Russian MRLS: Grad, Uragan, Smerch, Tornado-G/S

I understand the concept of pallet packs speeding up reloading but in a real conflict after firing the rockets the most iпmportant thing is to move immediately.

The time it takes to move to a new position means reloading when you arrive at a new position is not as urgent as some might think.

Personally I think the idea of being able to carry different calibres of rocket on one truck platform is the best feature of the pallet load concept. The fast reload capacity a very secondary factor.

I agree with you on this but if you're involved in conflict with asymmetric warfare, when your forces against some guerrillas from no to minimum capability to retaliate after your strikes. Then reload time becomes more important here if, for example, it's necessary to cover large area quickly.

Smerch rockets have stabilisation gyros on board to ensure a volley lands in a fairly tight group no matter what the range but AFAIK there are no ATACMs developed for the system. It would make more sense to use Tochka-U or Iskander for such missiones. There are sensor fused munition models for anti armour use but otherwise no homing models I know of.

Right now I can't find the source of this info I mentioned before, sorry. IIRC it was some kind of blog, similar to bmpd.

I was also very curious about it because of analogy with ATACMS for M270 and HIMARS. But in contrary to Russia US doesn't have independent platforms like Tochka or Iskander, so their vehicles are more multirole.

Again... a lighter vehicle makes sense and a heavier vehicle able to carry more rockets makes sense but a middle weight vehicle does not make sense to me... especially if the light vehicle can carry one pallet of all three rocket calibres and the larger vehicle can carry two pallets of all three rocket calibres... what would be left for the middle vehicle to do?

No, I was talking about modernisation for older Grad, Uragan and Smerch systems. First and third upgraded vehicles are already on duty, but no words about modernized Uragan. And as we can see 220mm rockets are planned for Uragan-1M, so there's still use for this type of ammunition.

regarding the 122mm calibre pallets:

On the first picture it's not Uragan-1M but modified Grad on Kamaz chassis, while the second one is pretty old, dated year 2013 IIRC.
Most recent photos I've seen are from celebration of Artillery Day at Luga. And this particular vehicle presented there was equipped with 220mm and 300mm ammo containers. Don't get me wrong like I'm trying to argue what you said about 122mm packs, there's just to little footage of this vehicle nowadays.

Great News, Smerch's successor, Tornado-S will get GLONASS guided munitions capable of destroying targets beyond 200km's!

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fvpk.name%2Fnews%2F174562_izvestiya_noveishaya_rszo_tornados_poluchit_sverhtochnuyu_raketu_so_sputnikovoi_navigaciei.html&edit-text=&act=url

MLRS "Uragan-1M" in St. Michael's military academy

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2429120.html

First new modern Smerch MRLS arrived at T'ver (79th brigade). First upgraded unit should be operational by summer.

http://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12119092@egNews

franco wrote:First new modern Smerch MRLS arrived at T'ver (79th brigade). First upgraded unit should be operational by summer.

http://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12119092@egNews

"Seven Smerch multiple rocket launchers have arrived for the Western Military District’s rocket artillery brigade stationed in the Tver Region as part of the troops’ planned rearmament with modern weapon systems and equipment. Late this month, the arrival of another five combat vehicles is expected," the district’s press office said.

More:
http://tass.com/defense/941779

200km range is pretty good. the only down is that it only carry 12 missiles.
Will have been nicer to see Super heavy trucks to carry ~36 missiles instead or better
50 missiles . It might require a more bigger truck but the fire power will be worth of it.

Vann7 wrote:

200km range is pretty good. the only down is that it only carry 12 missiles.
Will have been nicer to see Super heavy trucks to carry ~36 missiles instead or better
50 missiles . It might require a more bigger truck but the fire power will be worth of it.

A truck with 50 300mm rockets would make for a big, juicy, slow moving target

Funny thing is Russia actually making less tubes on their MLRS systems. Reason is because better accuracy of new systems and better logistics.

The Russian army will receive new systems of volley fire "Tornado-S"

By 2020, the rocket artillery brigades of the Russian army will receive the modernized Tornado-S RCDS with the Smerch burst fire systems. This was announced by RIA Novosti, the head of the Missile Forces and Artillery of the Russian Armed Forces Mikhail Matveevsky.

In his speech, the military leader noted that the planned rearmament of the brigades of rocket artillery began this year. The first large-caliber RCD "Tornado" systems of various modifications have already arrived in the troops. One of the first to receive them was two divisions in the Western Military District.

The main difference between the new multiple launch rocket system is its new automated guidance control system. It allows you to simultaneously control the shooting of the division, as well as automatically calculate the target data, guide the packs of guiding combat vehicles in the horizontal and vertical planes. The application of the new system will significantly increase the accuracy of shooting and shorten the deployment time of the complex from marching to combat.

