Bm 13 decoding. The history of the creation of the legendary Katyusha

Among legendary weapons, which became symbols of the victory of our country in the Great Patriotic War, a special place is occupied by guards rocket mortars, nicknamed by the people "Katyusha". The characteristic silhouette of a truck of the 40s with an inclined structure instead of a body is the same symbol of steadfastness, heroism and courage of Soviet soldiers, like, say, the T-34 tank, the Il-2 attack aircraft or the ZiS-3 gun.

And here is what is especially noteworthy: all these legendary weapons covered with glory were designed quite shortly or literally on the eve of the war! The T-34 was put into service at the end of December 1939, the first serial Il-2s left the assembly line in February 1941, and the ZiS-3 gun was first presented to the leadership of the USSR and the army a month after the outbreak of hostilities, on July 22, 1941. But the most amazing coincidence happened in the fate of "Katyusha". Its demonstration to the party and military authorities took place half a day before the German attack - June 21, 1941 ...

From heaven to earth

In fact, work on the creation of the world's first multiple launch rocket system on a self-propelled chassis began in the USSR in the mid-1930s. An employee of the Tula NPO Splav, which produces modern Russian MLRS, Sergey Gurov, managed to find in the archives contract No. missiles.

A volley of guards mortars. Photo: Anatoly Egorov / RIA Novosti

There is nothing to be surprised here, because Soviet rocket scientists created the first combat rockets even earlier: official tests took place in the late 20s and early 30s. In 1937, the RS-82 82 mm caliber rocket was adopted, and a year later, the RS-132 132 mm caliber, both of which were in the variant for underwing installation on aircraft. A year later, at the end of the summer of 1939, the RS-82s were first used in combat. During the battles at Khalkhin Gol, five I-16s used their "eres" in combat with Japanese fighters, surprising the enemy with new weapons. And a little later, already during the Soviet-Finnish war, six twin-engine SB bombers, already armed with the RS-132, attacked the ground positions of the Finns.

Naturally, the impressive - and they really were impressive, although to a large extent due to the unexpectedness of the use of a new weapon system, and not its ultra-high efficiency - the results of the use of "eres" in aviation forced the Soviet party and military leadership to rush the defense industry to create a ground version . Actually, the future "Katyusha" had every chance to catch winter war: basic design work and tests were carried out back in 1938-1939, but the results of the military were not satisfied - they needed a more reliable, mobile and easy-to-handle weapon.

In general terms, what a year and a half later will enter the soldier's folklore on both sides of the front as "Katyusha" was ready by the beginning of 1940. In any case, author's certificate No. 3338 for a "rocket auto-installation for a sudden, powerful artillery and chemical attack on the enemy using rocket shells" was issued on February 19, 1940, and among the authors were employees of the RNII (since 1938, bearing the "numbered" name NII-3) Andrey Kostikov, Ivan Gvai and Vasily Aborenkov.

This installation was already seriously different from the first samples that entered the field tests at the end of 1938. The rocket launcher was located along the longitudinal axis of the car, had 16 guides, each of which was equipped with two shells. And the shells themselves for this machine were different: the aviation RS-132s turned into longer and more powerful ground-based M-13s.

Actually, in this form, a combat vehicle with rockets entered the review of new types of weapons of the Red Army, which took place on June 15–17, 1941 at a training ground in Sofrino near Moscow. Rocket artillery was left "for a snack": two combat vehicles demonstrated firing on the last day, June 17, using high-explosive fragmentation rockets. The shooting was observed by People's Commissar of Defense Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, Chief of the General Staff General of the Army Georgy Zhukov, Chief of the Main Artillery Directorate Marshal Grigory Kulik and his deputy General Nikolai Voronov, as well as People's Commissar of Armaments Dmitry Ustinov, People's Commissar of Ammunition Pyotr Goremykin and many other military men. One can only guess what emotions overwhelmed them when they looked at the wall of fire and the fountains of earth that rose on the target field. But it is clear that the demonstration made a strong impression. Four days later, on June 21, 1941, just a few hours before the start of the war, documents were signed on the adoption and urgent deployment of mass production of M-13 and launcher, which received official name BM-13 - "combat vehicle - 13" (according to the rocket index), although sometimes they appeared in documents with the M-13 index. This day should be considered the birthday of Katyusha, which, it turns out, was born only half a day before the start of the Great Patriotic War.

First hit

The production of new weapons was unfolding at two enterprises at once: the Voronezh plant named after the Comintern and the Moscow plant Kompressor, and the Moscow plant named after Vladimir Ilyich became the main enterprise for the production of M-13 shells. The first combat-ready unit - a special jet battery under the command of Captain Ivan Flerov - went to the front on the night of July 1-2, 1941.

The commander of the first Katyusha rocket artillery battery, Captain Ivan Andreevich Flerov. Photo: RIA Novosti

But here's what's remarkable. The first documents on the formation of divisions and batteries armed with rocket-propelled mortars appeared even before the famous firing near Moscow! For example, the directive of the General Staff on the formation of five divisions armed new technology, came out a week before the start of the war - June 15, 1941. But reality, as always, made its own adjustments: in fact, the formation of the first units of field rocket artillery began on June 28, 1941. It was from that moment, as determined by the directive of the commander of the Moscow Military District, that three days were allotted for the formation of the first special battery under the command of Captain Flerov.

