Katyusha weapon characteristics. Katyusha - a unique combat vehicle of the USSR

Among legendary weapons, which became symbols of our country’s victory in the Great Patriotic War, special place occupied by guards rocket mortars, popularly nicknamed “Katyusha”. Characteristic truck silhouette from the 40s with...

Among the legendary weapons that became symbols of our country’s victory in the Great Patriotic War, a special place is occupied by guards rocket mortars, popularly nicknamed “Katyusha”. The characteristic silhouette of a truck from the 40s with an inclined structure instead of a body is also a symbol of perseverance, heroism and courage Soviet soldiers, like, say, a T-34 tank, an Il-2 attack aircraft or a ZiS-3 cannon.

And here’s what’s especially noteworthy: all these legendary, glorious weapons were designed very shortly or literally on the eve of the war! The T-34 was put into service at the end of December 1939, the first production IL-2s rolled off the assembly line in February 1941, and the ZiS-3 gun was first presented to the leadership of the USSR and the army a month after the start of hostilities, on July 22, 1941. But the most amazing coincidence happened in the fate of Katyusha. Its demonstration to the party and military authorities took place half a day before the German attack - June 21, 1941...

Salvos of Katyushas. 1942 Photo: TASS Photo Chronicle

From heaven to earth

In fact, work on the creation of the world's first multiple launch rocket system on a self-propelled chassis began in the USSR in the mid-1930s. An employee of the Tula NPO Splav, which produces modern Russian MLRS, Sergei Gurov, managed to find in the archives agreement No. 251618с dated January 26, 1935 between the Leningrad Jet Research Institute and the Automotive and Armored Directorate of the Red Army, in which appears prototype rocket launcher on a BT-5 tank with ten missiles.

A volley of guards mortars. Photo: Anatoly Egorov / RIA Novosti

There is nothing to be surprised here, because Soviet rocket scientists created the first combat rockets even earlier: official tests took place in the late 20s - early 30s. In 1937, the RS-82 missile of 82 mm caliber was adopted for service, and a year later the RS-132 missile of 132 mm caliber was adopted, both in a version for underwing installation on aircraft. A year later, at the end of the summer of 1939, the RS-82s were used for the first time in a combat situation. During the battles at Khalkhin Gol, five I-16s used their “eres” in battle with Japanese fighters, quite surprising the enemy with their new weapons. And a little later, already during the Soviet-Finnish war, six twin-engine SB bombers, already armed with RS-132, attacked Finnish ground positions.

Naturally, impressive - and they really were impressive, although to a large extent due to the unexpectedness of the application new system weapons, and not their ultra-high efficiency - the results of the use of "eres" in aviation forced the Soviet party and military leadership rush the defense industry to create a ground-based version. Actually, the future “Katyusha” had every chance to catch the Winter War: basic design work and tests were carried out back in 1938–1939, but the military was not satisfied with the results - they needed a more reliable, mobile and easy-to-handle weapon.

IN general outline that after one and a half will be included in the year into soldiers' folklore on both sides of the front as "Katyusha", it was ready by the beginning of 1940. In any case, author’s certificate No. 3338 for a “rocket launcher for a sudden, powerful artillery and chemical attack on the enemy using rocket shells” was issued on February 19, 1940, and among the authors were employees of the RNII (since 1938, which bore the “numbered” name Research Institute-3) Andrey Kostikov, Ivan Gvai and Vasily Aborenkov.

This installation was already seriously different from the first samples that entered field testing at the end of 1938. Launcher for rockets was located along the longitudinal axis of the car, had 16 guides, each of which had two projectiles installed. And the shells themselves for this vehicle were different: aircraft RS-132s turned into longer and more powerful ground-based M-13s.

Actually, in this form fighting machine with rockets and went to review new models of weapons of the Red Army, which took place on June 15–17, 1941 at a training ground in Sofrino, near Moscow. Rocket artillery was left as a “snack”: two combat vehicles demonstrated firing on the last day, June 17, using high-explosive fragmentation rockets. The shooting was observed by People's Commissar of Defense Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, Chief of the General Staff Army General Georgy Zhukov, Head of the Main Artillery Directorate Marshal Grigory Kulik and his deputy General Nikolai Voronov, as well as People's Commissar of Armaments Dmitry Ustinov, People's Commissar of Ammunition Pyotr Goremykin and many other military personnel. One can only guess what emotions overwhelmed them as they looked at the wall of fire and the fountains of earth rising on the target field. But it is clear that the demonstration made a strong impression. Four days later, on June 21, 1941, just a few hours before the start of the war, documents were signed on the adoption and urgent deployment of mass production of M-13 missiles and a launcher, which received official name BM-13 - “combat vehicle - 13” (according to the missile index), although sometimes they appeared in documents with the index M-13. This day should be considered the birthday of “Katyusha”, who, it turns out, was born only half a day ago earlier than the start who glorified her as the Great Patriotic War.

First strike

The production of new weapons took place at two enterprises at once: the Voronezh plant named after the Comintern and the Moscow plant "Compressor", and the capital plant named after Vladimir Ilyich became the main enterprise for the production of M-13 shells. The first combat-ready unit - a special reactive battery under the command of Captain Ivan Flerov - went to the front on the night of July 1-2, 1941.

Commander of the first battery rocket artillery"Katyusha", captain Ivan Andreevich Flerov. Photo: RIA Novosti

But here's what's remarkable. The first documents on the formation of divisions and batteries armed with rocket mortars appeared even before the famous shootings near Moscow! For example, the General Staff directive on the formation of five divisions armed new technology, published a week before the start of the war - June 15, 1941. But reality, as always, made its own adjustments: in fact, the formation of the first units of field rocket artillery began on June 28, 1941. It was from this moment that, as determined by the directive of the commander of the Moscow Military District, three days were allotted for the formation of the first special battery under the command of Captain Flerov.

