BM-21 Grad

NOTE: This article is about the BM-21 Grad in ArmA 2. For Warsaw Pact BM-21s in ArmA 3's Global Mobilization - Cold War Germany Creator DLC, see BM-21 (Global Mobilization).

Grad
Faction	CDF Russian Armed Forces ChDKZ Takistani Army
Type	Self-Propelled Rocket Artillery
Seats	3 seats: 1× Driver 1× Gunner 1× Passenger
Item capacity	Max: 10× Weapons 50× Magazines 8× Backpacks
Top speed	Normal: 66 km/h Turbo: 75 km/h Reverse: 16 km/h
Fuel capacity	100 fuel units
Primary armament	Main: 1× 122 mm GRAD Rocket Pod
Secondary armament	None
Variants	None
Games

The BM-21 Grad is a wheeled self-propelled multiple rocket launcher vehicle vehicle used by several BLUFOR and REDFOR factions in ArmA 2.

Overview

• Role:
  • Indirect fire support

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The BM-21 Grad (in English: Hail) is a truck-based 122 mm multiple-launch rocket system made in Russia. It is used in over 50 countries and it is the most widely used rocket artillery system worldwide. It is equipped with 40 launch tubes, firing 2.87 m rockets. The effective range is about 30 km. Armoury Description

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Design

Mounted onto a modified Ural truck as its base, the BM-21 is a multiple launch rocket system that first entered service with the Soviet military in 1963.

Armament
It is armed with a 122 mm rocket artillery pod that is fixed onto the rear trailer which has 40 high-explosive (HE) rockets housed in it. The gunner uses a panoramic telescope to aim that is connected to an artillery computer, and can provide fairly accurate fire support out to a maximum distance of 20 km.

A battery of CDF-operated BM-21s carry out a fire mission.

Features
Thanks to its combination of a large payload and ability to provide wide area coverage, the BM-21 is well-suited for use against troops or light vehicles in the open. It can also be used to saturate heavily built-up cities or towns with powerful high explosives, easily reducing most structures into rubble.

Since it uses a wheeled truck as a base instead of relying on tracks like the M270, the BM-21 has decent mobility and can hide within dense foliage, pop out to fire off a salvo or two, then quickly relocate elsewhere to launch another barrage.

Drawbacks
The most obvious vulnerability to the BM-21 is its cabin which is completely unprotected and leaves its crew vulnerable to small arms fire unlike the M270 MLRS or even the RM-70. It also cannot defend itself from enemies that get too close since the rocket pod is unable to depress low enough to fire directly at enemies (while technically possible to do so, it is a waste of munitions regardless and is highly inaccurate).

Firepower-wise, the BM-21 carries a total of 28 more rockets than its American counterpart, which means that a single BM-21 can remain operational for longer periods of time before needing a resupply. However, a consequence of using more plentiful but smaller-sized rockets is that each rocket's warhead has slightly reduced destructive power.

Crew Capacity
The BM-21 has a maximum crew capacity of two that fits both the driver and the gunner. A third, optional seat is also available to carry an extra passenger. All three riders sit side-by-side in the truck's cab.

Camouflage

• Woodland
• Insurgent
• Desert
• RU Woodland

1/4

• Woodland: Olive green paint scheme with dark brown camouflage blobs. Only used on CDF-operated BM-21s.
• Insurgent: Olive green paint scheme with spraypainted stroke patterns. Used by ChDKZ-operated BM-21s.
• Desert: Standard two-tone desert tan/olive green camouflage scheme. Used on BM-21s operated by the Takistani Army.
• RU Woodland: Olive green paint scheme with black/tan camouflage blobs. Exclusively used on Russian military BM-21s.

Protection

The BM-21 has a base armour value of 32.

Successful strikes to any of the following highlighted sections will inflict full damage to the component:

LEGEND
Green = Body
Orange = Engine
Violet = Fuel tank

Body

The vehicle's hull can take up to 32 points of damage before its integrity fails.

Engine

The engine can only take up to 12.8 points of damage before it suffers from failure. Only 20% of damage will be transferred onto the BM-21's main "health" pool. A damaged engine will prevent the BM-21 from attaining its top speed.

Fuel tank

The fuel tank can only withstand a maximum of 9.6 points of damage before it ruptures. 50% of damage is always shared with the BM-21's main "health" pool. A damaged fuel tank will cause the BM-21 to gradually leak fuel over time.

Wheels

Each wheel can only take 4.8 points of damage before their tyres burst.

Turret

The rocket pod can withstand only 25.6 points of damage. Only 30% of damage is shared with the BM-21's "health" pool. Disabling this component will prevent the gunner from being able to adjust the pod's elevation and traverse.

Armament

The gunner controls the 122 mm GRAD rocket launcher pod:

122 mm GRAD

Base damage value	Damage type	Initial velocity (m/s)
340	High-Explosive	445

Multiple rocket launcher. Fires unguided 122 mm rockets with high-explosive (HE) warheads.

Rockets are always fired with an initial launch velocity of 445 m/s and can reach a top in-flight speed of 700 m/s. Without a firing solution selected, the gunner can launch one rocket every 0.8 seconds, averaging 75 rockets per minute assuming a truck is constantly resupplying it. The warheads have a blast radius of 30 metres.

Capabilities

The BM-21 does not have selectable range modes and can only toggle between two fire modes:

• Semi: 3,583 to 20,193 metres (ETA 90-65 seconds)
• Burst: 3,583 to 20,193 metres (ETA 90-65 seconds)

The Semi fire mode fires only one rocket per volley. The Burst fire mode launches five rockets per barrage. Assuming the BM-21 is using its default Semi fire mode, it is capable of launching all 40 of its rockets in less than 32 seconds.

Trivia

• The Grad is the only multi-faction rocket artillery vehicle in ArmA 2, as both the Czech RM-70 and American M270 MLRS are exclusive to their respective faction(s).
• Before the release of Patch 1.07 for ArmA 2 (pre-Operation Arrowhead), mounting positions for the crew were located in awkward locations on the vehicle's model. For instance, the driver would have to stand very close to their side of the vehicle in order to get in, while the passenger and gunner would have to look towards the centre of the cab (as opposed to the door).
• Prior to the latest Steam version patches, the Grad's rockets would appear to be invisible from afar until they were about to hit their target. This was changed by CorePatch so that rockets are now more visible from a longer distance even if the player's view distance was set to a very low setting.
  • The Community Configuration Project also removed the Grad's ability to lock onto enemy vehicles (it should be noted that the rockets themselves were not guided even with a lock-on achieved).

Gallery

External links

• Wikipedia: BM-21 Grad

See also

Vehicles of comparable role and configuration

• M270 MLRS (USMC/U.S. Army counterpart)
• RM-70 (ACR counterpart, ArmA 2: ACR)
• Zamak MRL (AAF/LDF counterpart, ArmA 3: Tanks only)

CDF - Vehicles (ArmA 2)
Wheeled	BRDM-2 • BM-21 Grad • Motorcycle • UAZ-469 • Ural
Tracked	BMP-2 • T-72 • ZSU-23-4
Rotor-wing	Mi-17 (Mi-17-IVA) • Mi-24D
Fixed-wing	Pchela-1T • Su-25
(Parenthesis) denote variants.

ChDKZ - Vehicles (ArmA 2)
Wheeled	BM-21 Grad • BRDM-2 • Motorcycle • Offroad • Pickup • UAZ-469 • Ural
Tracked	BMP-2 • T-72 • ZSU-23-4
Rotor-wing	Mi-8MT
Fixed-wing	Su-25
(Parenthesis) denote variants.