According to the preliminary staffing table, which was determined even before the Sofri firing, the rocket artillery battery was supposed to have nine rocket launchers. But the manufacturing plants could not cope with the plan, and Flerov did not have time to receive two of the nine machines - he went to the front on the night of July 2 with a battery of seven rocket-propelled mortars. But do not think that just seven ZIS-6s with guides for launching the M-13 went towards the front. According to the list - there was no and could not be an approved staffing table for a special, that is, in fact, an experimental battery - there were 198 people in the battery, 1 passenger car, 44 trucks and 7 special machines, 7 BM-13 (for some reason they appeared in the column "210 mm guns") and one 152-mm howitzer, which served as a sighting gun.

It was in this composition that the Flerov battery went down in history as the first in the Great Patriotic War and the first in the world combat unit of rocket artillery that took part in hostilities. Flerov and his gunners fought their first battle, which later became legendary, on July 14, 1941. At 15:15, as follows from archival documents, seven BM-13s from the battery opened fire on the Orsha railway station: it was necessary to destroy the echelons from the Soviet military equipment and ammunition that did not have time to reach the front and got stuck, falling into the hands of the enemy. In addition, reinforcements for the advancing units of the Wehrmacht also accumulated in Orsha, so that an extremely attractive opportunity for the command to solve several strategic tasks at once arose.

And so it happened. By personal order of the Deputy Chief of Artillery Western front General George Cariofilli, the battery struck the first blow. In just a few seconds, a full battery of ammunition was fired at the target - 112 rockets, each of which carried a warhead weighing almost 5 kg - and all hell broke loose on the station. With the second blow, Flerov's battery destroyed the pontoon crossing of the Nazis across the Orshitsa River - with the same success.

A few days later, two more batteries arrived at the front - Lieutenant Alexander Kun and Lieutenant Nikolai Denisenko. Both batteries delivered their first blows to the enemy in the last days of July, the difficult 1941 of the year. And since the beginning of August, the formation of not individual batteries, but entire regiments of rocket artillery began in the Red Army.

Guard of the first months of the war

The first document on the formation of such a regiment was issued on August 4: a resolution of the USSR State Committee for Defense ordered the formation of one guards mortar regiment armed with M-13 installations. This regiment was named after the People's Commissar for General Engineering Petr Parshin - the man who, in fact, turned to the GKO with the idea of ​​​​forming such a regiment. And from the very beginning he offered to give him the rank of guards - a month and a half before the first guards rifle units appeared in the Red Army, and then all the rest.

"Katyusha" on the march. 2nd Baltic Front, January 1945. Photo: Vasily Savransky / RIA Novosti

Four days later, on August 8, the staffing of the Guards Regiment of Rocket Launchers was approved: each regiment consisted of three or four divisions, and each division consisted of three batteries of four combat vehicles. The same directive provided for the formation of the first eight regiments of rocket artillery. The ninth was the regiment named after People's Commissar Parshin. It is noteworthy that already on November 26, the People's Commissariat for General Engineering was renamed the People's Commissariat for Mortar Weapons: the only one in the USSR that dealt with a single type of weapon (it lasted until February 17, 1946)! Is this not evidence of the great importance the country's leadership attached to rocket launchers?

Another evidence of this special attitude was the resolution of the State Committee for Defense, which was issued a month later - on September 8, 1941. This document actually turned rocket mortar artillery into a special, privileged type of armed forces. Guards mortar units were withdrawn from the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army and turned into guards mortar units and formations with their own command. It reported directly to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, and it included the headquarters, the weapons department of the M-8 and M-13 mortar units and operational groups in the main directions.

The first commander of the guards mortar units and formations was military engineer 1st rank Vasily Aborenkov - a man whose name appeared in the author's certificate for "a rocket auto-installation for a sudden, powerful artillery and chemical attack on the enemy using rocket shells." It was Aborenkov who, first as head of the department and then as deputy head of the Main Artillery Directorate, did everything to ensure that the Red Army received new, unprecedented weapons.

After that, the process of forming new artillery units went in full swing. The main tactical unit was the regiment of guards mortar units. It consisted of three divisions of rocket launchers M-8 or M-13, an anti-aircraft division, as well as service units. In total, the regiment had 1414 people, 36 combat vehicles BM-13 or BM-8, and from other weapons - 12 anti-aircraft guns 37 mm caliber, 9 DShK anti-aircraft machine guns and 18 light machine guns, not counting the small arms of the personnel. A volley of one regiment of M-13 rocket launchers consisted of 576 rockets - 16 “eres” in a salvo of each vehicle, and a regiment of M-8 rocket launchers consisted of 1296 rockets, since one machine fired 36 shells at once.

"Katyusha", "Andryusha" and other members of the jet family

By the end of the Great Patriotic War, the guards mortar units and formations of the Red Army became formidable. strike force which had a significant impact on the course of hostilities. In total, by May 1945, the Soviet rocket artillery consisted of 40 separate divisions, 115 regiments, 40 separate brigades and 7 divisions - a total of 519 divisions.

These units were armed with three types of combat vehicles. First of all, it was, of course, the Katyushas themselves - BM-13 combat vehicles with 132-mm rockets. It was they who became the most massive in the Soviet rocket artillery during the Great Patriotic War: from July 1941 to December 1944, 6844 such vehicles were produced. Until Lend-Lease Studebaker trucks began to arrive in the USSR, launchers were mounted on the ZIS-6 chassis, and then American three-axle heavy trucks became the main carriers. In addition, there were modifications of launchers to accommodate the M-13 on other Lend-Lease trucks.

