BM-21 Grad: A LEGO® creation by Nathan Elkins : MOCpages.com

BM-21 Grad

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The BM-21 launch vehicle is a Soviet truck-mounted 122 mm multiple rocket launcher

About this creation

The BM-21 launch vehicle was developed in the early 1960s. BM stands for boyevaya mashina, ‘combat vehicle’, and the nickname grad means ‘hail’. The complete system with the BM-21 launch vehicle and the M-21OF rocket has been designated as the M-21 Field Rocket System. It is known to NATO as M1964.

The BM-21 system entered service with the Soviet Army in 1963 to replace the aging 140 mm BM-14 system. The launch vehicle consists of a Ural-375D six-by-six truck chassis fitted with a bank of 40 launch tubes arranged in a rectangular shape that can be turned away from the unprotected cab. The original vehicle together with supporting equipment is referred to by the GRAU index 9K51. In 1976, the BM-21 was mounted on the newer Ural-4320 six-by-six army truck.

The crew of five men can emplace the system and have it ready to fire in three minutes. The crew can fire the rockets from the cab or from a trigger at the end of a 64-meter cable. All 40 rockets can be away in as little as 20 seconds, but can also be fired individually or in small groups in several-second intervals. A panoramic telescope can be used for sighting. The BM-21 can be packed up and ready to move in two minutes. Reloading must be done manually and takes about 10 minutes.

Each 2.8-meter rocket is slowly spun by rifling in its tube as it exits, which along with its primary fin stabilization keeps it on course. Rockets armed with high explosive/fragmentation, incendiary, or chemical warheads can be fired 20 kilometres. Newer high explosive and cargo (used to deliver anti-personnel or antitank mines) rockets have a range of 30 kilometres.

Specs:
Weight - 13.71 tons
Length - 7.35 m
Barrel length - 3 m
Width - 2.4 m
Height - 3.1 m
Crew - 4
Barrels - 40
Rate of fire - 2 rounds/s
Muzzle velocity - 690 m/s
Maximum range - 20 km
Engine - V-8 gasoline ZiL-375 w/180 hp
Range - 405 km
Speed - 75 km/h

Building instructions

Download building instructions (LEGO Digital Designer)

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