The BM-30 Smerch (Russian: Смерч, "tornado", "whirlwind"), 9K58 Smerch or 9A52-2 Smerch-M is a heavy self-propelled 300 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union to fire a full load of 12 solid-fuelled projectiles. The system is intended to defeat personnel, armored, and soft targets in concentration areas, artillery batteries, command posts and ammunition depots. It was designed in the early 1980s and entered service in the Soviet Army in 1989.[4] When first observed by the West in 1983, it received the code MRL 280mm M1983. It continues in use by Russia; a program to replace it with the 9A52-4 Tornado began in 2018.[5]
9K58 «Smerch» in Saint-Petersburg Artillery museum9T234-2 transporter-loader of 9K589A52-2 launch vehicle of 9K58 / BM-30 Smerch MLRS9K58 Smerch (IDELF-2008 – Ministry of Defence of Russia exposition)
Operational history
The first confirmed combat uses of the Smerch were in two war zones in 2014. Syrian military forces used the system against rebel forces during the Syrian civil war, including in fighting in Jobar.[6] It was also used by Russia-backed militants to deliver explosive and cluster munitions to Ukrainian military positions and likewise by the Ukrainian Army.[7][8] Several have been seen in use by pro-Russian rebels.[9][10] The Russian Ground Forces used the BM-30 in Syria in October 2015 during the Russian intervention in Syria.[11]
As of March 2024, there is visual evidence of two Russian Military BM-30s being destroyed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[13]
Smerch rockets were fired from Belgorod in the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. As Smerch rockets are a Multiple Launch Rocket System, using these to attack a densely populated area of civilians caused some to call the action a war crime.[14]The Human Rights Watch also claims that Smerch cluster munitions 9M55K (containing 72 9N235 submunitions) were fired into densely populated neighborhoods in Kharkiv, resulting in the deaths of at least 11 civilians.[15][16] During the Battle of Kharkiv it is alleged that 11 Smerch rockets were fired on 27–28 February alone.[17]
Components
The main components of the RSZO 9K58 "Smerch" system are the following:
Rockets 9M55 or 9M528 (in containers);
BM 9A52-2 launch vehicle;
TZM 9T234-2 transloader with an 850 kg crane and 12 spare rockets;
Automated fire control equipment in the command post 1K123 "Vivary";
Maintenance vehicle PM-2-70 MTO-V;
Set of arsenal equipment 9F819;
Training facilities 9F827 and 9F840.
300mm rockets with a firing range of 70 and 90 km and various warheads have been developed for the Smerch MLRS.
The 9A52-2 vehicle with the automated system ensures:
delivery of fire from an un-surveyed fire position;
laying of the launch tube cluster with the crew staying in the cabin and without using aiming points;
autonomous determination of an azimuth of the launch tube cluster's longitudinal axis;
visual representation of graphical information for the launch tube cluster laying, the route of vehicle movement and location as well as a point of destination and direction of movement on the video terminal;
increase in MLRS survivability owing to reduced time of staying at a fire position;
increased comfort for the laying operator, especially in adverse weather conditions and at night;
increased independent operation owing to the navigation and survey equipment, which allows the vehicle to rapidly change fire positions and move autonomously;
Map of BM-30 operators in blue with former operators in redUkrainian BM-30 Smerch launchers during a military paradeKuwaiti BM-30 Smerch launchers during a military parade in KuwaitArmenian BM-30 Smerch launchers during a military parade in Yerevan, 2016
India – Total 372 9A52-2T launchers in service.[25] The launchers for the Indian Army's 9K58 Smerch 300 mm multiple launch (MLR) systems are mounted on Indian made T816 KOLOS TATRA. Each launcher has been provided with its own ammunition replenishment vehicle based on the same T816. Since 2012 India's state-owned Ordnance Factory Board has produced several rocket variants for the system that have a strike range of 70 or 90 km.[26]
PHL-96 – Visually similar missile based on the WanshanWS-2400 8x8 cross country truck. However, the PHL-03 and BM-30 do not share interchangeable parts, so they are distinct missiles despite their similar appearance. The Chinese vehicle utilizes a German-designed diesel engine, transmission and hydraulics, manufactured by Wanshan in China, following a technology transfer from ZF Friedrichshafen. The program actually begun in the late 1990s, with the '96' in the designation reportedly meaning 1996, the year that the Chinese military first issued the requirement for a new long range SPMRLS. The program went through major redesign changes when the BM-30 Smerch was purchased.[39] Although dubbed by many Chinese as a guided self-propelled multiple rocket launching system (SPMRLS), the PHL96 is not strictly speaking a guided SPMRLS because, technically, none of rockets are guided – the guidance is actually achieved via the sub-munitions, such as the 9M55K1 cluster munition. Only a very limited number of the PHL96 entered Chinese service because its successor, the PHL03, entered service shortly after.
PHL-03 – Chinese development of the PHL96 with 150 km range.[40] The PHL03 is a highly digitized PHL96 with a computerized fire control system (FCS) incorporating GPS/GLONASS, similar to that of the Type 90A SPMRL, with a four-man crew (compared with three for the BM-30/PHL96), which entered service around 2004–2005, only a year or two after its predecessor, the PHL96.[citation needed] As with the PHL96, the PHL03 is not exactly a guided SPMRL because it is the submunitions that are guided, not the rockets themselves.[citation needed]
AR-1 – Chinese development of the PHL03. This is actually the first model of the Chinese versions of the BM-30 SPMRL that is a truly a guided rocket system, in that the rockets themselves are guided by the simple primitive cascade inertial terminal guidance used on the WS series SPMRL, which became standard for later Chinese versions. Russia had already developed a guided version of the BM-30 with mid-course radio command guidance to immediately correct the error in the flight of the rocket once detected by the ballistic tracking radar, but this was not adopted due to financial constraints.[citation needed]
AR-1A – Chinese development of the AR-1. A 10-round version of the AR-1, with two launching boxes, each containing five expandable launching tubes. Once rockets are launched, the entire launch box is replaced, instead of individually reloading each tube as in earlier versions, thus greatly reducing the reload time.[41][42]
^"Военная кафедра МЭСИ" [MESI Military Department]. vk.mesi.ru (in Russian). 23 December 2007. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
^"AR2型300毫米远程火箭炮系统 – 飞扬军事 – 信息资讯 – 军事主题 – 陆地狂飙" [AR2 300 mm Long Range Rocket System – Flying Military – Information – Military Theme – Land Mania]. fyjs.cn (in Chinese). 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
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