The 82 mm Katyusha BM-8 had much more modifications. Firstly, only these installations, due to their small dimensions and weight, could be mounted on the chassis of light tanks T-40 and T-60. Such self-propelled jet artillery mounts received the name BM-8-24. Secondly, installations of the same caliber were mounted on railway platforms, armored boats and torpedo boats, and even on railcars. And on the Caucasian front, they were converted for firing from the ground, without a self-propelled chassis, which would not have been able to turn around in the mountains. But the main modification was the launcher for M-8 rockets on a car chassis: by the end of 1944, 2086 of them were produced. These were mainly BM-8-48s, put into production in 1942: these machines had 24 beams, on which 48 M-8 rockets were installed, they were produced on the chassis of the Form Marmont-Herrington truck. In the meantime, a foreign chassis did not appear, BM-8-36 installations were produced on the basis of the GAZ-AAA truck.

Harbin. Parade of Red Army troops in honor of the victory over Japan. Photo: TASS newsreel

The latest and most powerful modification of the Katyusha was the BM-31-12 guards mortars. Their history began in 1942, when they managed to design a new M-30 rocket projectile, which was the already familiar M-13 with a new warhead of 300 mm caliber. Since they did not change the reactive part of the projectile, a kind of “tadpole” turned out - its resemblance to a boy, apparently, served as the basis for the nickname “Andryusha”. Initially, shells of a new type were launched exclusively from a ground position, directly from a frame-shaped machine, on which shells stood in wooden packages. A year later, in 1943, the M-30 was replaced by the M-31 rocket with a heavier warhead. It was for this new ammunition by April 1944 that the BM-31-12 launcher was designed on the chassis of the three-axle Studebaker.

According to the divisions of the guards mortar units and formations, these combat vehicles were distributed as follows. Of the 40 separate rocket artillery battalions, 38 were armed with BM-13 installations, and only two were armed with BM-8. The same ratio was in 115 regiments of guards mortars: 96 of them were armed with Katyushas in the BM-13 variant, and the remaining 19 - 82-mm BM-8. Guards mortar brigades were not armed with rocket-propelled mortars of caliber less than 310 mm at all. 27 brigades were armed with frame launchers M-30, and then M-31, and 13 - self-propelled M-31-12 on a car chassis.

The one with whom rocket artillery began

During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet rocket artillery had no equal on the other side of the front. Despite the fact that the infamous German Nebelwerfer jet mortar, worn by Soviet soldiers nicknamed "Ishak" and "Vanyusha", had an efficiency comparable to the "Katyusha", it was much less mobile and had one and a half times less firing range. The achievements of the allies of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition in the field of rocket artillery were even more modest.

It was only in 1943 that the American army adopted 114-mm M8 rockets, for which three types of launchers were developed. Installations of the T27 type most of all resembled the Soviet Katyushas: they were mounted on off-road trucks and consisted of two packages of eight guides each, installed across the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. It is noteworthy that in the United States they repeated the original Katyusha scheme, which Soviet engineers abandoned: the transverse arrangement of the launchers led to a strong buildup of the vehicle at the time of the volley, which catastrophically reduced the accuracy of fire. There was another version of the T23: the same package of eight guides was installed on the Willis chassis. And the most powerful volley was the option of installing the T34: 60 (!) Guides that were installed on the hull of the Sherman tank, right above the turret, because of which guidance in the horizontal plane was carried out by turning the entire tank.

In addition to them, during the Second World War, the US Army also used an improved M16 rocket with a T66 launcher and a T40 launcher on the chassis of medium tanks of the M4 type for 182-mm rockets. And in the UK, since 1941, a five-inch 5” UP rocket has been in service; But all these systems were, in fact, only a semblance of Soviet rocket artillery: they failed to catch up with or surpass the Katyusha neither in terms of prevalence, nor in terms of combat effectiveness, nor in terms of production scale, nor in terms of fame. It is no coincidence that the word "Katyusha" to this day serves as a synonym for the word "reactive artillery", and the BM-13 itself became the ancestor of all modern multiple launch rocket systems.

The history of the BM-13 - the famous Katyushas - is a very bright and at the same time controversial page of the Great Patriotic War. We decided to talk about some of the mysteries of this legendary weapon.

Mystery of the first salvo

Officially, the first salvo of the 1st experimental battery "Katyusha" (5 out of 7 installations) under the command of Captain Flerov fired at 15 hours and 15 minutes. July 14, 1941 at the railway junction in Orsha. The following description of what happened is often given: “Over the hollow, overgrown with bushes, where the battery hid, a cloud of smoke and dust shot up. There was a rumbling screech. Throwing out tongues of bright flame, more than a hundred cigar-shaped projectiles rapidly slid off from the guide launchers. For a moment, black arrows were visible in the sky, gaining altitude with increasing speed. Elastic jets of ash-white gases roared from their bottoms. And then everything just disappeared.” (…)

“A few seconds later, in the thick of the enemy troops, one after another, fractionally shaking the ground, explosions thundered. Huge geysers of fire and smoke shot up where the ammunition wagons and fuel tanks had just stood.

But if you open any reference literature, you can see that the city of Orsha was abandoned Soviet troops a day later. And who was fired upon? Imagine that the enemy was able to change the track in a matter of hours railway and it is problematic to drive trains to the station.

It is even more unlikely that the first trains with ammunition enter the captured city from the Germans, for the delivery of which even captured Soviet steam locomotives and wagons are used.

Nowadays, the hypothesis has become widespread that Captain Flerov received an order to destroy Soviet echelons at the station with property that could not be left to the enemy. Maybe so, but there is no direct confirmation of this version yet. Another assumption the author of the article heard from one of the officers of the army of Belarus that several volleys were fired, and if on July 14 those approaching Orsha became the target German troops, then the strike on the station itself was a day later.

