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| History |
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| The Multiple Rocket Launcher Systems are
the powerful and prospective weapon known since the 2nd World War.
For the first time Multiple Rocket Launcher Systems, called at the
time "Katioushas", were successfully employed 14 July
1941 near the Byelorussian town of Orsha. It was the first generation
of MRLSs. Evolving the traditions of rocket projectiles design,
beginning from the end of the 50es FSUE "Splav" SRPA"
develops the new generations of MLRSs. Today these are the famous
"Grad", "Uragan" and "Smerch". |
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Some particular words must be said about
the 9K51 "Grad" MRLS (caliber 122 mm, range of fire 20
km) which is the most popular system all over the world. It was
developed in 1963 by a group of Russian designers headed by a gifted
designer-in-chief Alexander Ganichev and then manufactured by Russian
military enterprises.
The second MRLS developed in Russia, the
9K57 "Uragan" (rocket projectile caliber 220 mm), has
the range of fire of up to 35 km. For the "Uragan" system
for the first time in the world was developed the rocket projectile
fitted with cluster warhead with fragmentation submunitions.
The third class of MRLSs, which is the latter
one, includes the Russian "Smerch" system (caliber 300
mm, range of fire of up to 90 km) which uses the rocket projectiles
provided with on-board control-system unit. It resulted in 3-folds
reduction of rocket projectiles dispersion along with the 2-folds
enhancement of consistency of fire. |
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| The experience accumulated during developments
of MRLSs for the Land Forces allowed the development of fundamentally
new systems for the Navy. These are the "Damba", "Ogon"
systems and the "Udav" (designed to engage torpedoes)
and "RPK-8" (designed to engage submarines) systems which
has no match in the world. |
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| Altogether, the Enterprise has developed
48 types of rocket projectiles for different purposes. Together
with the FSUE "Splav" SRPA", which is the head enterprise
in development of weaponry, worked teams of many enterprises assigned
for different trends (as launcher vehicles, transporter-loaders,
fuzes, powder charges, ignition agents etc.). The scientific and
technological potential accumulated by these enterprises promotes
the development of new models of MRLSs meeting the world standards.
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Guennady A. Denezhkin,
Designer-in-chief |
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Alexander N. Ganichev,
Designer-in-chief
(1945-1982) |
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