"Hurricane" (MLRS). Russian MLRS 9K57 "Hurricane"

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Missile weapons since the times of the USSR, and now in the Russian Federation, continue to be the main trump card not only in armed conflicts, but also in international negotiations.

However, it rarely comes to this. Much more needed in the daily affairs of the army multiple launch rocket systems. One of the most common is "Hurricane". MLRS is widespread among the troops, it is quite cheap to manufacture. Given its reliability and unpretentiousness, one should not be surprised at the desire of the modern RF Armed Forces to modernize this complex, the history of which began back in the 60s of the last century!

History of Creation

It is generally accepted that all domestic developments of this type have one progenitor - the Katyusha MLRS. In a sense, this is true, but one should never forget that modern multiple rocket launchers are fundamentally different from the legendary complex.

For example, domestic designers have long abandoned the rail system as guides: this is unreliable, since the projectile's trajectory turns out to be largely arbitrary, and the chance of charge convergence is quite high.

Therefore, herebythe ancestor of the 9k57 Uragan MLRS should be considered the M-21V installation, which was put into service back in 1963.

Despite the decent characteristics of this MLRS, the military were not completely satisfied with it. And therefore, in 1963, Tula received a state defense order for the development of a new promising model, which would not have the shortcomings of the M-21V. The military attributed to these relatively low maneuverability, and the damaging effect of its regular projectile was unsatisfactory. Taking into account the lessons of the Great Patriotic War, our military already well understood that it is desirable to “grind” enemy tank columns ahead of time, and therefore another requirement that was made for the new development was effective action at least against lightly armored targets.

Looking ahead, we note that the MLRS 9k57 "Hurricane" perfectly copes with this task.

Sketches

From 1963 to 1964, the specialists of the Tula Central Design Bureau were engaged in a comprehensive study of the task assigned to them. The main problem that then faced them was the creation of the MLRS, which would allow hitting the enemy’s living and motorized force at a distance of up to 40 kilometers.

The result of these studies was the Hurricane project, which appeared already in the middle of 1964. MLRS of this type assumed the defeat of the enemy at a distance of up to 35 kilometers. Its advantage was its high maneuverability, which allowed it to quickly fire a volley from a closed position and leave without being detected by the enemy.

At the end of 1966 - beginning of 1967 in Tula begancarry out large-scale research work on the prospects for adopting the new system into service. Its result was a comprehensively developed concept of this complex, which included all the necessary information regarding the characteristics of the shells and the conditions for their use.

By 1970, the Ministry of Industry instructed to draw up the final draft of the new MLRS 9k57 "Hurricane". It should be noted that by that time, engineers and scientists were involved in the development of far from Tula alone. So, in the Moscow and Moscow Region Central Design Bureau, a comprehensive study of high explosive charges and fuse systems was carried out. In Kazan, they created expelling charges for shells with a cluster-type warhead.

Preliminary test result

The uninitiated reader may be surprised at how long it took the Soviet industry to create only one prototype of this kind of equipment. It must be remembered that in those years there were simply no large-scale developments in this area. As a result of hard work and experiments that were carried out in design offices throughout the country, the unique Uragan system was obtained. This MLRS is still used in dozens of countries around the world.

In particular, with its help they fight even in Syria. In general, the time that was spent for these studies was definitely not in vain. For example, the Smerch multiple launch rocket system was developed and put into service in the shortest possible time precisely due to the fact that the lion's share of all calculations was already ready.

Let's get back to the tests. In 1972, on trialspecialists were presented with an almost finished prototype of the system, which passed all factory tests. The main characteristics were:

• MLRS was equipped with unguided cluster and high-explosive rockets, which carried 80 and 105 kilograms of explosives, respectively.
• BM 9P140, for which it was nevertheless decided to use the standard ZIL-135LM chassis (due to labor intensity and lack of agreements, the tracked chassis project was rejected).
• The 9T452 transport and loading vehicle, which is mounted on the chassis of the same ZIL-135LM.
• The complex also included equipment for the repair and maintenance of machines.

