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

GarryB wrote:That vehicle only has 6 tubes per launcher... that makes it less powerful than Uragan, which of course has 16 tubes.

I rather suspect those tubes are 300mm.

I think your problem is that Uragan means Tornado and so it is getting confused.

the whole idea of a palletised system would be one heavy platform that can carry either light (122mm Grad) medium (220mm Uragan) or heavy (300mm Smerch) rockets in reloadable pallets.

Another system on a lighter truck that was more mobile and could perhaps only carry the lighter rockets would be useful, though a lighter truck version with a pallet load would also add all the advantages of pallet loads as well as offer the flexibility when loading with a wider choice of rocket types and calibres.

the Amusing thing is that if the target is an enemy grouping of armoured vehicles 30km away loading up 122mm rockets actually offers the best solution as the 40 tubes with two anti tank top attack guided sensor fused submunitions means 80 tank killers with the 122mm version while the 300mm model carries 5 munitions per rocket, but with just 12 rockets, that means 60 munitions... though the 300mm system can hurl them to 90km which is rather further than the 122mm which can only reach 30km with the same weapon system.

GarryB wrote:

I have seen it holding 15 rockets on each side, for a total of 30...

Yes, I suspect there are three different pallet types... the 15 tube pallet will likely be 122mm calibre so two pallets means 30 rockets, while the 220mm pallet likely has 8 tubes per pallet meaning 16 tubes, the same as Uragan, while the 6 tube pallet likely is the 300mm Smerch rocket pallet.



The above picture shows the 15 tube per pallet system which by the look of it uses 122mm calibre rockets.



This drawing however seems to show another palletised system with 20 rockets per pallet.

I have yet to see the 8 tube 220mm rocket pallet and have only seen the 6 tube 300mm pallet.

To me a light vehicle able to carry half the payload of the existing systems and a medium vehicle able to carry the same payload as existing vehicles would make a lot of sense operationally.

the medium system could be the standard system and the light system could be used in places and environments where the heavier system would not be very mobile.

For a mountain unit or a light or arctic unit the light unit might be more affordable and more mobile... and it would likely have better export potential too.

Vann7 wrote:

What would it take Russia to get a Tornado launch 500mm rockets?  the heavier the rocket the better
the punching power.. imagine a Tornado -Ultra  with such rockets carrying at least 20 of them..

I thinking if Russia wanted it they could do it.

GarryB wrote:..., but I have yet to see the 122mm pallets.

GarryB wrote:

Those tubes are way to large to be 122 mm! Look at these for reference...

Yes, you are quite right.

So the 15 tube pallets are 220mm and the 300mm are 6 tubes per pallet, but I have yet to see the 122mm pallets.

See the difference between these and the picture you posted? My guess is that the 220 mm has *either* 16 or 30 rockets for some reason, maybe the 16 one is actually export?

You have to be careful... there are a range of 122mm rockets in Russian service... including 10km range anti diver rockets for coastal protection, and various different platforms with differing numbers of tubes.

Looking at the pictures of Tornado-G the 122mm system doesn't seem to use a palletised system, so the medium vehicles might just have 220mm and 300mm options, while the smaller lighter vehicles might only be 122mm.

There is one light vehicle designed to use pallets, but if there is no 122mm pallet system then it might only be able to use 220mm and 300mm rockets (one pallet instead of the mediums two).

ie light vehicle:

Mike E wrote:Morpheus, the "Modernized Grad" with 15 barrels on each side is 220 mm.

Morpheus Eberhardt wrote:

GarryB wrote:..., but I have yet to see the 122mm pallets.

These seem to be 122 mm rocket/missile pallets (of the reloadable type) for another version of Tornado-G.

Morpheus Eberhardt wrote:

Mike E wrote:Morpheus, the "Modernized Grad" with 15 barrels on each side is 220 mm.

I had the following picture in mind. What do you think about the launch tube size of these pallets?

Morpheus Eberhardt wrote:

GarryB wrote:..., but I have yet to see the 122mm pallets.

These seem to be 122 mm rocket/missile pallets (of the reloadable type) for another version of Tornado-G.

Mike E wrote:Got it... Anyway, those pallets do look like they are Tornado chassis ready. My question is ifthey will actual use them, or will they go for the Tornado-G only? So far the -G seems to be their choice, but these pallets somewhat contradict that!

KomissarBojanchev wrote:Do ship mounted 122mm MLRSs have Guided rounds? If so then russia would have a perfect anti-insurgency and anti-piracy tool able to be equipped on most small ships without wasting billions on underequipped Lemons like the US did with the littoral ships program...

About 20 new multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) "Tornado-G" came in motorized infantry connection Eastern Military District (BBO) to replace the MLRS "Grad".

Viktor wrote:Nice  

In the Eastern Military District troops arrived latest multiple launch rocket systems "Tornado-G"

About 20 new multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) "Tornado-G" came in motorized infantry connection Eastern Military District (BBO) to replace the MLRS "Grad".

Akula971 wrote:This has me quite confused, how different does a Tornado G look from a BM 21 GRAD ??

The other variants of the Tornado look different from the base models, albeit being lighter and all but so far, all the intel i have suggets that the Tornado G and the BM 21 Grad look the same ?

I am just talking about appearance here, not the range and GLONASS support that has been added.