"Katyusha"- the popular name for rocket artillery combat vehicles BM-8 (with 82 mm shells), BM-13 (132 mm) and BM-31 (310 mm) during the Great Patriotic War. There are several versions of the origin of this name, the most likely of which is associated with the factory mark “K” of the manufacturer of the first BM-13 combat vehicles (Voronezh Comintern Plant), as well as with the popular song of the same name at that time (music by Matvey Blanter, lyrics by Mikhail Isakovsky).
(Military encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing House. Moscow. in 8 volumes - 2004 ISBN 5 - 203 01875 - 8)

The fate of the first separate experimental battery was cut short at the beginning of October 1941. After a baptism of fire near Orsha, the battery successfully operated in battles near Rudnya, Smolensk, Yelnya, Roslavl and Spas-Demensk. Over the course of three months of hostilities, Flerov’s battery not only inflicted considerable material damage on the Germans, it also contributed to raising the morale of our soldiers and officers, exhausted by continuous retreats.

The Nazis staged a real hunt for new weapons. But the battery did not stay long in one place - after firing a salvo, it immediately changed position. The tactical technique - salvo - change of position - was widely used by Katyusha units during the war.

At the beginning of October 1941, as part of a group of troops Western Front the battery ended up in the rear of the Nazi troops. While moving to the front line from the rear on the night of October 7, she was ambushed by the enemy near the village of Bogatyr, Smolensk region. Most of the battery personnel and Ivan Flerov were killed, having shot all the ammunition and blown up the combat vehicles. Only 46 soldiers managed to escape from the encirclement. The legendary battalion commander and the rest of the soldiers, who had fulfilled their duty to the end with honor, were considered “missing in action.” And only when it was possible to discover documents from one of the Wehrmacht army headquarters, which reported what actually happened on the night of October 6-7, 1941 near the Smolensk village of Bogatyr, Captain Flerov was excluded from the lists of missing persons.

For heroism, Ivan Flerov was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, in 1963, and in 1995 he was awarded the title of Hero Russian Federation posthumously.

In honor of the battery’s feat, a monument was built in the city of Orsha and an obelisk near the city of Rudnya.

Rocket artillery combat vehicles BM-8, BM-13 and BM-31, better known as “Katyushas”, are one of the most successful developments of Soviet engineers during the Great Patriotic War.
The first rockets in the USSR were developed by designers Vladimir Artemyev and Nikolai Tikhomirov, employees of the gas dynamics laboratory. Work on the project, which involved the use of smokeless gelatin powder, began in 1921.
From 1929 to 1939, tests were carried out on the first prototypes of various calibers, which were launched from single-charge ground and multi-charge air installations. The tests were supervised by the pioneers of Soviet rocket technology - B. Petropavlovsky, E. Petrov, G. Langemak, I. Kleimenov.

The final stages of projectile design and development were carried out at the Jet Research Institute. The group of specialists, which included T. Kleimenov, V. Artemyev, L. Shvarts and Yu. Pobedonostsev, was headed by G. Langemak. In 1938, these shells were put into service by the Soviet Air Force.

I-15, I-153, I-16 fighters and Il-2 attack aircraft were equipped with unguided rockets of the RS-82 model of 82 mm caliber. The SB bombers and later modifications of the Il-2 were equipped with RS-132 shells of 132 mm caliber. For the first time, the new weapons installed on the I-153 and I-16 were used during the Khalkhin-Gol conflict of 1939.

In 1938-1941, the Jet Research Institute was developing a multi-charge launcher on a truck chassis. Tests were carried out in the spring of 1941. Their results were more than successful, and in June, on the eve of the war, an order was signed to launch a series of BM-13 combat vehicles equipped with launchers for high-explosive fragmentation shells M-13 132 mm caliber. On June 21, 1941, the gun was officially put into service with artillery troops.

Serial assembly of the BM-13 was carried out by the Voronezh plant named after the Comintern. The first two launchers, mounted on the ZIS-6 chassis, rolled off the assembly line on June 26, 1941. The quality of the assembly was immediately assessed by employees of the Main Artillery Directorate; Having received customer approval, the cars went to Moscow. Field tests were carried out there, after which, from two Voronezh samples and five BM-13s assembled at the Jet Research Institute, the first battery of rocket artillery was created, the command of which was taken by Captain Ivan Flerov.

The battery received its baptism of fire on July 14 in the Smolensk region, with the aim of missile strike The enemy-occupied city of Rudnya was chosen. A day later, on July 16, BM-13s fired at the Orsha railway junction and the crossing on the Orshitsa River.

By August 8, 1941, 8 regiments were equipped with rocket launchers, each of which had 36 combat vehicles.

In addition to the plant named after Comintern in Voronezh, the production of BM-13 was established at the capital's Kompressor enterprise. Missiles were produced at several factories, but their main manufacturer was the Ilyich plant in Moscow.

The original design of both projectiles and installations was repeatedly changed and modernized. The BM-13-SN version was produced, which was equipped with spiral guides, providing more accurate shooting, as well as modifications BM-31-12, BM-8-48 and many others. The most numerous was the BM-13N model of 1943; in total, about 1.8 thousand of these machines were assembled by the end of the Great Patriotic War.

In 1942, production of 310 mm M-31 shells was launched, for the launch of which ground-based systems were initially used. In the spring of 1944, the BM-31-12 self-propelled gun, which has 12 guides, was developed for these shells.

It was installed on truck chassis.

Between July 1941 and December 1944 total quantity The number of Katyushas produced amounted to more than 30 thousand units, and rockets of various calibers amounted to about 12 million. The first samples used a domestically produced chassis; about six hundred of these vehicles were produced, and all but a few of them were destroyed during the fighting. After the conclusion of the Lend-Lease agreement, the BM-13 was mounted on American Studebakers.


BM-13 on an American Studebaker
The BM-8 and BM-13 rocket launchers were mainly in service with the Guards mortar units, which were part of the artillery reserve of the armed forces. Therefore, the unofficial name “Guards mortars” was assigned to the Katyushas.

The glory of the legendary cars could not be shared by their talented developers. The struggle for leadership at the Jet Research Institute provoked a “war of denunciations”, as a result of which in the fall of 1937 the NKVD arrested the chief engineer of the research institute, G. Langemak, and the director, T. Kleimenov. Two months later, both were sentenced to death. The designers were rehabilitated only under Khrushchev. In the summer of 1991, President Soviet Union M. Gorbachev signed a decree conferring posthumous titles of Heroes of Socialist Labor on a number of scientists who participated in the development of Katyusha.

Origin of the name
Now it is difficult to say for sure who, when and why called the BM-13 rocket launcher “Katyusha”.