But these are still hypotheses that make you think, compare facts, but are not yet established and confirmed documents. On the this moment From time to time, an unscientific dispute even arises, where did Flerov’s battery first enter the battle - near Orsha or near Rudnya? The distance between these cities is very decent - more than 50 km straight, and much further along the roads.

We read in the same Wikipedia that does not pretend to be scientific - “July 14, 1941 (the city of Rudnya) became the site of the first combat use"Katyusha", when a battery of rocket launchers by I. A. Flerov covered a concentration of Germans on the Market Square of the city with direct fire. In honor of this event, a monument stands in the city - "Katyusha" on a pedestal.

Firstly, direct fire for the Katyushas is practically impossible, and secondly, weapons operating on the squares will cover not only the market square with the Germans and, apparently, the inhabitants of the city, but also several blocks around. What happened there is another question. One thing can be stated quite accurately - from the very beginning, the new weapon showed itself with better side and justified the hopes placed on it. In a note from the chief of artillery of the Red Army N. Voronov addressed to Malenkov on August 4, 1941, it was noted:

“The means are strong. Production should be increased. Form continuously units, regiments and divisions. It is better to use it massively and observe maximum surprise.

The mystery of the death of the Flerov battery

Until now, the circumstances of the death of Flerov's battery on October 7, 1941 remain mysterious. It is often stated that the battery, having fired a salvo at direct fire, was destroyed by the crew.
We repeat: for Katyushas, ​​direct fire is extremely dangerous and close to suicidal - there is a very high risk that a rocket that has slipped off the rails will fall next to the installation. According to the Soviet version, the battery was blown up, and out of 170 fighters and commanders, only 46 managed to escape from the ring.

Among those killed in this battle was Ivan Andreevich Flerov. On November 11, 1963, he was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, and in 1995 the brave commander was awarded the title of Hero Russian Federation. Fragments of rocket launchers found at the site of the death of the battery have also survived to our time.

The German version claims, in turn, that the German troops managed to capture three of the seven installations. Although the first BM-13 installations, according to German photographs again, fell into the hands of the enemy, apparently much earlier, back in August 1941.

Katyushas and donkeys

Rocket artillery was not a novelty for the German troops. In the Red Army, German rocket launchers were often called "donkeys" for their characteristic sound during firing. Contrary to popular belief, both installations and rockets still fell into the hands of the enemy, but they were directly copied, as was the case with samples of Soviet rifle and artillery weapons Did not happen.

And the development of German rocket artillery took a slightly different path. For the first time during the Great Patriotic War, German troops used 150 mm rocket launchers in the battles for the Brest Fortress, their use was noted during the assault on Mogilev and in a number of other events. Soviet rocket launchers BM-13 surpassed German systems in terms of firing range, yielding at the same time in accuracy. Known number Soviet tanks, guns, aircraft, small arms produced during the war years, but there are no figures yet regarding the number of Soviet rocket launchers, as well as the number of Katyushas lost during the war.

It is clear so far that it was a mass weapon and played a big role in all the key military events of the Great Patriotic War.

Forerunners of modern rocket launchers can be considered tools from China. The shells could cover a distance of 1.6 km, releasing a huge number of arrows at the target. In the West, such devices appeared only after 400 years.

The history of the creation of rocket weapons

The first rockets appeared solely due to the advent of gunpowder, which was invented in China. Alchemists discovered this element by accident when they were making an elixir for eternal life. In the 11th century, powder bombs were first used, which were directed to the target from catapults. It was the first weapon whose mechanism resembles rocket launchers.

The rockets, created in China in 1400, were as similar as possible to modern guns. The range of their flight was more than 1.5 km. They were two rockets equipped with engines. Before falling, a huge number of arrows flew out of them. After China, such weapons appeared in India, then came to England.

General Congreve in 1799, based on them, develops a new type of gunpowder shells. They were immediately taken into service in the British army. Then there were huge guns, which fired rockets at a distance of 1.6 km.

Even earlier, in 1516, grassroots Zaporozhye Cossacks near Belgorod, during the destruction of the Tatar horde of the Crimean Khan Melik-Girey, even more innovative rocket launchers were used. Thanks to the new weapons, they were able to defeat the Tatar army, which was much larger than the Cossacks. Unfortunately, the Cossacks took the secret of their development with them, dying in subsequent battles.

Achievements of A. Zasiadko

A big breakthrough in the creation of launchers was made by Alexander Dmitrievich Zasyadko. It was he who invented and successfully brought to life the first RCDs - multiple rocket launchers. From one such design, at least 6 missiles could be fired almost simultaneously. The units were light in weight, which made it possible to carry them to any convenient place. Zasyadko's designs were highly appreciated by Grand Duke Konstantin, the tsar's brother. In his report to Alexander I, he petitions for Colonel Zasyadko to be promoted to the rank of major general.

Development of rocket launchers in the XIX-XX centuries.

In the 19th century, N.I. Tikhomirov and V.A. Artemiev. The first launch of such a rocket was made in the USSR in 1928. The shells could cover a distance of 5-6 km.

Thanks to the contribution of the Russian professor K.E. Tsiolkovsky, scientists from the RNII I.I. Gvaya, V.N. Galkovsky, A.P. Pavlenko and A.S. Popov in 1938-1941, a multi-discharge rocket launcher RS-M13 and the BM-13 installation appeared. At the same time, Russian scientists are creating rockets. These rockets - "eres" - will become the main part of the Katyusha, which does not yet exist. Over its creation will work for a few more years.

