Katyusha
BM-13 launcher based on a ZiS-6 truck, Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Kiev, Ukraine
Type	Multiple rocket launcher
Place of origin	The Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1939–
Used by	The Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, and others
Wars	Second World War
Production history
Variants	BM-13, BM-8, BM-31, BM-14, BM-21, BM-24, BM-25, BM-27, BM-30

Katyusha multiple rocket launchers are a type of rocket artillery built and fielded by the Soviet Union beginning in the Second World War. Compared to other types of artillery, multiple rocket launchers are able to deliver a devastating amount of explosives to an area target in a short period of time, although with relatively low accuracy, and then take a relatively long period of time to reload. They are relatively fragile but inexpensive and easy to produce. Katyushas of World War Two, the first self-propelled artillery mass-produced by the Soviet Union (and by any nation for that matter), were usually mounted on trucks. This mobility gives Katyushas (and other self-propelled artillery) another advantage: they are able to deliver a blow and then move before the other side is able to attack their position with counter-battery fire. Image File history File links Katyusha_launcher_rear. ... BM-13 Katyusha RM-70 of the Polish Army A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system, in use since the Second World War. ... BM-14 battery. ... BM-21 battery. ... The 9P140 Uragan (hurricane), known as the BM-27 began its service with the Soviet army in the late 1970s as its first modern spin and fin stabilized heavy multiple rocket launcher. ... The BM-30 Smerch (Tornado) or 9K58 is a Soviet/Russian MRLS. The system is designed to defeat manpower, armored and soft-skinned materiel in concentration areas, artillery batteries, command posts and ammunition depots. ... M270 MLRS. Rocket artillery is artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Artillery with Gabion fortification Cannons on display at Fort Point Continental Artillery crew from the American Revolution Firing of an 18-pound gun, Louis-Philippe Crepin, (1772 – 1851) A forge-welded Iron Cannon in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. ... BM-13 Katyusha RM-70 of the Polish Army A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system, in use since the Second World War. ... A U.S. M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer Self-propelled artillery (also called mobile artillery or locomotive artillery) vehicles are a way of giving mobility to artillery. ... A U.S. M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzer Self-propelled artillery (also called mobile artillery or locomotive artillery) vehicles are a way of giving mobility to artillery. ... The term counter-battery fire refers to the concept of detecting the source of artillery (shells or rockets) landing on friendly forces and firing back at them with artillery, suppressing or destroying them in order to protect the friendly forces and reduce enemy artillery strength. ...

Katyusha weapons of World War Two included the BM-13 launcher, light BM-8, and heavy BM-31. Today, the nickname is also applied to newer truck-mounted Soviet multiple rocket launchers—notably the very common BM-21—and their derivatives worldwide. BM-21 battery. ...

Red Army troops adopted the nickname from Mikhail Isakovsky's popular wartime song, "Katyusha", about a girl longing for her absent beloved, who is away performing military service (Zaloga 1984:153). Katyusha (Катюша) is the Russian equivalent of "Katie", an endearing diminutive form of the name Katherine: Yekaterina →Katya →Katyusha. German troops coined the sobriquet Stalin organ (German: Stalinorgel), after Soviet premier Joseph Stalin and also alluding to the sound of the weapon's rockets, as well as the look of the rocket battery resembling the pipes of an organ. The Workers and Peasants Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия, Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya; RKKA or usually simply the Red Army) were the armed forces first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and that in 1922 became the army of the Soviet Union. ... Lidiya Ruslanova performing Katyusha song for Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War. ... A diminutive is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Close-up view of 132-mm M-13 rockets, on the launcher pictured above

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x527, 147 KB) Summary Katyusha rockets on their launch rails, close-up view. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x527, 147 KB) Summary Katyusha rockets on their launch rails, close-up view. ...