Recall that the Tornado-S system can fire unguided 300-mm rocket missiles and corrective ammunition with a high-explosive fragment or cluster warhead with a maximum range of up to 120 kilometers. In the future, it is possible to increase the range of fire at a distance of up to 200 kilometers.

d_taddei2 wrote:Here a quick question why is it that the west never used a similar system to BM-21? They used systems similar to BM-27 & BM-30 but not the grad. It's almost similar situation with 2S1. Where the west mostly focused on 155mm SP artillery.

One think you notice is that the soviets/Russia always had loads of Bm-21 and 2S1 to provide commanders and troops on the ground ready fire support. When I was in the forces we had to depend on 81mm mortars. 105mm light gun, AS-90 and MLRS was on the battlefield but when you requested fire support it was normally rejected as some other priority came up which is fine but then troops on the ground suffer and it hampers progress or puts in danger defensive lines. I know British troops would love to have access to 2S1 or Bm-21 as fire support and this would still free up the heavier stuff like AS-90 and MLRS. I always thought that we were always lacking firepower amongst other things. The Soviets even have 120mm mortars and 82mm automatic mortar 2B9 vaselik which I think is brilliant system and more versatile that standard 82mm mortar .

Because they were confident of their fighter bombers, IMO. There are advantages and disadvantages, and it would be great to have both whenever they are needed, but that's the only thing I can think of.

d_taddei2 wrote:

Hell trying to get aircraft support was even harder than trying to get artillery support. The biggest problem was lack of artillery etc. There just wasn't enough and even was prioritised meaning it was unlikely any help would come a lot of the time we just had to depend on 81mm which the mortar were very accurate with normally on the second round they would be on target and sometimes it took third round but the guys were very good. But lacked power. So the soviets / Russians had it better not only fire power but also having enough to support their troops. They have variety of artillery /missile options as well Mi-24 and Su-25 while we had 81mm mortar, 105mm light gun, AS -90,  MLRS, (that's only 4 options in small numbers ) and lynx armed with TOW  (apache was just arriving into service) and harriers, tornado, and jaguars. But like I said they were mostly used on pre-planned missions and none these were nothing like Mi-24 or Su-25 which were more suitable for the job.

Absolutely true. Getting timely air support usually means that the appropriate type of aircraft needs to be loitering around the area, which most were not suited for if they were carrying a heavy payload. If they replace some of their payload with drop tanks, they can loiter longer but can't hit hard, or they can't go back for a second run if their first was not effective. Also, it was difficult if not impossible to prevent an artillery attack on your positions whereas it was possible to deter aircraft by employing heavy anti-aircraft systems or by incurring heavy losses, which are much harder to replace than tube or rocket artillery. But even if the anti-aircraft systems could not reliably shoot you down, being painted by powerful radar stations would make most pilots bugger off immediately. A stream of tracers flying at you would do the job as well. Countering the radar stations would require having a specialized ECM escort, but how many of those are available? With hindsight, it's obvious that investing in artillery was definitely the more rational choice.

Soviet artillery was also just better. There's no other way to put it. Early on, the 130mm M-46 outranged practically all Western artillery pieces, even 155mm guns developed decades later like the M198. Newer guns like the Giatsint-B not only outranged all 155mm guns, but also featured innovations like a powered chain rammer so that a high rate of fire could be sustained. Red Army soldiers also had the fortune of having MT-LBs to tow those field guns. They could get artillery support practically everywhere, and fast moving divisions could be supported by the amphibious Gvozdika.

Military tests of MLRS "Tornado-S" were conducted in Syria


On December 25, 2017, during a speech on the occasion of summing up the results of the work of NPO SPLAV JSC (Russia, Tula) in 2017, the general director Vladimir Nikolaevich Lepin announced the information about the combat use of the Tornado- generation during the fighting in the Syrian Arab Republic (RAA).

In general, from the report of the CEO of the lead developer of rocket launcher systems in Russia, it follows that the company is developing steadily and has the potential to expand its scope of activities.

For the first time an event of this kind was held outside the territory of the enterprise - in the building of the House of Culture of Railway Workers (DKJ) of the Hero City of Tula. During the event, the ceremony of awarding the employees of the enterprise was held, as well as a concert and entertainment program, the main participant of which was the legendary Soviet and Russian group "Samotsvety" under Yuri Malikov.

In 2017, the specialists of SPlAV NPO (Russia, Tula) and related enterprises with positive results completed the state tests of the new, Tornado-S ramp-up rocket reaction system.

According to the general director of NPO SPLAV JSC Vladimir Nikolaevich Lepin, the system "has already set a new vector in the development of multiple launch systems not only in our country, but in the whole world."

ccording to the newspaper "Novosti" Splava "from December 21, 2017 (newspaper of the JSC" NPO "SPLAV"), it is possible to shoot from a BM Tornado-S system for a longer range than from the Smerch MiGS and cover with one volley a volley of what - one BM, battery or division is not specified) an area of ​​about 100 football fields. The design of each projectile includes a flight control system.