Installation "Katyusha"

As it turned out, five days before the German attack on the USSR, the group of L.E. Schwartz demonstrated in the Moscow region a new weapon called "Katyusha". The rocket launcher at that time was called BM-13. The tests were carried out on June 17, 1941 at the Sofrinsky training ground with the participation of the Chief of the General Staff G.K. Zhukov, people's commissars of defense, ammunition and weapons, and other representatives of the Red Army. July 1 this Combat vehicles left Moscow for the front. And two weeks later, Katyusha visited the first baptism of fire. Hitler was shocked to learn about the effectiveness of this rocket launcher.

The Germans were afraid of this weapon and tried in every possible way to capture or destroy it. Attempts by designers to recreate the same gun in Germany did not bring success. The shells did not pick up speed, had a chaotic flight path and did not hit the target. Soviet-made gunpowder was clearly of a different quality; decades were spent on its development. German counterparts could not replace it, which led to the unstable operation of ammunition.

Making it powerful weapon opened new page in the history of the development of artillery weapons. Terrible "Katyusha" began to wear honorary title"weapon of victory"

Development features

The BM-13 rocket launchers consist of a six-wheeled four-wheel drive truck and a special design. Behind the cockpit was a system for launching missiles on a platform installed in the same place. A special lift using hydraulics raised the front of the unit at an angle of 45 degrees. Initially, there was no provision for moving the platform to the right or left. Therefore, in order to aim at the target, it was necessary to deploy the entire truck completely. 16 rockets fired from the installation flew along a free trajectory to the location of the enemy. The crew made adjustments already during firing. So far more modern modifications of this weapon are used by the army of some countries.

The BM-13 was replaced in the 1950s by the jet-powered BM-14.

Missile launchers "Grad"

The next modification of the system under consideration was Grad. The rocket launcher was created for the same purposes as previous similar samples. Only tasks for developers have become more complicated. The firing range was to be at least 20 km.

The development of new shells was taken up by NII 147, which had not created before similar weapons. In 1958, under the leadership of A.N. Ganichev, with the support of the State Committee for Defense Technology, work began on the development of a rocket for a new modification of the installation. To create used the technology of manufacturing artillery shells. The hulls were created using the hot drawing method. The stabilization of the projectile occurred due to the tail and rotation.

After numerous experiences in rockets"Grad" for the first time used the plumage of the four curved blades, which were revealed at the start. Thus, A.N. Ganichev was able to ensure that the rocket fit perfectly into the tubular guide, and during the flight its stabilization system turned out to be ideal for a firing range of 20 km. The main creators were NII-147, NII-6, GSKB-47, SKB-203.

The tests were carried out at the Rzhevka training ground near Leningrad on March 1, 1962. And a year later, on March 28, 1963, the Grad was adopted by the country. The rocket launcher was launched into mass production on January 29, 1964.

The composition of the "Grad"

SZO BM 21 includes the following elements:

Rocket launcher, which is mounted on the stern of the chassis of the car "Ural-375D";

Fire control system and 9T254 transport-loading vehicle based on ZIL-131;

40 three-meter guides in the form of pipes mounted on a base that rotates in a horizontal plane and points vertically.

Guidance is carried out manually or by means of an electric drive. The unit is charged manually. The car can move charged. Shooting is carried out in one gulp or single shots. With a volley of 40 shells, manpower is affected in an area of ​​​​1046 square meters. m.

Shells for "Grad"

Can be used for shooting Various types rocket projectiles. They differ in firing range, mass, target. They are used to destroy manpower, armored vehicles, mortar batteries, aircraft and helicopters at airfields, mines, install smoke screens, create radio interference, and poison with a chemical.

There are a huge number of modifications to the Grad system. All of them are in service in various countries of the world.

Long-range MLRS "Hurricane"

Simultaneously with the development of the Grad, the Soviet Union was engaged in the creation of a long-range jet. All of them were rated positively, but were not powerful enough and had their drawbacks.

At the end of 1968, the development of a long-range 220-mm SZO began. Initially, it was called "Grad-3". In full new system was taken into development after the decision of the ministries of defense industry of the USSR of March 31, 1969. At the Perm gun factory No. 172 in February 1972, a prototype of the Uragan MLRS was manufactured. The rocket launcher was put into service on March 18, 1975. After 15 years, the Soviet Union housed 10 rocket artillery regiments of the Uragan MLRS and one rocket artillery brigade.

In 2001, so many Uragan systems were in service in the countries of the former USSR:

Russia - 800;

Kazakhstan - 50;

Moldova - 15;

Tajikistan - 12;

Turkmenistan - 54;

Uzbekistan - 48;

Ukraine - 139.

The shells for the Hurricanes are very similar to the ammunition for the Grads. The same components are 9M27 rocket parts and 9X164 powder charges. To reduce the range, brake rings are also put on them. Their length is 4832-5178 mm, and their weight is 271-280 kg. A funnel in medium-density soil has a diameter of 8 meters and a depth of 3 meters. The firing range is 10-35 km. Shrapnel from shells at a distance of 10 m can penetrate a 6 mm steel barrier.

What is the purpose of the Hurricane systems? The rocket launcher is designed to destroy manpower, armored vehicles, artillery units, tactical missiles, anti-aircraft systems, helicopters in parking lots, communication centers, military-industrial facilities.

The most accurate MLRS "Smerch"

The uniqueness of the system lies in the combination of indicators such as power, range and accuracy. The world's first MLRS with guided rotating projectiles is the Smerch rocket launcher, which still has no analogues in the world. Its missiles are capable of reaching a target that is 70 km from the gun itself. The new MLRS was put into service in the USSR on November 19, 1987.