There are several main versions:
The first is the connection with the song of the same name, which was extremely popular in the pre-war period. During the first combat use"Katyusha" in July 1941 fired at the German garrison located in the city of Rudnya near Smolensk. The fire was direct fire from the top of a steep hill, so the version seems very convincing - the soldiers probably could have associated it with the song, because there is a line “to the high, to the steep bank.” And Andrei Sapronov, who, according to him, gave the nickname to the rocket mortar, is still alive and served as a signalman in the 20th Army. On July 14, 1941, exactly after the shelling of occupied Rudnya, Sergeant Sapronov, together with Red Army soldier Kashirin, arrived at the location of the battery. Amazed by the power of the BM-13, Kashirin enthusiastically exclaimed: “What a song!”, to which A. Sapronov calmly replied: “Katyusha!” Then, broadcasting information about the successful completion of the operation, the staff radio operator called the miracle installation “Katyusha” - from then on, such a formidable weapon acquired a gentle girl’s name.

Another version considers the origin of the name from the abbreviation “KAT” - supposedly the test site workers called the system “Kostikovskaya automatic thermal” (A. Kostikov was the project manager). However, the plausibility of such an assumption raises serious doubts, since the project was classified, and it is unlikely that the rangers and front-line soldiers could exchange any information with each other.

According to another version, the nickname comes from the “K” index, which marked the systems assembled at the Comintern plant. It was the custom of soldiers to give original titles weapons. Thus, the M-30 howitzer was affectionately called “Mother”, the ML-20 cannon received the nickname “Emelka”. By the way, BM-13 was first called very respectfully, by his first name and patronymic: “Raisa Sergeevna.” RS – rockets used in installations.

According to the fourth version, the first to call rocket launchers “Katyushas” were the girls who assembled them at the Compressor plant in Moscow.

The following version, although it may seem exotic, also has a right to exist. The shells were mounted on special guides called ramps. The weight of the projectile was 42 kilograms, and three people were required to install it on the ramp: two, harnessed into straps, dragged the ammunition onto the holder, and the third pushed it from behind, controlling the accuracy of fixing the projectile in the guides. So, some sources claim that it was this last fighter who was called “Katyusha”. The fact is that here, unlike armored units, there was no clear division of roles: any member of the crew could roll or hold shells.

At the initial stages, the installations were tested and operated in strict secrecy. Thus, when launching shells, the crew commander did not have the right to give the generally accepted commands “fire” and “fire”; they were replaced with “play” or “sing” (the launch was carried out by quickly rotating the handle of an electric coil). Needless to say, for any front-line soldier, the salvoes of Katyusha rockets were the most desirable song.
There is a version according to which at first “Katyusha” was the name given to a bomber equipped with rockets similar to BM-13 missiles. It was these munitions that transferred the nickname from the airplane to the jet mortar.
The fascists called the installations nothing less than “Stalin’s organ.” Indeed, the guides had a certain resemblance to pipes musical instrument, and the roar emitted by the shells during launch was somewhat reminiscent of the menacing sound of an organ.

During the victorious march of our army across Europe, systems that launched single M-30 and M-31 projectiles were widely used. The Germans called these installations “Russian Faustpatrons”, although they were used not only as a means of destroying armored vehicles. At a distance of up to 200 m, the projectile could penetrate a wall of almost any thickness, even bunker fortifications.

Device
BM-13 was distinguished by its comparative simplicity. The design of the installation included rail guides and a guidance system consisting of an artillery sight and a rotary-lifting device. Additional stability when launching missiles was provided by two jacks located at the rear of the chassis.

The rocket had the shape of a cylinder, divided into three compartments - the fuel and combat compartments and the nozzle. The number of guides varied depending on the modification of the installation - from 14 to 48. The length of the RS-132 projectile used in the BM-13 was 1.8 m, diameter - 13.2 cm, weight - 42.5 kg. The inside of the rocket under the fins was reinforced with solid nitrocellulose. The warhead weighed 22 kg, of which 4.9 kg was explosive (for comparison, an anti-tank grenade weighed about 1.5 kg).

The range of the missiles is 8.5 km. The BM-31 used M-31 shells of 310 mm caliber, having a mass of about 92.4 kg, almost a third of which (29 kg) was explosive. Range – 13 km. The salvo was carried out in a matter of seconds: the BM-13 fired all 16 missiles in less than 10 seconds, the same time was required to launch the BM-31-12 with 12 guides and the BM-8, equipped with 24-48 missiles.

Loading the ammunition took 5-10 minutes for the BM-13 and BM-8; the BM-31, due to the larger mass of the shells, took a little longer to load - 10-15 minutes. To launch, it was necessary to rotate the handle of the electric coil, which was connected to the batteries and contacts on the ramps - by turning the handle, the operator closed the contacts and activated the missile launch systems in turn.

The tactics of using Katyushas radically distinguished them from jet systems Nebelwerfer, which were in service with the enemy. If German development was used to deliver high-precision strikes, then Soviet vehicles had low accuracy, but covered large area. The explosive mass of Katyusha missiles was half that of Nebelwerfer shells, however, the damage inflicted on manpower and lightly armored vehicles was significantly greater than the German counterpart. The explosive detonated by firing fuses on opposite sides of the compartment; after the meeting of two detonation waves, the gas pressure at the point of their contact increased sharply, which gave the fragments additional acceleration and increased their temperature to 800 degrees.

The power of the explosion also increased due to the rupture of the fuel compartment, which was heated by the combustion of gunpowder - as a result, the effectiveness of fragmentation damage was twice that of artillery shells of the same caliber. At one time there were even rumors that the rockets of rocket launchers used a “thermite charge”, which was tested in 1942 in Leningrad. However, its use turned out to be inappropriate, since the igniting effect was already sufficient.

The simultaneous explosion of several shells created an interference effect of blast waves, which also contributed to an increase in the damaging effect.
The Katyusha crew numbered from 5 to 7 people and consisted of a crew commander, driver, gunner and several loaders.

Application
From the very beginning of its existence, rocket artillery was subordinate to the Supreme High Command.

RA units were staffed rifle divisions who are on the front line. The Katyushas had exceptional firepower, so their support in both offensive and defensive operations can hardly be overestimated. A special directive was issued setting out the requirements for the use of the machine. It specifically stated that Katyusha strikes should be sudden and massive.

During the war years, Katyushas more than once found themselves in the hands of the enemy. Thus, on the basis of the captured BM-8-24 captured near Leningrad, the German Raketen-Vielfachwerfer rocket system was developed.