According to the general director of the lead developer of the MLRS in Russia V.N. Lepin, the Tornado-S combat vehicle is completely autonomous and equipped with equipment that ensures the performance of combat missions without the exit of calculation numbers from the cabin. The location of the BM on the firing position is a few minutes. After completing the combat mission, it "moves to a new location, without waiting until the shells hit the target."

http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/news/tornado-s

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3020438.html

Russian Arctic brigades to be equipped with an Arctic version of the Smerch MLRS that will be based on the DT-30PM ATV.

Izvestia graphic of what it may look like:



https://iz.ru/706026/2018-02-08/arkticheskaia-rszo-smerch

George1 wrote:Russian Arctic brigades to be equipped with an Arctic version of the Smerch MLRS that will be based on the DT-30PM ATV.

Izvestia graphic of what it may look like:



https://iz.ru/706026/2018-02-08/arkticheskaia-rszo-smerch

Where is the tornado ? They are suposed to be lighter and better than earlier version like Smerch so better for arctic.

Tekhmash includes various enterprises. And, probably, the most famous of them is NPO "Splav", which is located in Tula. First of all, it is known for the volley fire systems developed there. On the "Grad" in general the songs add up. Is it being improved or produced, as it was created 55 years ago?

Vladimir Lepin: Indeed, the multiple rocket launcher system (MLRS) "Grad" appeared in 1963. And it turned out to be so good that even if it had not been improved, it would still fully meet the demands of the times. By the way, its creator, the brilliant Russian designer Alexander Nikitovich Ganichev on August 25 this year would have turned 100 years old.

The rocket of the "Grad" system has been repeatedly improved over the years. This allowed to increase the accuracy of fire and to increase the range of the projectile from 20 to 40 kilometers.

In the USSR, there were produced millions of 122 mm rockets to this system. They were actively exported and used in various armed conflicts. In the arsenals to this day remained a significant number of rockets. We have developed a technology for their overhaul. From the engine of a rocket the old powder charge is removed and a new one is put. If necessary, the tail section is changed, a new fuse is installed.

At the same time, two tasks are being accomplished: updating the arsenal and actually disposing of old ammunition without destroying them. It suits the military.

Nevertheless, to replace the "Grad", as far as is known, is a MLRS "Tornado".

Vladimir Lepin: Gradually, not only "Grad" will be replaced, but a more powerful MLCD "Smerch". Already today, a large-scale issue of Grads and Smerds has been discontinued. The production of two new systems - "Tornado-G" and "Tornado-C" is being mastered. One has a "Gradovsky" caliber 122 mm, the other - 300 mm, like the "Smerch" system.

What makes the "Tornado" different from the multiple rocket launcher systems that precede them?

Vladimir Lepin: "Tornado" is a system of a completely new generation for us. They are equipped with modern ballistic computers, working in conjunction with the Global Navigation System - GLONASS. The accuracy and range of their shooting is much higher than that of their predecessors.

In "Tornado-G" we have achieved a significant increase in firepower. The solution is apparently simple, but there were many nuances. Rockets of the classic "Grad" hit the area along an inclined trajectory.
The Grad system proved to be so good that it would still meet the requirements of the time

In the ammunition "Tornado-G" new ammunition appeared - when they are over the target, the combat unit separates, the parachute opens and the whole volley falls vertically. In this case, the explosion can occur as a blow, and at a certain height.

The "Tornado-S" missiles can be corrected in flight, which significantly increased the accuracy of target destruction at a range of more than 100 km. Moreover, they are corrected not by a human operator, but by a control system located directly in the rocket.

We also produce a rather powerful multiple rocket launcher system - the "Hurricane" of caliber 220 mm. This system was also modernized.

Feature "Hurricane-1M" - batch equipment. The installation is two packages. One can be 220 mm, the other 300 mm. Either two on 220 mm. Guide pipes from carbon plastic. They are equipped with missiles at the plant or a special artillery arsenal.

In the "Hurricane-1M" after the volley, the starting block is simply dropped, which allows the machines to quickly leave the firing positions. Then, at a safe distance, fully equipped packages with new missiles are installed.

Some info on rocket artillery developments:

The Ground Troops are reinforcing artillery regiments and brigades with new 9K512 Uragan-1M heavy multiple rocket launchers.
The MOD started adding heavy Uragan-1M MRLs to the reestablished maneuver divisions in late 2016. Izvestiya reported that the 275th SP Artillery Regiment (4th Kantemir Tank Division) got a “full battalion set” of eight Uragan-1M launchers. The earlier 9K57 Uragan MRL also typically deployed to artillery brigades in eight-launcher battalions.

https://russiandefpolicy.blog/2018/04/29/upgunning-artillery/