Katyushas of World War Two

BM-13N Katyusha on a Lend-Lease Studebaker US6 truck

Reloading a BM-13

Katyusha rocket launchers were mounted on many platforms during World War II, including on trucks, artillery tractors, tanks, and armoured trains, as well as on naval and riverine vessels as assault support weapons. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3008x2000, 2567 KB) Beschreibung Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Katyusha Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (3008x2000, 2567 KB) Beschreibung Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Katyusha Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... The Lend-Lease program was a program of the United States during World War II that allowed the United States to provide the Allied Powers with war material without becoming directly involved in the war. ... Studebakers Lazy S logo, designed by Raymond Loewy, was used from the 1950s until 1966 The worlds largest living sign was planted at the Studebaker Proving Grounds, west of South Bend, Indiana. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x1274, 404 KB) Opis BM-13 Author: St. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x1274, 404 KB) Opis BM-13 Author: St. ... The driver of this DAF tractor with an auto-transport semi-trailer truck prepares to offload Å koda Octavia cars in Cardiff, Wales A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle for transporting goods. ... Komsomolets tractor Artillery tractor is a kind of tractor, a vehicle used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights. ... An armoured train is a train protected with armour. ...

The design was relatively simple, consisting of racks of parallel rails on which rockets were mounted, with a folding frame to raise the rails to launch position. Each truck had between 14 and 48 launchers. The 132-mm diameter M-13 rocket of the BM-13 system was 180 centimetres (5.9 ft) long, 13.2 centimetres (5.2 inches) in diameter and weighed 42 kilograms (92 lb). It was propelled by a solid nitrocellulose-based propellant of tubular shape, arranged in a steel-case rocket engine with a single central nozzle at the bottom end. The rocket was stabilised by cruciform fins of pressed sheet steel. The warhead, either fragmentation, high-explosive or shaped-charge, weighed around 22 kg (48 lb). The range of the rockets was about 5.4 kilometres (3.4 mi). Later, 82-mm diameter M-8 and 300-mm diameter M-30 rockets were also developed. A Soyuz rocket, at Baikanur launch pad. ... A centimetre (American spelling centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of length that is equal to one hundredth of a metre, the current SI base unit of length. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial unit of length. ... The U.S. National Prototype Kilogram, which currently serves as the primary standard for measuring mass in the U.S. It was assigned to the United States in 1889 and is periodically recertified and traceable to the primary international standard, The Kilogram, held at the Bureau International des Poids et... The pound (abbreviations: lb or, sometimes in the United States, #) is a unit of mass in a number of different systems, including various systems of units of mass that formed part of English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... Nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose Nitrocellulose (also: cellulose nitrate, flash paper) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through, for example, exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. ... A sectioned Shrapnel shell displayed at the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa For other uses, see Shrapnel (disambiguation). ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Sectioned HEAT round with the inner shaped charge visible A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosives energy. ... km redirects here. ... A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, United States customary units and Swedish/Norwegian mil. ...

The weapon was less accurate than conventional artillery guns, but was extremely effective in saturation bombardment, and was feared by German soldiers. A ripple-fired seven to ten-second BM-13 salvo delivered 4.35 tons of high explosive rockets over a four-hectare (10 acres) impact zone (Zaloga 1984:154). Katyusha batteries were often massed in very large numbers to create a shock effect on enemy forces. Its disadvantage was the long time it took to reload a launcher, while conventional guns could maintain a sustained rate of fire. A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Post-traumatic stress disorder. ...