During the defense of Moscow, a very difficult situation developed at the front, and the use of missile launchers was carried out on a subdivisional basis. However, in December 1941, due to a significant increase in the number of Katyushas (in each of the armies that held back the main attack of the enemy, there were up to 10 divisions of rocket-propelled mortars, which made it difficult to supply them and the effectiveness of maneuvering and striking), it was decided to create twenty guards mortar regiments.

The Guards Mortar Regiment of the Reserve Artillery of the Supreme High Command consisted of three divisions of three batteries each. The battery, in turn, consisted of four vehicles. The fire efficiency of such units was enormous - one division, consisting of 12 BM-13-16, could deliver a strike comparable in power to a salvo of 12 artillery regiments equipped with 48,152 mm howitzers or 18 artillery brigades equipped with 32 howitzers of the same caliber.

It is also worth taking into account the emotional impact: thanks to the almost simultaneous launch of shells, the ground in the target area literally reared up in a matter of seconds. A retaliatory strike from the rocket artillery units was easily avoided, as the mobile Katyushas quickly changed their location.

In July 1942, not far from the village of Nalyuchi, the brother of the Katyusha was first tested in combat conditions - rocket launcher"Andryusha" caliber 300 mm, equipped with 144 guides.

In the summer of 1942, the Mobile Mechanized Group of the Southern Front held back the onslaught of the enemy's first armored army south of Rostov for several days. The basis of this unit was a separate division and 3 rocket artillery regiments.

In August of the same year, military engineer A. Alferov developed a portable model of the system for M-8 shells. Front-line soldiers began to call the new product “Mountain Katyusha.” The 20th Mountain Rifle Division was the first to use this weapon; the installation proved itself excellent in the battles for the Goytsky Pass. At the end of the winter of 1943, a unit of “Mountain Katyushas”, consisting of two divisions, participated in the defense of the famous bridgehead on Malaya Zemlya near Novorossiysk. At the Sochi railway depot, rocket systems were mounted on railcars - these installations were used for defense coastline cities. 8 rocket mortars were installed on the minesweeper "Skumbria", which covered the landing operation on Malaya Zemlya.

In the fall of 1943, during the battles near Bryansk, thanks to the rapid transfer of combat vehicles from one flank of the front to the other, a sudden attack was carried out, breaking the enemy’s defenses over a 250 km long area. On that day, enemy fortifications were hit by more than 6 thousand Soviet missiles fired by the legendary Katyushas.

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Barrelless field rocket artillery system, which received affectionate treatment in the Red Army female name“Katyusha”, without exaggeration, became probably one of the most popular types of military equipment of the Second World War. In any case, neither our enemies nor our allies had anything like this.

Initially barrelless jets artillery systems in the Red Army they were not intended for ground battles. They literally descended from heaven to earth.

The 82 mm caliber rocket was adopted by the Red Army Air Force back in 1933. They were installed on fighters designed by Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-153. In 1939, they underwent baptism of fire during the fighting at Khalkhin Gol, where they performed well when shooting at groups of enemy aircraft.

In the same year, employees of the Jet Research Institute began work on a mobile ground launcher that could fire rockets at ground targets. At the same time, the caliber of the rockets was increased to 132 mm.
In March 1941, field tests of the new weapon system were successfully carried out, and the decision to mass produce combat vehicles with RS-132 rockets, called BM-13, was made the day before the start of the war - June 21, 1941.

How was it structured?

The BM-13 combat vehicle was a chassis of a three-axle ZIS-6 vehicle, on which a rotary truss with a package of guides and a guidance mechanism was installed. For aiming, a rotating and lifting mechanism and an artillery sight were provided. At the rear of the combat vehicle there were two jacks, which ensured its greater stability when firing.
The missiles were launched using a hand-held electric coil connected to a battery and contacts on the guides. When the handle was turned, the contacts closed in turn, and the starting squib was fired in the next projectile.
The explosive material in the warhead of the projectile was detonated from both sides (the length of the detonator was only slightly less than the length of the explosive cavity). And when two waves of detonation met, the gas pressure of the explosion at the meeting point increased sharply. As a result, the hull fragments had a significantly higher acceleration, heated up to 600-800 ° C and had a good ignition effect. In addition to the body, part of the rocket chamber also burst, which was heated from the gunpowder burning inside; this increased the fragmentation effect by 1.5-2 times compared to artillery shells of the same caliber. That is why the legend arose that Katyusha rockets were equipped with a “thermite charge.” The “thermite” charge was indeed tested in besieged Leningrad in 1942, but it turned out to be unnecessary - after the Katyusha salvo, everything around was burning. And the joint use of dozens of missiles at the same time also created interference of blast waves, which further enhanced the damaging effect.

Baptism of fire near Orsha

The first salvo of a battery of Soviet rocket launchers (as they began to call it for greater secrecy) new look military equipment) as part of seven combat installations BM-13 was produced in mid-July 1941. This happened near Orsha. An experienced battery under the command of Captain Flerov launched a fire strike at the Orsha railway station, where a concentration of enemy military equipment and manpower was noticed.
At 15:15 on July 14, 1941, enemy echelons were opened heavy fire. The entire station instantly turned into a huge cloud of fire. On the same day, in his diary, the head of the German General Staff General Halder wrote: “On July 14, near Orsha, the Russians used weapons unknown until that time. A fiery barrage of shells burned the Orsha railway station and all the trains with personnel and military equipment of the arriving military units. The metal was melting, the earth was burning.”

The morale effect of the use of rocket mortars was stunning. The enemy lost more than an infantry battalion and a huge amount of military equipment and weapons at the Orsha station. And Captain Flerov’s battery dealt another blow on the same day - this time at the enemy crossing over the Orshitsa River.
The Wehrmacht command, having studied the information received from eyewitnesses of the use of new Russian weapons, was forced to issue a special instruction to its troops, which stated: “ There are reports from the front that the Russians are using a new type of weapon that fires rockets. A large number of shots can be fired from one installation within 3-5 seconds. Any appearance of these weapons must be reported on the same day to the general commander of the chemical forces at the high command." A real hunt began for Captain Flerov's battery. In October 1941, she found herself in the Spas-Demensky “cauldron” and was ambushed. Of the 160 people, only 46 managed to reach their own. The battery commander himself died, having first made sure that all the combat vehicles were blown up and would not fall into enemy hands intact.