A couple more years, the factory roll-out took place, as a result of which the current "Hurricane" appeared. This MLRS in 1974 had approximately the same performance characteristics as at the present time. Finally, in 1976, the complex was finally adopted.

It took two years to fix some minor bugs. In addition, during this time, specialists have developed several new and promising types of shells.

What components are included in the finished complex?

• The 9P140 combat vehicle itself.
• Machine for loading and transporting shells 9T452.
• Reactive charges.
• Automatic fire control and correction equipment 1V126 Kapustnik-B.
• Means for training and training personnel in conditions as close as possible to combat.
• Topographic reconnaissance vehicleterrain 1T12-2M.
• Complex for direction finding and meteorological situation research 1B44.
• Kit for maintenance and repair of equipment 9F381.

Most of all systems are duplicated, so even damage to them or complete incapacitation by enemy fire is not an obstacle to the combat mission. In addition, most of the operations can be performed manually.

Propulsion Specifications

The machine is driven by two V-engines ZIL-375YA, each with 180 hp. With. The wheels on the sides are driven by their own engine, have an independent gearbox and transmission. Steering wheels are installed on the first and fourth axles.

The car is equipped not only with a centralized tire pressure monitoring system, it is possible to automatically inflate them on the go. Passability and speed characteristics are very good. On one gas station, you can drive about 600 km, giving a maximum speed of 65 km / h. The machine easily overcomes water obstacles up to 1.2 m deep without any additional preparation.

Information about calculation and loading

In peacetime, a crew of four is assigned: a vehicle commander, a gunner, and a couple of fighters who are responsible for manual guidance and maintenance. In wartime, the group is increased to six people, as many operations have to be performed manually.

As already mentioned, the transportation and loading of shells are carried out using a special machine9T452, which is built on the same chassis. Each such vehicle not only carries 16 shells, but also provides their equipment without the involvement of additional equipment. The process is fully mechanized and takes no more than 14 minutes. A TZM crane is used, which can be used to lift loads up to 300 kg in weight.

By the way, the Grad multiple launch rocket system also uses the same one.

Equipment of charging machine

The equipment of the loading machine itself includes a frame for transporting shells, a rammer, a crane and cargo carts. There is a separate platform for the operator to work, the capture of shells is carried out using a separate “claw”. All operations for sending shells, turning the crane and auxiliary mechanisms are performed automatically, but if necessary, they can be carried out manually.

The rammer itself is a special guide with a pusher mechanism that brings the projectile to the right place. Thanks to a simple and effective alignment mechanism, the operator is relieved of the need to manually dock the guide and rammer. All mechanics are powered by electric drives, the generators of which are completely autonomous, and therefore do not need to start the main engine of the machine for their work.

Projectiles used

It should be noted that it was not the design of the chassis that took the engineers the most time, but the creation of fundamentally new types of projectiles. It should be noted that the work on their design turned out to be extremely fruitful. Yes, up to 90%The accumulated information was successfully used in the development of the Smerch system.

As a result of numerous experiments, eight to nine basic types of projectiles were created. Currently, some of them are no longer used, as they have been replaced by new models. Many of them are classified.

The most common was the 9M27F projectile, equipped with a conventional high-explosive fragmentation warhead. It is universal, designed to destroy both enemy manpower and armored vehicles. The mass of the explosive is only 49 kg with the weight of the entire projectile of 180 kg.

About the same frequency, the Uragan reactive system uses 9M27K charges, equipped with a cluster warhead, “stuffed” with striking elements. They are extremely effective against enemy infantry and light vehicles.

The projectile itself weighs about 271 kg, contains 30 main elements. Each of them contains 350 submunitions with explosives. Even at a distance of 100 meters from the epicenter of the explosion, a shell fragment easily pierces 2 mm of high-quality homogeneous steel.