Development

The development of the Katyusha multiple rocket launcher was a response to Nazi Germany's development of the six-barreled Nebelwerfer rocket mortar in 1936. In June 1938, the Soviet Jet Propulsion Research Institute (RNII) was authorized by the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU) to develop a multiple rocket launcher for the RS-132 aircraft rocket (RS for raketny snaryad, 'rocket shell'). I. Gvay led a design team in Chelyabinsk, Russia, which built several prototypes firing the modified 132mm M-132 rockets over the sides of ZiS-5 trucks. These proved unstable, and V.N. Galkovskiy proposed mounting the launch rails longitudinally. In August 1939, the result was the BM-13 (BM stands for Boyevaya Mashina, 'combat vehicle' for M-13 rockets). Testing with various rockets was conducted through 1940, and the BM-13-16 with launch rails for sixteen rockets was authorized for production. Only forty launchers were built when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 (Zaloga 1984:150-53). Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The Nebelwerfer (or smoke shell mortar) was a German towed artillery piece, developed during the 1930s for World War II. It had six 150mm barrels, from which it fired rockets over a period of ten seconds. ... This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers, and should be edited to rectify this. ... RS-82 and RS-132 (Reaktivnyi Snaryad; Russian: Реактивный Снаряд; rocket-powered cannon shell) were unguided rockets used by Soviet military aircraft in World War II. // Development Design work on RS-82 and RS-132 rockets began in the early 1930s. ... Chelyabinsk Theatre. ... A Soyuz rocket, at Baikanur launch pad. ... Combatants Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler General (later MareÅŸal) Ion Antonescu Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Joseph Stalin Strength ~ 3. ...

Katyusha at Saratov, Russia

After their success in the first month of the war, mass production was ordered and the development of other models proceeded. The Katyushas were very inexpensive and could be manufactured in light industrial installations which didn't have the heavy equipment to build conventional artillery gun barrels (Zaloga 1984:154). By the end of 1942, 3,237 Katyusha launchers of all types had been built, and by the end of the war total production reached about 10,000 (Zaloga 1984:154-55). Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1400x931, 200 KB) http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1400x931, 200 KB) http://www. ... Saratov (Russian: ) is a major city in southern European Russia. ...

The truck-mounted Katyushas were installed on ZiS-6 6×4 trucks, as well as the two-axle ZiS-5 and ZiS-5V. In 1941, a small number of BM-13 launchers were mounted on STZ-5 artillery tractors. A few were also tried on KV tank chassis as the KV-1K, but this was a needless waste of heavy armour. Starting in 1942, they were also mounted on various British, Canadian and U.S. Lend-Lease trucks, in which case they were sometimes referred to as BM-13S. The cross-country performance of the Studebaker US6 2-1/2 ton truck was so good that it became the GAU's standard mounting in 1943, designated BM-13N (Normalizovanniy, 'standardized'), and more than 1,800 of this model were manufactured by the end of World War II (Zaloga 1984:153–54). After World War II, BM-13s were based on Soviet-built ZiL-151 trucks. ZIS-6 platformed with BM-13 Katyusha battery front ZIS-6 platformed with BM-13 Katyusha battery rear The ZIS-6 6x4 Soviet general purpose army cargo truck. ... Komsomolets tractor Artillery tractor is a kind of tractor, a vehicle used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights. ... The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks were a series of Soviet heavy tanks, named after the Soviet military commander and politician Kliment Voroshilov. ... The Lend-Lease program was a program of the United States during World War II that allowed the United States to provide the Allied Powers with war material without becoming directly involved in the war. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Off-roading. ... The Studebaker US6 is a class of trucks manufactured by Studebaker during World War II, produced in the United States from 1941-1945 and in the Soviet Union beginning in 1942. ... ZiS-151-base with P-3 radio-location station ZiL-151-based BM-13, Katyusha multiple rocket launcher The ZiS-151 (Russian: ) is a general-purpose truck, produced by the Soviet Union in 1947–65, at Automotive Factory No. ...

The 82mm BM-8 was approved in August, 1941, and deployed as the BM-8-36 on truck beds and BM-8-24 on T-40 and T-60 light tank chassis. Later these were also installed on GAZ-67 jeeps as the BM-8-8, and on the larger Studebaker trucks as the BM-8-48 (Zaloga 1984:154). The T-40 was a light tank used by the Soviet Union during World War II. Because it was not the best tank available to the Soviets (that crown belonged to the T-34), very little in the way of T-40s were seen on the battlefields. ... The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. ...