On land and sea...

In addition to the BM-13, in the SKB of the Voronezh plant. The Comintern, which produced these combat installations, developed new options for placing missiles. For example, taking into account the extremely low cross-country ability of the ZIS-6 vehicle, an option was developed for installing guides for missiles on the chassis of the STZ-5 NATI tracked tractor. In addition, an 82 mm caliber rocket has also found use. Guides were developed and manufactured for it, which were later installed on the chassis of the ZIS-6 vehicle (36 guides) and on the chassis of the T-40 and T-60 light tanks (24 guides).

A 16-charging installation for RS-132 shells and a 48-charging installation for RS-82 shells for armored trains were developed. In the fall of 1942, during the fighting in the Caucasus, for use in mountain conditions 8-charge mining pack launchers for RS-82 shells were manufactured.

Later they were installed on American Willys all-terrain vehicles, which came to the USSR under Lend-Lease.
Special launchers for 82 mm and 132 mm caliber rockets were manufactured for their subsequent installation on warships— torpedo boats and armored boats.

The launchers themselves received the popular nickname “Katyusha”, under which they entered the history of the Great Patriotic War. Why Katyusha? There are many versions on this matter. The most reliable - due to the fact that the first BM-13 had the letter “K” - as information that the product was produced at the plant named after. Comintern in Voronezh. By the way, the cruising boats of the Soviet Union received the same nickname. navy, which had the letter index “K”. In total, 36 launcher designs were developed and produced during the war.

And the Wehrmacht soldiers nicknamed the BM-13 “Stalin's organs.” Apparently, the roar of the rockets reminded the Germans of the sounds of a church organ. This “music” clearly made them feel uncomfortable.
And from the spring of 1942, guides with missiles began to be installed on British and American all-wheel drive chassis imported into the USSR under Lend-Lease. Still, the ZIS-6 turned out to be a vehicle with low cross-country ability and carrying capacity. The three-axle all-wheel drive American truck Studebakker US6 turned out to be most suitable for installing rocket launchers. Combat vehicles began to be produced on its chassis. At the same time, they received the name BM-13N (“normalized”).

During the entire Great Patriotic War, Soviet industry produced more than ten thousand rocket artillery combat vehicles.

Relatives of the Katyusha

For all their advantages, high-explosive fragmentation rockets RS-82 and RS-132 had one drawback - large dispersion and low efficiency when affecting enemy personnel located in field shelters and trenches. To correct this shortcoming, special 300 mm caliber rockets were manufactured.
They received the nickname “Andryusha” among the people. They were launched from a launching machine (“frame”) made of wood. The launch was carried out using a sapper blasting machine.
“Andryushas” were first used in Stalingrad. The new weapons were easy to manufacture, but installing them in position and aiming at the target required a lot of time. In addition, the short range of the M-30 rockets made them dangerous for their own crews.

Therefore, in 1943, the troops began to receive an improved missile, which, with the same power, had a greater firing range. The M-31 shell could hit manpower in an area of ​​2 thousand square meters or form a crater 2-2.5 m deep and 7-8 m in diameter. But the time to prepare a salvo with new shells was significant - one and a half to two hours.
Such shells were used in 1944-1945 during the assault on enemy fortifications and during street battles. One hit from an M-31 missile was enough to destroy an enemy bunker or a firing point located in a residential building.

Fire sword of the "god of war"

By May 1945, rocket artillery units had about three thousand combat vehicles of the most different types and many “frames” with M-31 shells. Not a single Soviet offensive since Battle of Stalingrad, did not begin without artillery preparation using Katyusha rockets. Salvos of combat installations became the “ fire sword", with the help of which our infantry and tanks made their way through enemy fortified positions.
During the war, BM-13 installations were sometimes used for direct fire at enemy tanks and firing points. To do this, the combat vehicle drove its rear wheels onto some elevation so that its guides assumed a horizontal position. Of course, the accuracy of such shooting was quite low, but a direct hit from a 132-mm rocket would smash any enemy tank to pieces, and a nearby explosion would knock over military equipment enemy, and heavy hot fragments reliably disabled it.

After the war, Soviet designers of combat vehicles continued to work on Katyushas and Andryushas. Only now they began to be called not guards mortars, but multiple launch rocket systems. In the USSR, such powerful SZOs as “Grad”, “Hurricane” and “Smerch” were designed and built. At the same time, the losses of an enemy caught in a salvo from a battery of Hurricanes or Smerchs are comparable to losses from the use of tactical nuclear weapons with a power of up to 20 kilotons, that is, with an explosion atomic bomb, dropped on Hiroshima.

BM-13 combat vehicle on a three-axle vehicle chassis

The caliber of the projectile is 132 mm.
Projectile weight - 42.5 kg.
The mass of the warhead is 21.3 kg.
The maximum projectile flight speed is 355 m/s.
The number of guides is 16.
The maximum firing range is 8470 m.
Charging time of the installation is 3-5 minutes.
The duration of a full salvo is 7-10 seconds.

Guards mortar BM-13 Katyusha

1. Launcher
2. Missiles
3. The car on which the installation was mounted

Guide package
Cabin armor shields
Hiking support
Lifting frame
Launcher battery
Sight bracket
Swivel frame
Lifting handle

The launchers were mounted on the chassis of ZIS-6, Ford Marmont, International Jimmy, Austin vehicles and on STZ-5 tracked tractors Largest number"Katyusha" was mounted on all-wheel drive three-axle Studebaker vehicles.

M-13 projectile

01. Fuse retaining ring
02. GVMZ fuze
03. Detonator checker
04. Bursting charge
05. Head part
06. Igniter
07. Bottom of the chamber
08. Guide pin
09. Powder rocket charge
10. Missile part
11. Grate
12. Critical section of the nozzle
13. Nozzle
14. Stabilizer

Few survived

The effectiveness of the combat use of Katyushas during an attack on an enemy fortified unit can be illustrated by the defeat of the Tolkachev defensive unit during our counteroffensive near Kursk in July 1943.
The village of Tolkachevo was turned by the Germans into a heavily fortified resistance center with a large number dugouts and bunkers of 5-12 rolls, with a developed network of trenches and communication passages. The approaches to the village were heavily mined and covered with wire fences.
Salvos of rocket artillery destroyed a significant part of the bunkers, the trenches, along with the enemy infantry located in them, were filled up, fire system completely depressed. Of the entire garrison of the junction, numbering 450-500 people, only 28 survived. The Tolkachev junction was taken by our units without any resistance.