In 2001, Uragan systems were located in the following countries (former USSR):

Russia - 300 cars;

Belarus - 48 cars;

Ukraine - 94 cars.

The projectile has a length of 7600 mm. Its weight is 800 kg. All varieties have a huge destructive and damaging effect. Losses from batteries "Hurricane" and "Smerch" are equated to the actions of a tactical nuclear weapons. At the same time, the world does not consider their use as so dangerous. They equate to weapons such as guns or tanks.

Reliable and powerful Topol

In 1975, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering began to develop a mobile system capable of launching a rocket from various places. Such a complex was the Topol rocket launcher. This was the answer Soviet Union on the emergence of controlled American intercontinental vehicles (they were adopted by the United States in 1959).

The first tests took place on December 23, 1983. During a series of launches, the rocket proved to be a reliable and powerful weapon.

In 1999, 360 Topol complexes were located in ten position areas.

Every year, Russia launches one Topol rocket. Since the creation of the complex, about 50 tests have been carried out. All of them passed without any problems. This indicates the highest reliability of the equipment.

To destroy small targets in the Soviet Union, the Tochka-U divisional rocket launcher was developed. Work on the creation of this weapon began on March 4, 1968, according to the Decree of the Council of Ministers. The contractor was Kolomna Design Bureau. Chief designer - S.P. Invincible. The TsNII AG was responsible for the missile control system. The launcher was produced in Volgograd.

What is SAM

Set of various combat and technical means, which are connected together to combat the means of attacking the enemy from air and space, is called anti-aircraft missile system(ZRK).

They are distinguished by the place of military operations, by mobility, by the method of movement and guidance, by range. These include the Buk missile launcher, as well as the Igla, Osa and others. What is the difference between this type of construction? Anti-aircraft missile launcher includes means for reconnaissance and transportation, automatic tracking of an air target, an anti-aircraft launcher guided missiles, devices for controlling the missile and its support, means of controlling the equipment.

... Among the centuries-old trees and high banks, it carries its own through the Smolensk region clear waters river Ugra. Quiet rustle of grass, unique aroma blooming garden, a girl looking into the distance from a steep bank with hope and longing - perhaps just such a picture once appeared to the eyes of the young poet Mikhail Isakovsky, and the lines immediately came to mind:

“... Apple and pear trees blossomed,
Mists floated over the river.
Katyusha went ashore,
On the high bank, on the steep ... "

The written quatrain almost suffered the fate of the "long box". And do not introduce journalist Vasily Reginin to the editorial office of the Pravda newspaper on a spring day Mikhail Vasilyevich Isakovsky with the composer Matvey Isaakovich Blanter, we probably would not have become the owners of a world-famous masterpiece. Remembering the started "Katyusha" and giving the written lines, Mikhail Vasilyevich doubted that something good could come of it. Blanter treated them differently. 2 years before that, in 1936, Matvey Isaakovich became the head of the State Jazz Orchestra of the USSR, where the then unknown jazzman was appointed musical director Viktor Nikolaevich Knushevitsky. And Blanter wanted the song "Katyusha" to be performed at the first concert of this musical group. Having left for Yalta, where Isakovsky was resting, Blanter insisted on writing a continuation of the poem as soon as possible. Since premonitions of an imminent war were anxiously in the air, and the Red Army was already at war in Spain and near Lake Khasan, the turbulent border situation could not be ignored even in a deeply lyrical song.

“... Oh you, a song, a girl’s song,
You fly after the clear sun
And a fighter on the far frontier
Say hello from Katyusha ... "

Here the phrase "on the far frontier" is interpreted by researchers in different ways. It was assumed that the song refers to the western border of our country, namely with Poland. After all, the girl’s song flies “following the clear sun” - that is, from the East to the West, since it was from that side that a big war was expected. However, opponents of this theory, based on the line “I went out, started a song about the steppe gray eagle”, believe that the mentioned steppe eagle is predatory bird, the nesting area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich covers South-Eastern and South-Western Siberia, Western, Central and Central Asia to the western parts of China, northwestern, central and southern parts of Africa and India. And, given the turbulent days on the border near Lake Khasan, there is a correlation just with our Far Eastern borders.

It is difficult to say what kind of borderland Mikhail Isakovsky meant, but the song was completed in just a few days. For the first time "Katyusha" sounded on November 27, 1938 in the Hall of Columns in Moscow. Together with the orchestra conducted by Viktor Knushevitsky, it was performed by Valentina Alekseevna Batishcheva, a jazz singer who performed with jazz orchestras in the foyer of cinemas and on the stage of the then largest Moscow restaurant "Moskva". The officer corps, which filled the hall, called the song for an encore three times. But there is also an opinion that the first performance happened a little earlier, and even then, by accident: at the last rehearsal of the new State Jazz orchestra, there was Lidia Ruslanova. And she could not resist, performing the song a few hours later from memory at a concert in the same Hall of Columns.

Meanwhile, the song spread faster than the wind across the country: it was picked up by Lidia Ruslanova, Georgy Vinogradov, Vera Krasovitskaya, and after them professional and amateur groups; it was sung in cities and villages, at demonstrations and in the home circle.

And then came the War. And sounded "Katyusha" already with different intonations and in a different context. Katyusha became both a nurse, and a fighter, and a soldier waiting with victory, and a partisan.

