BM-30 Smerch
Sign in to saveAlso known as 300 mm rocket launcher BM-30, Smerch rocket launcher, BM30, 9K58 Smerch, 9A52-2 Smerch M, MRL 280mm M1983
multiple rocket launcher system of Soviet origin
Key facts
- Type
- Multiple rocket launcher
- Place of origin
- Soviet Union , Russia
- In service
- 1989–present
- Used by
- See Operators
- Wars
- Second Chechen War , War in Donbas , Syrian Civil War , Second Nagorno-Karabakh War , Russo-Ukrainian war
- Designer
- Splav State Research and Production Enterprise
- Designed
- 1980s
- Manufacturer
- Splav State Research and Production Enterprise
- Produced
- 1989–present
- Variants
- See Variants
- Mass
- 43.7 t
- Length
- 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
- Width
- 3.05 m (10 ft)
- Height
- 3.05 m (10 ft)
- Caliber
- 300 mm
- Maximum firing range
- 120 km (75 mi) (9M542 rocket), 200 km (120 mi) (9M544 rocket)
- Main armament
- 9M55 or 9M528 rockets
- Engine
- D12A-525A V12 diesel engine , 525 hp (391 kW)
via Wikipedia infobox
~8 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The BM-30 Smerch (Russian: Смерч, lit. '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. 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 Tornado-S began in 2018.
9K58 «Smerch» in Saint-Petersburg Artillery museum 9T234-2 transporter-loader of 9K58 9A52-2 launch vehicle of 9K58 / BM-30 Smerch MLRS 9K58 Smerch (IDELF-2008 – Ministry of Defence of Russia exposition)
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “BM-30 Smerch” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.