BM-21A BelGrad

     Notes: The BelGrad is a Belorussian version of the BM-21-1, which has the features of the Russian Grad-G , but in fact achieves the same capability as the Grad-G with components sourced from their own and other countries, including Poland and France.  It has been placed on the international market, but the Belorussians have not yet sold any.  The BelGrad has, however, replaced all the Russian-based 122mm MRLs formerly in Belorussian service. This system entered service in Belorussia in 2001, after a four-year development period.

     The BelGrad is mounted on a MAZ-631705 medium truck, with a turbocharged diesel developing 425 horsepower.  The vehicle has an automatic transmission, power/antilock brakes, and power steering.  The drive is 6x6 and the tires are run-flat and puncture resistant, and the vehicle has central tire pressure regulation. The chassis is large enough that it carries an extra rocket pack between the cab and the launcher, and a crane integrated with a special mechanism can reload this pack in less than 15 minutes.  A special reload vehicle based on the same chassis can also reload the BelGrad in less than 15 minutes. The crew of the MRL and the crew of the reload vehicle do not need to leave their cabs to perform the reload operations.

     The cab is not armored on the outside, though they have thick, hard Kevlar panels on the inside of the cab.  There is also not a sleeping berth at the rear of the cab, something found of few military vehicles; however, this little more than a cot with a narrow mattress on top of it in a semi-enclosed space.

     The fire control equipment has an automatic aiming system; the gunner inputs coordinates using the mapping system and the fire control computer lays the correct elevation and deflection, and the right dope on the fuzes of certain rounds that require certain fuze setting on a given round.  The BelGrad has a NATO-compatible BMS, along with a vehicle state computer, displaying to the appropriate information to a given crewmember on LCD screens.

     The BelGrad can fire Russian, Chinese, Polish, and Czech 122mm rockets, and others which are compatible with Russian 122mm launchers.  They may be fired singly, or in ripples of any size; an entire 40-round rocket pack may be rippled in 18.4 seconds.