Strong impression "Katyusha" produced not only for our fighters, but also for the Nazis. Especially in the performance of the most formidable artillery weapon of the Red Army - mobile rocket launchers BM-8 and BM-13. The first volley from it on July 14, 1941 was fired by the battery of Captain Ivan Andreevich Flerov, who posthumously received the Star of the Hero for those battles only in 1995. This happened near the Belarusian city of Orsha, very close to the Smolensk homeland of the song. “Greetings from Katyusha,” the soldiers said. And the greeting was so hot, and the song image was so bright that the girl's name instantly replaced the official abbreviation. And here is an excerpt from the memoirs of a soldier who fought near Leningrad, when the enemy was only 700-800 meters away: “In clear weather, the sounds of harmonicas were heard from there, on which the Germans loved to play, the song“ Mine Gretchen ”was heard. And once, at a late hour, a voice was heard, amplified by a megaphone: “Rus Ivan, sing Katyusha!”. The Germans seem to remember this song well, because we often sang it.

There is one more important fact, which also apparently influenced the appearance of the "name" of these mortars. The used rockets with incendiary filling were marked "CAT" - "Kostikova automatic thermite". It is noteworthy that in July 1941, when the Katyusha was first used by Flerov’s battery, rocket mortars did not yet bear the nickname Katyusha. But already in September 1941, when the 8th separate guards jet mortar division was sent to Odessa, the nickname "Katyusha" rocket launchers It was not difficult for the new name to take root, since the appearance of weapons in combat units coincided with the growing popularity of the Katyusha song.

And here interesting story that happened with this version of the song on the motive "Katyusha":

Our cherry orchard is in bloom again
And the fog floats over the river.
Katya Ivanova came out
On a high bank, on a steep one.

Came out - firmly decided
Take revenge on the enemy your homeland,
How much will, how much strength is enough,
Not sparing youth in battle.

Military pilot and local historian Nikolai Semenovich Sakhno from Krasnodar Territory discovered that Katya Ivanova had quite real prototype- a brave, proud girl from the village of Medvedovskaya, in the Kuban. Having volunteered for the front, Katya immediately ended up near Stalingrad, where she was both a nurse and a machine gunner. And as part of the communication company of the aviation regiment, she passed her heroic battle path from the Volga banks to the Balkans. She was awarded military awards and was awarded with thanks from the command.

Once a local history teacher visited the Eremenko couple. Remembering for a warm friendly conversation fiery years, it suddenly turned out that Ekaterina Andreevna had carefully kept the handwritten text of the song about Katya Ivanova from the war, and on the yellowed sheet there was a postscript of their author, a tank officer, that these poems were about her!

And the song itself during the war and after it became performed and loved also abroad. For example, in Italy it is known in two versions: "Katarina", as well as "Fischia il vento"("The wind is blowing"), which became the anthem of the fighters of the Resistance movement in Italy and France.

"Katyusha" sounded even in the Vatican, where, after the liberation of Rome, partisans came to meet with the Pope. Katyusha is also well known in other countries: in the post-war years it was popular in Japan, in Tokyo even one cafe is named after Katyusha. The song reached Japan, Korea, China and the USA. This is probably the most famous Russian Song in the whole world.

On May 9, 1949, in the Smolensk village of Vskhody, a new club was opened, where Katyusha was the birthday girl at the celebration, and a memorial stone was installed on the bank of the Ugra just on the steep bank. In 1985, the Katyusha Song Museum was opened.

Unique weapon times of the Great Patriotic War, popularly nicknamed "Katyusha", has long become a legend, and unusual name, which was dubbed the rocket launcher during the war years, and stuck with it. Front-line soldiers say that when shooting from formidable weapons began, Soviet citizens often started a record with the song "Katyusha" ...

The deafening howl that accompanied the flight of the rocket literally drove me crazy. Those who did not die during the shelling often could no longer resist, as they were shell-shocked, stunned, and psychologically depressed.

origin of name

Why did the terrible front-line weapon receive such an affectionate nickname "Katyusha"? And why exactly Katyusha?

There are several versions about this.

The first belongs to the veterans. Like, just before the war, the song of Matusovsky and Blanter about the girl Katyusha was very popular, and the beautiful Russian name somehow stuck to the new rocket launcher by itself.

The second version was put forward by military experts. Reading an article in Pravda, they speculated what kind of weapon was used near Orsha? A whole salvo! This means that the gun is automatic and multi-barreled. The report indicated that everything was on fire in the affected area. It is clear: shells are incendiary - thermal. Fire tails?! Those are rockets. And who was then considered their "father", the experts perfectly knew: Andrey Kostikov. The polygoners called "BM-13" in their own way: "Kostikovsky automatic thermal", abbreviated - "KAT". And among the front-line soldiers who came to the training grounds, the word "kat" took root quickly. The fighters took this word to the front line, and even there it remained close to the Katyusha beloved by everyone.

Another version of the version, generated by specialists, suggests that the nickname is associated with the “K” index on the mortar body - the installations were produced by the Comintern plant ...

The third version is even more exotic and requires special explanation. On the chassis of the car, the BM-13 installations had guides, which in technical language were called slopes. A projectile was installed above and below each slope. Unlike cannon artillery, where the calculation of the gun is divided into a loader and a gunner, in rocket artillery the calculation did not have official names, but over time, the division of the soldiers serving the installation according to the functions performed was also determined. A 42-kilogram projectile for the M-13 installation was usually unloaded by several people, and then two, harnessed to straps, dragged the projectiles to the installation itself, raised them to the height of the slopes, and a third person usually helped them, pushing the projectile so that it would definitely enter into guides. Two soldiers were holding a heavy projectile, and for them at that moment the “pusher-roll-katyusha” signal that the projectile stood-rolled-rolled into the guide slopes meant the successful completion of a very important part of the work on equipping the installation for a volley. Of course, all the soldiers carried shells and each did the hard work of lifting them to the slopes. There was no specially designated person responsible for installing the projectile into the ramps. But the work itself led to the fact that at the last moment someone had to take on the role of "Katyusha" to push the projectile onto the guides, taking responsibility for the successful completion of the operation. It is clear that there were cases of shells falling to the ground, and then it had to be lifted from the ground and started all over again if the Katyusha was wrong about something.