The 9M27K1 model is very similar to this charge, also using a cassette part with many damaging elements. The only difference is that the separable elements (also about 30 pieces) additionally jump when they hit the ground, increasing the area of destruction dozens of times. In particular, the Tornado multiple launch rocket system, aka Smerch, is equipped with the same ones.

The highlight of the complex and real pridedesigners is the projectile 9M27K2, designed for remote installation of anti-tank minefields. It uses standard PTM-1 anti-tank mines. There are 24 mines in one shell. They are designed to quickly set up barriers when attacking enemy tanks. A distinctive feature of the mines is that after 3, 4 hours they self-destruct, which makes it possible to attack their own tank units.

9M27K3 was developed for approximately the same purpose. The difference is that it uses PFM-1S mines designed to destroy enemy manpower. One projectile contains 312 anti-personnel mines. A volley of one car covers 60 hectares. I must say that this is a very formidable weapon. "Hurricane" has earned a lot of excellent reviews in Afghanistan for the ability to remotely install full-fledged minefields right in front of the nose of the enemy.

Specially for the demolition of enemy fortified defensive points, the 9M51 projectile was created. The head part is equipped with a liquid explosive designed for a thermobaric explosion. The disadvantage of this model is that the maximum firing range does not exceed 13 km.

The 9M27C projectile is incendiary. It is specially designed for the mass destruction of not only enemy manpower, but also valuable materiel (vehicles in hangars, warehouses with equipment).

As you can see, multiple launch rocket systems (an overview of one of them is presented in the article) can be used not only to cover dug-in infantry or equipment on the march, but also to solve more subtle andlong-term tasks.

Modern prospects and modernization of complexes

As we have repeatedly noted, the complex itself is constantly being upgraded, new types of projectiles are being developed. Today, the Uragan multiple launch rocket system is in service even with the Yemeni army, not to mention the entire former CIS. The Ministry of Defense annually concludes contracts for the supply and maintenance of these systems around the world, so there is no need to speak about the lack of popularity.

At one time, the Ukrainians transferred the MLRS to the chassis of the KrAZ-6322 car.

Combat use

With the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan, the considered MLRS just showed itself perfectly in combat conditions. In addition, it was repeatedly used by the Syrian military back in the 1980s in numerous conflicts with Israel. This system was repeatedly used by our Armed Forces against illegal armed groups of militants on the territory of the Chechen Republic.

According to the military themselves, this type of multiple launch rocket system was last used effectively during the infamous Georgian events of 2008.

What are the prospects?

Many experts say that the Uragan MLRS is somewhat outdated by now. The reason for this statement is the fact that the maximum range of destruction of the enemy is relatively small - only 35 km. The same "Smerch" gives already 80-90 kilometers.

But an important note should be made here. The thing isthat the purpose of these complexes is still different. Do not confuse 200mm shells with their 300mm counterparts. The latter (for "Smerch") are not only larger, but also much heavier. Their length is a meter or two longer than that of the "Hurricane". Accordingly, much more time is required for reloading and combat deployment of the complex.

But Hurricanes are an excellent alternative to traditional long-range artillery. Even self-propelled howitzers (like the Msta-S) shoot no further than 13-30 km, and the effect of their shells is much weaker. MLRS also allows you to deploy a truly deadly system in an extremely short time.

One battery (six vehicles) is capable of destroying several tank companies at once or even "seeding" hundreds of hectares with anti-tank or anti-personnel mines.

It would also not be an exaggeration to say that the maintenance of longer-range variants of the MLRS is more costly from an economic point of view, and the training of their operators takes more time.

Being upgraded, Uragan multiple launch rocket systems not only acquire new aiming and targeting systems, but can also effectively interact with UAVs. Currently, the armament of the Russian army includes more and more unmanned aerial vehicles, so this possibility is definitely not superfluous.

In a word, these systems still have a lot of prospects.