BM-21 Grad, MLRS of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

BM-21 Grad, MLRS of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The development of the BM-21 Grad MLRS began in 1960 and its serial production began in 1964. It is designed to provide general fire support for army formations, destroying manpower, armored vehicles, unarmored vehicles, field fortifications, laying minefields, and creating smoke screens. The artillery part consists of a package of 40 tubes on a platform that can rotate in the vertical and horizontal planes. The time for a full salvo is 20 seconds. The fire salvo can be controlled both from the cockpit and with the help of a remote control. This MLRS can use various types of ammunition: high-explosive, cluster, incendiary, lighting, and smoke. The most common is the high-explosive fragmentation projectile, which has a maximum range of 20.4 km. There are also types of ammunition for this MLRS that have a range of up to 40 km. The system is loaded manually by a combat crew. As of 2022, the BM-21 Grad was the most mass-produced MLRS of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.