Based on the M-13, the M-30 rocket was developed in 1942. Its bulbous warhead required it to be fired from a frame, called the M-30-4, instead of a launch rail. In 1944 it became the basis for the BM-31-12 truck-mounted launcher (Zaloga 1984:154).

Combat history

BM-13 battery fire, during the Battle of Berlin, April 1945, with metal blast covers pulled over the windshields

The multiple rocket launchers were considered top secret at the beginning of the war. They were called by various code names such as "Kostikov Guns", and finally designated Guards Mortars. A special unit of the notorious NKVD was raised to operate them (Zaloga 1984:154). On July 7, 1941, an experimental artillery battery of seven launchers was first used in battle at Orsha in Belarus, under the command of Captain Ivan Flyorov, destroying the station with several supply trains, and causing massive German Army casualties. Image File history File links Russian_artillery_fire_in_Berlin. ... Image File history File links Russian_artillery_fire_in_Berlin. ... Combatants Soviet Union Poland Germany Commanders Georgiy Zhukov Ivan Konev Konstantin Rokossovskiy Vasiliy Chuykov Adolf Hitler â€  Gotthard Heinrici Helmuth Reymann Ernst Kaether (one day) Helmuth Weidling # Karl Dönitz # Wilhelm Mohnke # Strength 2,500,000 soldiers, 6,250 tanks, 7,500 aircraft, 41,600 artillery pieces [1] 1,000,000... The NKVD (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del )(Russian: НКВД, Народный комиссариат внутренних дел) or Peoples Commisariat for Internal Affairs was a government department which handled a number of the Soviet Unions affairs of state. ... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... In military science, a battery is a unit of artillery guns or rockets, so grouped in order to facilitate battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion. ... Orsha (Belarusian: Во́рша; Russian: О́рша; Polish: Orsza) is a city in Belarus, an important railway node along the Minsk–Moscow line. ... Ivan Andreyevich Flyorov (Flerov, Russian: ), captain of the Red Army, was the commander of the first battery of 8 Katyushas (BM-8), which was formed in Lipetsk and on July 14, 1941 was used in a battle against the German army at Orsha in Belarus, with shock effect on the...

Following the success at Orsha, the Red Army immediately organized new Guards Mortar batteries for the support of infantry divisions. A battery's complement was standardized at four launchers. They remained under NKVD control until German Nebelwerfer rocket launchers became common (Zaloga 1984:154–55). Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, or other means. ...

On August 8, 1941, Stalin personally ordered the formation of eight Special Guards Mortar regiments under the direct control of the General Headquarters Reserve (STAVKA-VGK). Each regiment comprised three battalions of three batteries, totalling 36 BM-13 or BM-8 launchers. Independent Guards Mortar battalions were also formed, comprising 36 launchers in three batteries of twelve. By the end of 1941, there were eight regiments, 35 independent battalions, and two independent batteries in service, holding a total of 554 launchers (Zaloga 1984:155). August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... Guards (Russian: гвардия) or Guards units (Russian: гвардейские части) were and are elite military units in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and Russian Federation. ... A regiment is a military unit, consisting of a variable number of battalions - - commanded by a colonel. ... Stavka (Ставка) was the General Headquarters of armed forces in late Imperial Russia and in the Soviet Union. ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO military graphic symbols A battalion is a military unit usually consisting of between two and six companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. ...

In June 1942 Heavy Guards Mortar battalions were formed around the new M-30 static rocket launch frames, consisting of 96 launchers in three batteries. In July, a battalion of BM-13s was added to the establishment of a tank corps (Zaloga 1984:147). In 1944, the BM-31 was used in Motorized Heavy Guards Mortar battalions of 48 launchers. In 1943, Guards Mortar brigades, and later divisions, were formed equipped with static launchers (Zaloga 1984:155).