One more thing. The installations were so classified that it was forbidden even to give the commands "plee", "fire", "volley" and the like. Instead, the commands were: "sing" and "play." Well, for the infantry, volleys of rocket launchers were the most pleasant music, which meant that today the Germans would get the first number, and there would be almost no losses among their own.

Creation of "Katyusha"

The history of the appearance of the first rockets in Russia goes back to the fifteenth century. Pyrotechnic rockets became widespread in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, this period is associated with the activities of Peter the Great, during which the first fireworks laboratories were created. In 1680, a special "rocket plant" was organized in Moscow for the production of fireworks, lighting and signal rockets.

In 1717, a one-pound lighting rocket grenade was adopted by the Russian army, rising to a height of more than 1 kilometer. In 1810, the Russian military department instructed the Military Scientific Committee under the Main Artillery Directorate to deal with the creation of combat missiles for use in combat operations.

In 1813, the talented Russian scientist General A. D. Zasyadko created several types of combat missiles with a caliber from 2 to 4 inches. Created by another prominent representative of the Russian artillery school, General K.I. Konstantinov, 2-, 2.5- and 4-inch rockets were adopted by the Russian army, and had more high precision firing, better reliability, and withstood longer storage periods. However, at that time combat missiles could not compete with rapidly improving artillery due to restrictions on the range of projectiles and their significant dispersion during shelling.

As a result, in January 1886, the Artillery Committee decided to stop the production of combat missiles in Russia.

Nevertheless, it was impossible to stop the development of progress in rocket science, and in the years before the First World War, attempts were made in Russia to create rockets to destroy enemy airplanes and balloons. Former vice-director of the Putilov plant I.V. Volovsky in April 1912 submitted to the Russian War Ministry a promising project of a new type of rotating missiles and a project of two "Throwing Apparatuses" for launching missiles from an aircraft and a car. Despite a number of positive results obtained in the field of jet weapons at the beginning of the twentieth century, this project did not find application. The reason was that the level of scientific knowledge in the field of rocket science during this period was still low. Most of the inventors of solid rockets were not familiar with the theoretical works of K.E. Tsiolkovsky and other scientists in the field of rocket science. But, the main drawback of all rocket projects of the early twentieth century was the use of low-calorie and heterogeneous fuel - black smoke powder - as an energy source.

A new word in improvement missile weapons was said in 1915, when the teacher of the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy, Colonel I.P. Grave, first proposed a new solid fuel - smokeless pyroxylin powder, which provides the rocket with a large carrying capacity and flight range.

A new life-giving breath in the development of domestic rocket science has come to Soviet time. Understanding the importance and significance of rocket technology for the country's defense capability, the state created a special rocket laboratory in Moscow in 1921 to develop rockets using smokeless powder. It was headed by engineer N.I. Tikhomirov and his associate and associate V.A. Artemiev. On March 3, 1928, after many studies and experiments, tests, the first successful launch was made, designed by N.I. Tikhomirov and V.A. Artemyev, rockets with an engine charge of coarse smokeless powder. With the creation of this first rocket on smokeless powder, the foundation was laid for the development of rockets for guards mortars - for the famous Katyushas. The range of shells even then reached 5-6 kilometers, but they had large deviations from the target, and the problem of ensuring satisfactory accuracy of fire turned out to be the most difficult. Many have been tried various options, but long time tests did not give positive results.

In the fall of 1937, the RNII began to put into practice the idea of ​​mechanized rocket launchers. A department was created at the institute under the leadership of I. I. Gvai. The design team included A.P. Pavlenko, A.S. Popov, V.N. Galkovsky. Now it is these scientists who are considered the "fathers" of the legendary Katyusha rocket launcher. It is difficult to find out exactly who exactly came up with the idea to install a jet system on a truck. At the same time, they decided to use the Flute-type structure, which had previously been developed for aviation, as guides for rockets.

In a week, a team of authors prepared a technical design of the installation, which included twenty-four Flute-type guides. They were supposed to be arranged in two rows on a metal frame installed across the longitudinal axis of a typical ZIS-5 truck. It was intended to aim the reactive system horizontally with the help of the truck itself, and vertically - with a special manual mechanism. In the summer of 1938, in strict secrecy, the first two prototype multiple launch rocket system mounted on ZIS-5 vehicles. In December 1938, new types of installations passed military tests already at another training ground, where they were tested by the State Military Commission. The tests took place in thirty-five degrees of frost. All systems worked perfectly, and the missiles hit the calculated targets. The commission highly appreciated the new type of weapon, and December 1938 can be considered the month and year of the birth of the legendary Katyushas.

On June 21, 1941, the installation was demonstrated to the leaders of the Soviet government and on the same day, just a few hours before the start of World War II, a decision was made to urgently deploy mass production of M-13 rockets and a launcher, which received the official name BM-13 (combat machine 13).

Thus, a highly maneuverable, high-speed combat vehicle was created, capable of conducting single, group and salvo fire.