BM - 21 Grad The BM - 21 launch vehicle ( ) , ( Grad ) a Soviet truck - mounted 122 mm multiple rocket launcher , and a M - 21OF rocket were developed in the early 1960s . " BM " stands for " boyevaya mashina " , ‘ combat vehicle ’ , and the nickname means ‘ hail ’ . The complete system with the BM - 21 launch vehicle and the M - 21OF rocket has designation as M - 21 Field Rocket System . The complete system is more commonly known as a Grad multiple rocket launcher system . In NATO countries , the system ( either the complete system or the launch vehicle only ) was initially known as M1964 . Several other countries have copied it or developed similar systems . Description . The M - 21 Field Rocket Systems with a BM - 21 launch vehicle ( 122 mm multiple rocket launcher ( MRL ) system entered service with the Soviet Army in 1963 to replace the aging 140 mm BM - 14 system . The launch vehicle consists of a Ural - 375D six - by - six truck chassis fitted with a bank of 40 launch tubes arranged in a rectangular shape that can be turned away from the unprotected cab . The vehicle is powered by a water - cooled V - 8 180 hp gasoline engine , has a maximum road speed of , road range of up to , and can cross fords up to deep . The original vehicle together with supporting equipment ( including the re - supply truck 9T254 with 60 rockets ) is referred to by the GRAU index 9K51 ; the launcher itself has the industrial index of 2B5 . In 1976 , the BM - 21 was mounted on the newer Ural - 4320 six - by - six army truck . The crew of 3 men can emplace the system and have it ready to fire in three minutes . The crew can fire the rockets from the cab or from a trigger at the end of a cable . All 40 rockets can be away in as little as 20 seconds , but can also be fired individually or in small groups in several - second intervals . A PG - 1M panoramic telescope with K - 1 collimator can be used for sighting . The BM - 21 can be packed up and ready to move in two minutes , which can be necessary when engaged by counter - battery fire . Reloading is done manually and takes about 10 minutes . Each rocket is slowly spun by rifling in its tube as it exits , which along with its primary fin stabilization keeps it on course . Rockets armed with high explosive / fragmentation , incendiary , or chemical warheads can be fired . Newer high explosive and cargo ( used to deliver anti - personnel or antitank mines ) rockets have a range of and more . Warheads weigh around , depending on the type . The number of rockets each vehicle is able to quickly bring to bear on an enemy target make it effective , especially at shorter ranges . One battalion of eighteen launchers is able to deliver 720 rockets in a single volley . The system has lower precision than a classical artillery and cannot be used in situations that call for pinpoint precision . It relies on a large number of shells to dissipate over an area for a certain hit rate on specific targets . Nonetheless , because of the short warning time for the impact of the whole volley the BM - 21 is considered a fearsome weapon until today . Variants . Soviet Union . Adaptations of the launcher were / are produced by several countries including China , Czechoslovakia , Egypt , Iran , North Korea , Poland and Romania . Egypt . The Egyptians domestically manufacture the rockets " Sakr - 36 " and " Sakr - 18 " with a respective range of 36 and , and the latest " Sakr - 45 " with a superior range of . Rather than a standard HE - Frag round , the Egyptian military prefers a cluster munition , which can be extremely effective against lightly armored equipment and troop concentrations . Both rockets , as well as the original Soviet models of course , are fired by locally manufactured rocket launchers like the RL - 21 ( copy of BM - 11 ) and RC - 21 ( copy of BM - 21 , similar to the Hadid HM20 ) . The Helwan Machine Tools Company also produces portable systems with one , three , four and eight launch tubes . Gaza Strip . Since 2006 Hamas has fired 122mm Grad rockets , copies made in Iran , and Eastern - bloc versions modified to expand their range and lethality , into Israel . The rockets were believed to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip via tunnels from Egypt . Some of the rockets were of a Chinese Grad variant . Hamas sources said they were pleased by the performance of the Chinese variants of the BM - 21 Grad rocket , which demonstrated a far greater range and blast impact than Palestinian - made rockets , as well as Russian - origin Grads or Katyushas . On 28 February 2008 at least ten 122mm Grad rockets hit the coastal city of Ashkelon . In other incidents , longer range rockets were used , with twice the range of the BM - 21 Grad . These longer range rockets were erroneously reported by the media to be also Grad rockets . In the 2010 attacks on Eilat and Aqaba , nine standard 122mm Grad rockets were used . For the most part , rockets are smuggled into the Gaza Strip through the network of tunnels between the Strip and Egypt . On 23 February 2011 at least two 122mm Grad rockets were fired at Beersheba hitting and severely damaging a house in a residential area . On 23 March 2011 another two Grad rockets were fired at Beersheba , seriously injuring a civilian . During the first week of April 2011 , Israeli defense forces intercepted and destroyed several Grad rockets fired from Gaza near Ashkelon in southern Israel , using a newly deployed anti - missile system called Iron Dome . On Saturday August 20 , 2011 , over 24 Grad rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel , landing in Beersheba and Ashdod and killing 1 Israeli . Hamas has claimed responsibility for these attacks . On Saturday October 29 , 2011 , the Islamic Jihad fired eight Grad rockets towards Ashdod , Gan Yavne , and west of Be ' er Sheva wounding one person and causing light wounds to two more , just hours after Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed Ahmed al - Sheikh Khalil , a commander of the Islamic Jihad and four of its munitions experts . They allegedly were responsible for firing one additional Grad rocket towards Ashdod the previous Wednesday . , in response to attacks from the Israeli Air Force towards a militant squad that was preparing to launch rockets , earlier in the month . Hamas have used small man - portable single - tube launchers for rockets in attacks against Israel , designated 122 mm 9P132 / BM - 21 - P . The 122 mm Grad rockets used in Gaza have a range of about , and can reach the Israeli towns of Ashdod , Beer - Sheva , Ofakim , Gedera , Kiryat Gat , Ashqelon , Sderot , Rehovot , Kiryat Malachi and Gan Yavne . The Islamic Jihad also published a clip claiming device mounted used as a multi - barrel rocket launcher on vehicle used for first time in Gaza Ethiopia . The Homicho Ammunition Engineering Complex produces the rockets while the Bishoftu Motorization Engineering Complex produces the launching tubes and has converted existing trucks to diesel engine . Bishoftu motorization has also produced a six tube launcher to be mounted on light trucks . Iran . D . I . O . from Iran produces copies of the BM - 11 and BM - 21 systems that can fire the original Soviet rockets as well as the locally developed " Arash " with a range of . There is also a rocket with a range of . Italy . Even if technically different , there was an Italian product very similar to the BM - 21 : the FIROS , including the early version FIROS - 25 ( exported to U . A . E . in ' 80s ) and the more powerful and modern FIROS - 30 ( over 30 km range ) . Both were built with armoured 6x6 trucks . The similarity was mainly in the layout : just like the BM - 21 , the FIROS had 40 122 mm long range rockets . The 122 mm rocket was made as well as air - to surface weapon and there was even a project for a 122 mm ship - based MLR , never built . Projectiles . Also Incendiary , Chemical , Illumination , Antipersonnel mines . Operators . Three abandoned BM - 21 rocket launchers were found by French forces during Operation Serval . They were probably taken by Mali Rebels from Libya .