By the end of 1942, 57 regiments were in service—together with the smaller independent battalions, this was the equivalent of 216 batteries: 21% BM-8 light launchers, 56% BM-13, and 23% M-30 heavy launchers. By the end of the war, the equivalent of 518 batteries were in service (Zaloga 1984:155).

Katyushas since World War II

Russian forces use BM-27 rocket launchers during the Second Chechen War

An apartment building in Haifa, Israel after a Katyusha rocket attack during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

The success and economy of multiple rocket launchers (MRL) have led them to continue to be developed. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union fielded several models of Katyushas, notably the BM-21 launchers fitting the stereotypical Katyusha mould, and the larger BM-27. Advances in artillery munitions have been applied to some Katyusha-type multiple launch rocket systems, including bomblet submunitions, remotely-deployed land mines, and chemical warheads. Image File history File links Katyusha-chechen-war. ... Image File history File links Katyusha-chechen-war. ... The 9P140 Uragan (hurricane), known as the BM-27 began its service with the Soviet army in the late 1970s as its first modern spin and fin stabilized heavy multiple rocket launcher. ... Combatants Russian Federation Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Strength At least 93,000 in 1999 10,000 to 20,000 in 1999 (mostly militias) Casualties Unknown, at least 4,600 killed by October 2002[1] Hundreds of civilians. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Haifa_apartment_building_after_attack_July_17_2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Haifa_apartment_building_after_attack_July_17_2006. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Combatants Hezbollah Amal LCP  Israel Commanders Hassan Nasrallah (Secretary General of Hezbollah) Imad Mughniyeh (Commander of Hezbollahs armed wing) [5] Dan Halutz (CoS) Moshe Kaplinsky[15] Udi Adam (Regional) Strength 600-1,000 active fighters 3,000-10,000 reservists[6] 30,000 ground troops (plus IAF & ISC) [16... BM-13 Katyusha RM-70 of the Polish Army A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system, in use since the Second World War. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... BM-21 battery. ... The 9P140 Uragan (hurricane), known as the BM-27 began its service with the Soviet army in the late 1970s as its first modern spin and fin stabilized heavy multiple rocket launcher. ... Honest John missile warhead cutaway, showing M139 Sarin bomblets (photo circa 1960) Cluster munitions are air-dropped or ground launched shells that eject multiple small submunitions (bomblets). ... Minefield redirects here. ... Chemical warfare is warfare (and associated military operations) using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy. ...

Katyushas were exported to Afghanistan, Angola, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, East Germany, Hungary, Iran, North Korea, Poland, Syria, and Vietnam. They were also built in Czechoslovakia, People's Republic of China, North Korea, and Iran. Israel captured BM-24 MRLs during the Six-Day War (1967), used them in two battalions during the Yom Kippur War (1973) and the 1982 Lebanon War, and later developed the MAR-240 launcher for the same rockets, based on a Sherman tank chassis. GDR redirects here. ... Combatants Israel Egypt Syria Jordan Iraq Commanders Yitzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan, Uzi Narkiss, Israel Tal, Mordechai Hod, Ariel Sharon Abdel Hakim Amer, Abdul Munim Riad, Zaid ibn Shaker, Hafez al-Assad Strength 264,000 (incl. ... Combatants Israel Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq Commanders Moshe Dayan, David Elazar, Ariel Sharon, Shmuel Gonen, Benjamin Peled, Israel Tal, Rehavam Zeevi, Aharon Yariv, Yitzhak Hofi, Rafael Eitan, Abraham Adan, Yanush Ben Gal Saad El Shazly, Ahmad Ismail Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Mohammed Aly Fahmy, Anwar Sadat, Abdel Ghani el-Gammasy, Abdul... Combatants Israel Phalange South Lebanon Army Amal PLO Syria Commanders Menachem Begin (Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon, (Ministry of Defence) Rafael Eitan, (CoS) Yasser Arafat Strength 76,000 37,000 Casualties 670 9,800 The 1982 Lebanon War (Hebrew: , Milkhemet Levanon, Milkhemet Levanon, Arabic: ‎), called by Israel the Operation Peace of... The MAR-240 is a light artillery piece that was designed by the Israeli Defense Forces. ... General characteristics Length: 5. ...