Supreme High Command Reserve

By decision of the Headquarters, in January 1945, the formation of twenty guards mortar regiments began - this is how the units armed with the BM-13 began to be called.
The Guards Mortar Regiment (Gv.MP) of the artillery of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (RVGK) consisted of a command and three divisions of three batteries. Each battery had four combat vehicles. Thus, a salvo of only one division of 12 BM-13-16 PIP vehicles (Staff Directive No. 002490 prohibited the use of rocket artillery in quantities less than a division) could be compared in strength to a salvo of 12 heavy howitzer regiments of the RVGK (48 152 mm howitzers per regiment ) or 18 heavy howitzer brigades of the RVGK (32 152 mm howitzers per brigade).

Victor Sergeev

, adopted for service in 1941, was in service until 1980, 30,000 were manufactured during the Second World War. Legends about this weapon began to take shape immediately after it appeared. However, the history of the creation and use of the BM-13 guards mortar is indeed unusual; we will dilute the article a little with photos, although not always in time for the text, but on topic, that’s it.

BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher fire photo, was demonstrated Soviet leaders June 21, 1941. And on the same day, literally a few hours before the start of the war, a decision was made to urgently launch mass production of M-13 missiles and a launcher for them, which received the official name BM-13 (combat machine-13).

Diagram of the BM-13 Katyusha rocket launcher

First field battery BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher photo , sent to the front on the night of July 1-2, 1941 under the command of Captain Flerov, consisted of seven automobile installations based on the three-axle ZiS-6 truck. On July 14, a combat premiere took place in the form of shelling of the market square of the town of Rudnya. But " finest hour» missile weapons came on July 16, 1941. The salvo fired by the battery literally wiped out the occupied railway junction of Orsha from the face of the earth, along with the Red Army echelons located there, which did not have time to evacuate (!).

BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher based on the ZIS-6 photo, this is a three-axle version of the ZIS-5 truck and is largely unified with it.

As a result, a huge amount of weapons, fuel and ammunition did not reach the enemy. The effect of the artillery attack was such that many Germans caught in the affected area went crazy. This was, in addition to everything else, psychological impact new weapons, as many Wehrmacht soldiers and officers admitted in their memoirs. It must be said that the first use of rockets occurred a little earlier, in air battles with the Japanese over the distant Khalkhin Gol river. Then the 82-mm air-to-air missiles RS-82 developed in 1937 and the 132-mm air-to-ground missiles PC-132, created a year later, were successfully tested. It was after this that the Main Artillery Directorate set the developer of these shells, the Jet Research Institute, the task of creating a multiple launch rocket system based on PC-132 shells. The updated tactical and technical specifications were issued to the institute in June 1938.

In the photo of "Katyusha" upon closer examination you can see a lot of interesting things

The RNII itself was created at the end of 1933 on the basis of two design groups. In Moscow, under the Central Council of Osoaviakhim, since August 1931, there was a “Group for the Study jet propulsion"(GIRD), in October of the same year, a similar group called "Gas Dynamic Laboratory" (GDL) was formed in Leningrad. The initiator of the merger of two initially independent teams into single organization was the then chief of armaments of the Red Army, M.N. Tukhachevsky. In his opinion, the RNII was supposed to solve problems of rocket technology in relation to military affairs, primarily aviation and artillery. I.T. was appointed director of the institute. Kleymenov, and his deputy - G.E. Langemak, both military engineers. Aviation designer S.P. Korolev was appointed head of the 5th department of the institute, which was entrusted with the development of rocket planes and cruise missiles. In accordance with the assignment received, by the summer of 1939, a 132-mm rocket was developed, which later received the name M-13. Compared to its aviation counterpart, the PC-132 had a longer flight range, greater weight and significantly more powerful combat unit. This was achieved by increasing the number rocket fuel and explosives, for which the missile and head parts of the projectile were lengthened by 48 cm. The M-13 projectile also had better aerodynamic characteristics than the PC-132, which made it possible to obtain a higher accuracy of fire.
During their time at the institute, Kleymenov and Langemak almost completed the development of the RS-82 and RS-132 missiles. In total, in 1933, official field tests of nine types of missiles of various calibers designed by B.S. were carried out at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory from land, sea vessels and aircraft. Petropavlovsky, G.E. Langemak and V.A. Artemyeva, II.I. Tikhomirov and Yu.A. Pobedonostsev using smokeless powder.

M-13 rocket shells from the BM-13 Katyusha rocket artillery combat vehicle

And everything would be fine if... Over time, two opposing groups formed in the RNII. It was believed that the disagreement arose over what fuel to fill the rocket with. In fact, the roots of the conflict and subsequent tragedy should be sought deeper. Some of the employees headed by A.G. The Kostikovs believed that they were being unfairly “overwritten” by Kleymenov, Langemak, Korolev and Glushko who occupied command posts. The method of fighting for a place in the sun was known and tested. Kostikov began writing denunciations against his colleagues to the NKVD. “The revelation of the counter-revolutionary Trotskyist sabotage and sabotage gang, their methods and tactics, persistently requires us to again take an even deeper look at our work, at the people leading and working in this or that section of the Institute,” he wrote in one of his letters. - I assert that in production a system was clearly adopted that was absolutely unsuitable and hampered development. This is also not a random fact. Give me all the materials, and I will clearly prove with facts that someone’s hand, perhaps due to inexperience, slowed down the work and brought the state into colossal losses. Kleymenov, Langemak and Padezhip are to blame for this, first of all...”

132-mm multiple launch rocket system BM-13 Katyusha photo of various chassis

Feeling that he would not be allowed to work at the RNII in peace, Kleymenov at the end of the summer of 1937 agreed with the head of TsAGI Kharlamov about his transfer there. However, he didn’t have time... On the night of November 2, 1937, Ivan Terentyevich Kleimenov was arrested as a German spy and saboteur. At the same time, the same fate befell his deputy G.E. Langemak (German by nationality, which was an aggravating circumstance).

BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher on the ZiS-6 chassis, almost all rocket launcher monuments are based on this chassis, pay attention to the square wings, in fact the ZiS-6 had rounded wings. Some BM-13 units on the ZIS-6 chassis served throughout the war and reached Berlin and Prague.

Soon both were shot. Perhaps an additional (or main) role in this crime was played by the close contacts of those arrested with Tukhachevsky. Much later, November 19, 1955, Military Collegium Supreme Court The USSR determined: “... the verdict... of January 11, 1938 against Georgy Erikhovich Langemak, due to newly discovered circumstances, is canceled, and the case against him on the basis of clause 5 of Art. 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR should be terminated criminally due to the absence of corpus delicti in his actions...” Almost four decades later, by Decree of the President of the USSR of June 21, 1991, Langemaku G.E. awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (posthumously). The same Decree was awarded to his colleagues - I.T. Kleymenov, V.P. Luzhin, B.S. Petropavlovsky, B.M. Slonimer and II.I. Tikhomirov. All the heroes turned out to be innocent, but you can’t bring the dead back from the other world... As for Kostikov, he achieved his goal by becoming the head of the RPII. True, thanks to his efforts, the institute did not last long. February 18, 1944 State Committee defense in connection with the “unbearable situation that has arisen with the development of jet technology in the USSR”, he decided: “... State Institute liquidate the jet technology under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and entrust the solution of this problem to the People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry."

Katyusha multiple rocket launcher on a Studebaker chassis photo

So, one might say, the legendary Katyusha was born despite many circumstances. Poe was born! Its rockets were launched from guides located in the body of a self-propelled multi-charge launcher. The first option was based on the chassis of the ZiS-5 truck and was designated MU-1 (mechanized unit, first sample). Field tests of the installation carried out between December 1938 and February 1939 showed that it did not fully meet the requirements.

Installation of MU-1 photo, late version, the guides are located transversely, but the chassis is already used by the ZiS-6

In particular, when firing, the vehicle began to sway on the suspension springs, which reduced the accuracy of the fire, which was already not very high. Taking into account the test results, RPII developed a new launcher MU-2 (ZiS-6), which in September 1939 was accepted by the Main Artillery Directorate for field testing. Based on their results, the institute was ordered five such installations for military testing. Another stationary installation was ordered by the Navy Artillery Directorate for use in the coastal defense system.

BM-13 "Katyusha" on the chassis of the STZ-5-NATI tractor

The exceptional effectiveness of the combat operations of Captain Flerov’s battery and seven more such batteries formed after it contributed to the rapid increase in the rate of production of jet weapons. Already in the autumn of 1941, 45 divisions operated on the fronts, each of which consisted of three batteries with four launchers each. For their armament in 1941, 593 BM-13 installations were manufactured. As military equipment arrived from factories, the formation of full-fledged rocket artillery regiments began, consisting of three divisions armed with BM-13 launchers and an anti-aircraft division.

• Each regiment had 1414 personnel,
• 36 BM-13 launchers
• twelve 37-mm anti-aircraft guns.
• The artillery regiment's salvo amounted to 576 132 mm shells.
• At the same time, enemy manpower and equipment were destroyed over an area of ​​over 100 hectares. Officially, such units began to be called “guards mortar regiments of the reserve artillery of the Supreme High Command.”

The crew, having driven to the rear, reloads the BM-13 combat mount based on the Chevrolet G-7117 truck, summer 1943.

What was the exceptional basis on? combat power Guards mortars? Each projectile was approximately equal in power to a howitzer of the same caliber, and the installation itself could almost simultaneously fire, depending on the model, from 8 to 32 missiles. Moreover, in each division, equipped, for example, with BM-13 installations, there were five vehicles, each of which had 16 guides for launching 132-mm M-13 projectiles, each weighing 42 kg, with a flight range of 8470 m. Accordingly, only one division could fire 80 shells at the enemy.

BM-8-36 rocket launcher based on the ZIS-6 vehicle

If the division was equipped with BM-8 launchers with 32 82-mm shells, then one salvo consisted of 160 smaller-caliber missiles. A literally avalanche of fire and metal fell on the enemy in a few seconds. It was the highest fire density that distinguished rocket artillery from cannon artillery. During offensives, the Soviet command traditionally tried to concentrate as much artillery as possible at the forefront of the main attack.

The device of rockets BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher photo : 1 - fuse retaining ring, 2 - GVMZ fuse, 3 - detonator block, 4 - explosive charge, 5 - head part, 6 - igniter, 7 - chamber bottom, 8 - guide pin, 9 - rocket charge, 10 - missile unit, 11 - grate, 12 - critical section of the nozzle, 13 - nozzle, 14 - stabilizer, 15 - remote fuse pin, 16 - AGDT remote fuse, 17 - igniter.
The super-massive artillery barrage, which preceded the breakthrough of the enemy front, became one of the main trump cards of the Red Army. No army in that war could provide such a density of fire. Thus, in 1945, during the offensive, the Soviet command concentrated up to 230-260 cannon artillery pieces on one kilometer of the front. In addition to them, every kilometer there were, on average, 15-20 rocket artillery combat vehicles, not counting the larger stationary M-30 missile launchers. Traditionally, Katyushas completed an artillery attack: rocket launchers fired a salvo when the infantry was already attacking. The front-line soldiers said: “Well, the Katyusha started singing...”

Multiple rocket launcher on GMC CCKW chassis photo

By the way, why the gun mount received such an unofficial name, no one could really answer, either then or even today. Some say that it was simply in honor of a popular song at that time: at the beginning of the shooting, the shells, falling off the guides, flew off on their last eight-kilometer path with a drawn-out “singing.” Others believe that the name came from homemade soldier lighters, also nicknamed “Katyushas” for some reason. Even during the Spanish War, Tupolev SB bombers, sometimes armed with RSs, were called by the same name. One way or another, but after the Katyusha mortars finished their song, the infantry entered the shelled populated area or into enemy positions without encountering any resistance. There was no one to resist. The few enemy soldiers who remained alive were completely demoralized. True, over time the enemy reorganized. Yes, this is understandable. Otherwise, after a while the entire Wehrmacht would have been completely demoralized, gone crazy from the Katyusha rockets, and the Red Army would have had no one to fight with. German soldiers learned to hide in well-fortified dugouts at the first sounds of “Stalin’s organs,” as the enemy nicknamed our missiles for their unbearable howl. Then our rocket men also reorganized. Now the Katyushas began the artillery preparation, and the guns finished it.

BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher on a Ford chassis WOT photo

“If you bring in a gun regiment for artillery preparation, the regiment commander will definitely say: “I don’t have accurate data, I have to shoot the guns...” If they started shooting, and they usually shoot with one gun, taking the target into the “fork,” this is a signal to the enemy to hide. Which is what the soldiers did in 15-20 seconds. During this time, the artillery barrel fired only one or two shells. And in 15-20 seconds I will fire 120 missiles with a division, which fly all at once,” said the commander of the rocket mortar regiment A.F. Panuev. But, as you know, there are no pros without cons. Mobile installations of rocket mortars usually moved into position immediately before the salvo and just as quickly after the salvo tried to leave the area. At the same time, the Germans, for obvious reasons, tried to destroy the Katyushas first. Therefore, immediately after a salvo of mortars, the positions of those who remained, as a rule, were hit by salvos of German artillery and bombs from instantly arriving Ju-87 dive bombers. So now the rocket men had to hide. Here is what artilleryman Ivan Trofimovich Salnitsky recalled about this:

“We are choosing firing positions. They tell us: there is a firing position in such and such a place, you will wait for soldiers or beacons set up. We accept firing position at night. At this time the Katyusha division is approaching. If I had time, I would immediately remove my guns from there. Because the Katyushas fired a salvo and left. And the Germans raised nine Uikers and attacked our battery. There was a commotion! An open place, they were hiding under the gun carriages...”

Destroyed rocket launcher, photo date unknown

However, the rocket men themselves also suffered. As veteran mortarman Semyon Savelyevich Kristya said, there were the strictest secret instructions. On some forums there is a dispute that it was precisely because of the secret of the fuel that the Germans tried to capture the installation. As you can see in the photo, the installation was captured and not alone.

Rocket launcher BM-13-16, on the chassis of a ZIS-6 vehicle captured intact by German troops, photo Eastern Front, autumn 1941

A BM-13-16 rocket launcher abandoned during the retreat. Summer 1942, Eastern Front photo, as can be seen from both photos, the ammunition was fired, in fact, the composition of the shells was no secret, but at least for our allies, they made the bulk of the shells

B-13-16 Katyusha rocket launcher on a ZIS-6 chassis (captured by the Germans), as seen in the photo with full ammunition

In the event of a threat of possible capture of the missile launcher by the enemy, the crew " BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher photo "was supposed to blow up the installation using a self-destruction system. The compilers of the instructions did not specify what would happen to the crew themselves... This is exactly how the wounded captain Ivan Andreevich Flerov committed suicide while surrounded on October 7, 1941. But comrade Cristea was captured twice, caught by special Wehrmacht teams who were sent to capture Katyushas and their crews. Semyon Savelyevich, I must say, was lucky. He was able to escape from captivity twice, stunning the guards. But upon returning to his native regiment, he remained silent about these exploits. Otherwise, like many, he would have fallen from the frying pan into the fire... Such adventures happened more often in the first year of the war. Then our troops stopped retreating so quickly that it was impossible to keep up behind the front even with a car, and the rocket men themselves, having acquired the necessary combat experience, began to act more carefully.

BM-13 Katyusha rocket mortar on the chassis of the T-40 tank, by the way, the Americans also installed their multiple launch rocket systems on the Sherman

First, officers took to the positions and made the appropriate calculations, which, by the way, were quite complex, since they had to take into account not only the distance to the target, the speed and direction of the wind, but even the air temperature, which also affected the flight path of the missiles. After all the calculations were made, the vehicles moved into position, fired several salvos (usually no more than five) and quickly rushed to the rear. Delay in this case was indeed like death - the Germans immediately covered the place from which the rocket mortars were firing with return artillery fire.
During the offensive, the tactics of using Katyushas, ​​which were finally perfected by 1943 and were used everywhere until the end of the war, were as follows: at the very beginning of the offensive, when it was necessary to break through the enemy’s deeply layered defenses, the artillery formed a so-called “barrage of fire” . At the beginning of the shelling, all howitzers (often heavy self-propelled guns) and rocket mortars worked on the first line of defense. Then the fire moved to the fortifications of the second line, and the attacking infantry occupied the trenches and dugouts of the first. After this, the fire was transferred to the third line, while the infantrymen occupied the second line.

Katyusha multiple rocket launcher based on Ford-Marmon photo

Most likely the same part, the photo was taken from a different angle

Moreover, the further forward the infantry went, the less cannon artillery could support it - towed guns could not accompany it throughout the entire offensive. This task was assigned to much more mobile self-propelled guns and Katyushas. It was they, along with the slippers, who followed the infantry, supporting it with fire.
Now the Wehrmacht soldiers had no time to hunt for Katyushas. And the installations themselves, which increasingly began to be based on the all-wheel drive American Studebaker US6, did not represent much of a secret. Steel rails served as missile guides during launch; their angle of inclination was manually adjusted by a simple screw gear. The only secret was the rockets themselves, or rather, their filling. And after the salvo, there weren’t any of them left on the installations. Attempts were made to install launchers on the basis of tracked vehicles, but the speed of movement for rocket artillery turned out to be more important than maneuverability. Katyushas were also installed on armored trains and ships

BM-13 Katyusha firing photo

BM-13 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher on the streets of Berlin photo

By the way, Kostikov was never really able to organize the production of gunpowder for equipping missiles at the RNII. It got to the point that at one time the Americans produced solid rocket fuel for us according to our recipes (!). This was another reason for the disbandment of the institute... And as things stood with our opponents, they had their own six-barreled mortar rocket launcher, the Nebelwerfer.

Nebelwerfer. German rocket launcher 15 cm photo

It was used from the very beginning of the war, but the Germans did not have such massive formations of units as we did, see the article “German six-barreled mortar.”
The design and combat experience gained with Katyushas served as the basis for the creation and further improvement of Grads, Hurricanes, Typhoons and other multiple rocket launchers. Only one thing remained almost at the same level - the accuracy of the salvo, which even today leaves much to be desired. The work of reactive systems cannot be called jewelry. That’s why they hit them mainly in areas, including the current one Ukrainian war. And it is often civilians who suffer more from this fire, like Soviet citizens who had the imprudence to end up in their huts in 41 near the Orsha station...