The BM-21 "Grad" (Russian: БМ-21 "Град", lit. 'hailstorm') is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union.[9] The system and the M-21OF rocket[10] were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-Soviet border conflict.[11]BM stands for boyevaya mashina (Russian: боевая машина – combat vehicle), and the nickname grad means "hail". The complete system with the BM-21 launch vehicle and the M-21OF rocket is designated as the M-21 field-rocket system and 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 the M1964. Several other countries have copied the Grad or developed similar systems. In Russian service its intended replacement is the 9A52-4 Tornado. Many similar 122 mm MLRS systems are made by different countries based on the BM-21 Grad.
^Zabecki, David T. (May 2011). "Rockets and Rocket Launchers". In Tucker, Spencer C. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2 ed.). p. 988. ISBN978-1-85109-960-3. The most significant [Soviet rocket] was the 9M22M, one of the Katyusha class of 122-mm rockets.
^Zaloga, Steven J. (2003). Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2): The wars of 1973 to the present. Hong Kong: Concord Publications. p. 4. ISBN962-361-613-9.
^Cooper, Tom; Fontanellaz, Adrien (October 2016). "La guerre du Kagera". Batailles et Blindés (in French). No. 75. Caraktère. pp. 72–81. ISSN1765-0828.
^Cite error: The named reference Afghan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).