With the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited most of its military arsenal including the Katyusha rockets. In recent history, they have been used by Russian forces during the First and Second Chechen Wars and by Armenian and Azerbaijani forces during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Katyushas have also been used outside Russia and the former Soviet republics. There were incidents reported that BM-21 launchers were used against American forces during 2003 invasion of Iraq. They have also been used in the Afghanistan and Iraqi insurgencies. Several types of multiple rocket launchers have been used by the Hezbollah Lebanese militia in the bombardment of Israeli towns, before and especially during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The Hezbollah rocket arsenal included BM-21-derived launchers and longer-ranged Fajr-3 rockets. This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Combatants Russian Federation Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Strength At least 93,000 in 1999 10,000 to 20,000 in 1999 (mostly militias) Casualties Unknown, at least 4,600 killed by October 2002[1] Hundreds of civilians. ... Combatants Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh1 Republic of Armenia 2 CIS mercenaries Republic of Azerbaijan Afghan Mujahideen 3 Chechen Volunteers 4 CIS mercenaries Commanders Samvel Babayan, Hemayag Haroyan, Monte Melkonian, Vazgen Sargsyan, Arkady Ter-Tatevosyan Ä°sgandar Hamidov, Suret Huseynov, Rahim Gaziev, Shamil Basayev Casualties 6,000 dead, 25,000 wounded 17... Combatants Coalition Forces: United States United Kingdom South Korea Australia Poland Romania others. ... For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ... Combatants Hezbollah Amal LCP  Israel Commanders Hassan Nasrallah (Secretary General of Hezbollah) Imad Mughniyeh (Commander of Hezbollahs armed wing) [5] Dan Halutz (CoS) Moshe Kaplinsky[15] Udi Adam (Regional) Strength 600-1,000 active fighters 3,000-10,000 reservists[6] 30,000 ground troops (plus IAF & ISC) [16... Israeli photo of Hezbollah rocket battery Hezbollahs rocket force possesses about 13,000 rockets and is Hezbollahs main attack weapon in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, having fired some 3,970 rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon, killing at least 42 civilians and 12 soldiers (as of August... BM-21 battery. ... // Fajr-3 MIRV On April 3rd of 2006, Iran formally announced the successful test of its first stealth medium-range tactical ballistic missile, Fajr-3. ...

References

• Zaloga, Steven J.; James Grandsen (1984). Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two. London: Arms and Armour Press, pp 150–54. ISBN 0-85368-606-8. 

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Katyusha

• Panzerwerfer, a German rocket launcher mounted on a half-track
• Wurfrahmen 40, another German rocket launcher mounted on a half-track
• Land Mattress, employed by Allied forces in World War II

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Panzerwerfer alias Maultier Panzerwerfer is the name for two different types of half-tracked multiple rocket launchers employed by Germany during the Second World War. ... The Wurfrahmen 40 was a German World War II artillery unit. ... Mattress was the term applied to ground-based allied Multiple rocket launchers during World War II. Compared with the German and Soviet forays into this area (the Nebelwerfer and Katyusha launchers resepectively) the allies developed and deployed these weapons relatively late in the war. ...

External links

• Rocket Launchers ("Katyushas"), photos of various mounts
• Creation and Development of Rocket Artillery in the First Phase of the War, translation of a 1976 article published by the USSR Defence Ministry
• Photo of a Cuban BM-21 in Angolahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m2_s-13d8w
• [1] Short video of a Katyusha salvo with its distinctive sound.