / charging; Driver of the combat vehicle / loader and the driver of the transport machine / charger.

The transport machine is designed to transport shells, stationary racks are fixed on its board.

Modernization

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

The rocket "Grad" in 1986 was improved. The model BM-21-1 was released. Now the base of the combat vehicle was located on the chassis of the car "Ural". A package of guiding tubes protected from a solar exposure a heat shield. Also there was an opportunity of operative conducting of fire.

On the basis of the GAZ-66B vehicle, a lightweight installation for airborne troops - BM-21 V was created due to a reduction in the number of barrels producing shells to 12.

Based on the BM-21-1 in the early 2000's. Work was done to produce an automated combat vehicle - 2B17-1. The advantage of the advanced installation is shooting with guidance without aiming devices and exit calculations. That is, the enemy's coordinates were determined by the navigation system.

The Damba (BM-21PD) combat vehicle was intended to destroy submarines in order to protect the sea border. The system could work together with a hydroacoustic station or independently.

Complex "Prima", created in the 80 years, had 50 guides, but due to insufficient funding it did not receive the right to further serial production.

Graduated MLRS Grad in Czechoslovakia, Belarus and Italy. The Ukrainian version of BM-21 was placed on the chassis of the KRAA. The Belarusian "Grad-1A" is able to place 2 ammunition sets at a time instead of one. The Italian system of reactive installation (abbreviated FIROS) is different in that the projectiles are equipped with different jet engines, which makes the range of firing unequal.

Military Accounting

With the end of World War II, the arms race was actively continuing. All scientific achievements were aimed at improving military production. Prices for military products began to grow even more rapidly than in the war years.

The price of modern weapons is also very high. One projectile of the rocket "Grad" costs 600-1000 dollars. After the introduction of the combat vehicle (1963), the cost of the missile was comparable to the price of two cars, "Volga". And with mass production, the cost of the missile was only two engineer's salaries - 250 rubles (information from the film "Impact Force").

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

How does the "Grad" installation shoot?

The principle of shooting from BM-21 is identical to the mechanism of using the famous "Katyusha" and is based on a system of volley fire. In the 1940s, projectiles of barrel artillery were always superior to single missiles, which lacked precision and mass. Engineers managed to level this defect by using several barrels to launch missiles.

Due to the volley operation principle, the "Grad" installation in action is a weapon capable of destroying 30 hectares of enemy territory, a column of military equipment, rocket launch positions, a mortar battery, supply nodes. One shell, released by this combat vehicle, kills all life within a radius of 100 meters.

The world's first MLRS, capable of hitting the target for long distances, is the Grad installation. Characteristics, the radius of defeat of the combat vehicle Soviet engineers improved until they achieved the result in the form of a maximum deviation of the projectile from the target of 30 meters. Foreign designers believed that this accuracy can be achieved at a distance of not more than 10 kilometers. However, the child from the USSR strikes the enemy from a distance of 40 km, for 20 seconds produces 720 shells, which equates to 2 tons of explosives.

Military application

The first test in practice complex "Grad" was in 1969, during the conflict between the PRC and the USSR. Attempt to break the enemy and knock out his forces from the Damanskii island by tanks failed, and the Chinese seized the injured T-62, which was a secret example. Therefore, high-explosive shells from the Grad facility, which destroyed the enemy and thus completed the conflict, were used.

In the years 1975-1976. A combat vehicle was used in Angola. There were no operations on encirclement in this conflict, battles were periodically fought between the columns coming towards them. So, the "Grad" feature is that the "dead ellipse" is formed at the place where the projectile falls, so the column of troops, which is an extended line, in battle in Angola, became an ideal goal.

In Afghanistan they fired a direct fire from the Grad. In the Chechen war, too, a combat vehicle was actively used.

"Grad" of our time is about 2500 units that are in service with the Russian army. Combat vehicles were exported to 70 countries, beginning in 1970. Do not go unnoticed by BM-21 in armed conflicts around the world: in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Somalia, Syria, Libya and the recent confrontation in eastern Ukraine.

The tactical and technical characteristics of the Grad facility

Features and parameters of the system are given for BM-21.

• The chassis is Ural-375D.
• Engine power - 180 liters. from.
• Dimensions, m:
  - width - 2,4;
  - Length - 7.35;
  - the maximum height is 4.35.
• Weight, t:
  - with projectiles - 13.7;
  - uncharged MB - 10,9.
• The maximum speed of movement, km / h - 75.
• Ammunition package, pcs. - 120 rockets.
• Caliber, mm - 122.
• Area of damage, hectares:
  - Techniques 1.75;
  - live strength 2.44.
• Length of the guide, m - 3.
• Number of stem guides, pcs. - 40.
• Time of full volley, s - 20.
• Range of fire, m:
  - the maximum - 20 380;
  - The minimum is 5000.
• Adjusting time to combat position, min. - 3.5.

Today MLRS are manufactured at OAO Motovilikhinskiye Zavody. The base is the car "Ural-4320". In the new samples, an autonomous topography has been implemented, the location of the installation is displayed on the electronic map, the possibility of introducing data into the fuse.

I want to believe and hope that the installation "Grad" (characteristics, design, principle of operation) was necessary and interesting for the young generation as a copy for scientific research, but not for destroying cities and destinies of people!