BM-11

     The BM-11 is a lighter North Korean version of the BM-21, mounted on a Japanese Isuzu SKW 440M medium-truck chassis (why the Japanese would sell them anything is beyond me, though my guess is that they got them from the Pakistanis).  It is probable that the North Koreans got Pakistani help for the BM-11, or vice versa for the Pakistani’s Gadeb 122mm MRL (or they were a cooperative development); it is unlikely that either country was working alone on these MRLs.  The North Koreans have not made any moves to export the BM-11, even in a clandestine manner; the heavy sanctions on North Korea mean they could not place the BM-11 on the international marketplace.

     The launcher is smaller but wider, set in two rows of 15, and reloaded by hand.  Such hand-loading takes about 6 minutes wit6h a well-trained crew.  The launcher may be fired in short or long ripples, or singly; the full rocket pack can be fired 15 seconds.  The other systems in the cab are basic, with a simple fire control computer and basic weather instruments on the roof of the cab.  The BM-11 may fire most 122mm rockets of Russian or Chinese manufacture, and does manufacture many of their own 122mm rockets, but the more advanced Russian or Chinese rockets, as well as the advanced rockets fired by countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Serbia, or Croatia (and some other such rockets) cannot be fired from the BM-11.

     The cab holds the three members of the basic crew (driver, commander, and gunner), reloading vehicles of the same truck type generally follow the BM-11 and carry reloads and up to five reloaders.  (Only two are actually required to reload the BM-11.)  The SKW 440M has had the engine replaced with the more powerful engine of the SKW 475M, and is a turbocharged diesel of 286 horsepower.  The truck has power steering, power brakes, an air conditioner, and a high-efficiency heater.  The BM-11 does not have an APU, but carries extra batteries equivalent to a 1kW APU to power the cab components such as the heater or air conditioner or mapping system while the truck is off.  (These batteries would be totally drained with even one firing of the rocket launcher.) The BM-11 has inertial navigation with a mapping system and computer.  It can fire without an FDC is coordinates are known, but scatter distances are tripled.  The truck is made of aluminum alloy and is very light, though it is not armored.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This launcher is operational in the Twilight 2000 v2.2 timeline, but is mounted on a Ural-375D chassis.