BM-30 Smerch

Operational history

The first confirmed combat uses of the Smerch were in two war zones in 2014. Syrian military forces used the system against rebel forces during the Syrian civil war, including in fighting in Jobar. It was also used by Russia-backed militants to deliver explosive and cluster munitions to Ukrainian military positions and likewise by the Ukrainian Army. Several have been seen in use by pro-Russian rebels. The Russian Ground Forces used the BM-30 in Syria in October 2015 during the Russian intervention in Syria.

During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia and Azerbaijan both targeted each other's territory with Smerch rockets.

As of November 2025, there is visual evidence of three Russian Military BM-30s being destroyed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Smerch rockets were fired from Belgorod in the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. During the Battle of Kharkiv it is alleged that 11 Smerch rockets were fired on 27–28 February alone.

Components

The main components of the RSZO 9K58 "Smerch" system are the following:

• Rockets 9M55 or 9M528 (in containers);
• BM 9A52-2 launch vehicle;
• TZM 9T234-2 transloader with an 850 kg crane and 12 spare rockets;
• Automated fire control equipment in the command post 1K123 "Vivary";
• Maintenance vehicle PM-2-70 MTO-V;
• Set of arsenal equipment 9F819;
• Training facilities 9F827 and 9F840.

300mm rockets with a firing range of 70 and 90 km and various warheads have been developed for the Smerch MLRS.

The 9A52-2 vehicle with the automated system ensures:

• delivery of fire from an un-surveyed fire position;
• laying of the launch tube cluster with the crew staying in the cabin and without using aiming points;
• autonomous determination of an azimuth of the launch tube cluster's longitudinal axis;
• visual representation of graphical information for the launch tube cluster laying, the route of vehicle movement and location as well as a point of destination and direction of movement on the video terminal;
• increase in MLRS survivability owing to reduced time of staying at a fire position;
• increased comfort for the laying operator, especially in adverse weather conditions and at night;
• increased independent operation owing to the navigation and survey equipment, which allows the vehicle to rapidly change fire positions and move autonomously;
• reduction of the combat crew.

General characteristics

• Chassis: MAZ-543M or MAZ-79111
• Emplacement Time: 3 min
• Displacement Time: 2 min
• Launch Rate
  • Salvo Time: 12 rounds in 38 seconds
• Reload Time: 20 min

Variants

• 9A52 – Standard variant on MAZ-79111 truck.
• 9A52-2 – Modified variant on MAZ-543M truck.
• 9A52-2T – Export version, based on the Tatra T816 10×10 truck.
• 9A52-4 – Lighter, airmobile version on KamAZ-6350 truck with modular 6-round rocket pack. Demonstrated in 2007.
• Arctic version with rockets mounted on DT-30PM tracked vehicle.
• 9A54 – Tornado-S, upgraded with a GLONASS receiver and automated digital FCS.

Rocket projectiles

Operators

Current operators

• Algeria – 18 BM-30s received from Russia in 1999. All in service as of 2024.
• Armenia – 6 purchased from Russia and received in 2017-18. All in service as of 2024.
• Azerbaijan – 50 BM-30 Smerch and 10 Polonez in service as of 2024.
• – 36 BM-30 Smerch and 10 Polonez/Polonez-M in service as of 2024.
• India – Total 42 9A52-2T launchers in service as of 2024 (3 regiments). The first deal, worth $450 million, to equip 2 artillery regiments (28 launchers) was signed in December 2005. Deliveries were completed by March 2008.
• – 6 in service as of 2024.
• – 27 systems in service as of 2024.
• Libya - Several seen in a military parade in Benghazi in 2025 (in service of the Libyan National Army).
• – 104+ BM-30 Smerch and 20 Tornado-S in service as of 2024. At least 3 BM-30 have been lost in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine as of 20 December 2024.
• – Unknown number in service. Used in the Syrian civil war. 2 BM-30 Smerchs were captured by HTS rebel forces in the 2024 Syrian rebel offensive.
• – 6 systems in service as of 2024.
• – 40 BM-30 Smerch and some Vilkha as of 2024. Serviceability is doubtful.
• – 6 systems in service as of 2024.
• – 12 systems in service as of 2024.

Former operators

• : Passed on to successor states.

Similar systems

• **** – Visually similar missile based on the Wanshan WS-2400 8x8 cross country truck. However, the PHL-03 and BM-30 do not share interchangeable parts, so they are distinct missiles despite their similar appearance. The Chinese vehicle utilizes a German-designed diesel engine, transmission and hydraulics, manufactured by Wanshan in China, following a technology transfer from ZF Friedrichshafen. The program began in the late 1990s, with the '96' in the designation reportedly meaning 1996, the year that the Chinese military first issued the requirement for a new long-range SPMRLS. The program went through major redesign changes when the BM-30 Smerch was purchased. Although dubbed by many Chinese as a guided self-propelled multiple rocket launching system (SPMRLS), the PHL96 is not strictly speaking a guided SPMRLS because, technically, none of rockets are guided – the guidance is actually achieved via the sub-munitions, such as the 9M55K1 cluster munition. Only a very limited number of the PHL96 entered Chinese service because its successor, the PHL03, entered service shortly after.

• PHL03PHL-03 – Chinese development of the PHL96 with 150 km range. The PHL03 is a highly digitized PHL96 with a computerized fire control system (FCS) incorporating GPS/GLONASS, similar to that of the Type 90A SPMRL, with a four-man crew (compared with three for the BM-30/PHL96), which entered service around 2004–2005, only a year or two after its predecessor, the PHL96. As with the PHL96, the PHL03 is not exactly a guided SPMRL because it is the submunitions that are guided, not the rockets themselves.
• Vilkha - A Ukrainian development of the Smerch system that entered service in 2018 with the Ukrainian Rocket Forces.

References

0:48 – Cluster – fragmentation 1:30 – Separable HE-Frag warhead 2:00 – Cluster – self-guided EFP (AT) elements 3:00 – Cluster – anti-tank mines 3:30 – Cluster – shaped charge/frag elements 3:50 – Unmanned aerial vehicle 5:20 – Thermobaric warhead}}

• Russia's Arms Catalog 2004

Bibliography

• Jamie Prenatt and Adam Hook, Katyusha – Russian Multiple Rocket Launchers 1941–Present, New Vanguard 235, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 2016.

References

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