BM-14
Encyclopedia
The BM-14 is a Soviet-made 140mm multiple rocket launcher
Multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher is a type of unguided rocket artillery system. Like other rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers are less accurate and have a much lower rate of fire than batteries of traditional artillery guns...

, fielded by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

.

The BM-14 can fire rockets fitted with chemical (MS-14), smoke (M-14D) or high-explosive fragmentation (M-14-OF) warheads. It is similar to the BM-13 "Katyusha" and was partly replaced in service by the 122 mm BM-21 Grad.

The rocket has a range of about 9.8 km and can carry a warhead of 8 kg weight. Launchers were built in 16 and 17-round variants.

The weapon is not accurate as there is no guidance system, but it is extremely effective in saturation bombardment
Area bombardment
In military aviation, area bombardment is aerial bombardment targeted indiscriminately at a large area, such as a city block or an entire city.Area bombing is a form of strategic bombing...

.

Algerian armed forces used BM-14 rocket launchers in 1993 during the Algerian Civil War
Algerian Civil War
The Algerian Civil War was an armed conflict between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups which began in 1991. It is estimated to have cost between 150,000 and 200,000 lives, in a population of about 25,010,000 in 1990 and 31,193,917 in 2000.More than 70 journalists were...

 as part of their major army inventory. Presently the BM-14 is in active use by the Cuban Armed Forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

.

Variants

  • BM-14 (8U32) - 16-round model (two rows of 8), launcher mounted on the ZiS-151
    ZiS-151
    The ZiS-151 is a general-purpose truck, produced by the Soviet Union in 1947–65, at Automotive Factory No. 2 Zavod imeni Stalina. In 1956, the factory was renamed Zavod imeni Likhacheva, and new trucks were called ZiL-151 ....

     truck. Entered service in 1952. Also known as BM-14-16.
    • BM-14M (2B2) - modified model, mounted on the ZIL-157
      ZIL-157
      The ZIL-157 is a general purpose 2.5 ton 6x6 truck, produced in post-WW2 Soviet Russia.The ZIL-157 was the standard Soviet truck until it was replaced by the ZIL-131 and Ural-375D series whose became the standard Soviet army trucks alongside with GAZ-66. The People's Liberation Army also produced...

      .
    • BM-14MM (2B2R) - final upgrade, mounted on the ZiL-131.
  • BM-14-17 (8U35) - 17-round (8+9 launch tubes) launcher, mounted on the GAZ-63A
    GAZ-63
    The GAZ-63 is a Russian 4x4 2 ton truck produced from 1948 to 1968 at the Gorky Automobile Plant. It was a development of the earlier GAZ-51 truck and is very similar in appearance....

    . Developed in 1959. This launcher was also used on naval vessels, for example Project 1204 patrol boats.
  • RPU-14 (8U38) - towed 16-round version, based on the carriage of the 85mm gun D-44
    85 mm divisional gun D-44
    The 85-mm divisional gun D-44 was a Soviet divisional 85-mm calibre field artillery gun used after World War II. It was designed as the replacement for the 76 mm divisional gun M1942 . The gun is no longer in front-line service with the Russian Ground Forces, although some 200 of the Chinese Type...

     and used by Soviet Airborne Troops, where it was replaced by the 122mm BM-21V "Grad-V".

Operators

- 50 - 10 - Indonesian Army
Indonesian Army
The Indonesian Army , the land component of the Indonesian Armed Forces, has an estimated strength of 328,517 regular personnel. The force's history began in 1945 when the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat "Civil Security Forces" served as paramilitary and police.Since the nation's independence struggle,...

 (TNI-AD) operates 24 BM-14-17 launchers. - 50 BM-13, BM-14. - 200 BM-14 - Passed on to successor states in 1991. - 700 - 30

Similar designs

  • The Type 63 130mm multiple rocket launcher (not to be confused with the towed Type 63
    Type 63 multiple rocket launcher
    The Type 63 multiple rocket launcher is a towed, 12-tube, 107mm rocket launcher produced by the People's Republic of China in the early 1960s, based on the Soviet BM-12 MRS and using similar rockets...

     of 107mm) is the Chinese version of the BM-14-17. It has a slightly smaller calibre but is fitted with 19 instead of 17 launch tubes. The Type 63 MRL is based on the Nanjing NJ-230 or 230A 4x4 truck, a licence-produced version of the Soviet GAZ-63/63A.
  • The WP-8z was a Polish towed rocket launcher that was developed in 1960. The weapon was subsequently produced between 1964 and 1965. It fired the same rockets as the RPU-14 but had only 8 launch tubes. The main operator was the 6th Pomeranian Airborne Division . with 12-18 WP-8s in its inventory.

External links


See also

  • BM-12
    BM-12
    The BM-12 was a 107mm Multiple Rocket Launcher developed in the Soviet Union after World War II. The launcher and rockets were adopted by China and produced in large quantities as the Type 63....

     multiple rocket launcher
  • Katyusha World War II multiple rocket launchers (BM-13, BM-8, and BM-31)
  • BM-21 Grad
    BM-21
    The BM-21 launch vehicle , 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...

     122 mm multiple rocket launcher
  • BM-27 Uragan
    BM-27
    The BM-27 Uragan is a self-propelled multiple rocket launcher system designed in the Soviet Union. It began its service with the Soviet Army in the late 1970s, as its first modern spin and fin stabilized heavy multiple rocket launcher. This system is capable of launching 220 mm rockets from...

     220 mm multiple rocket launcher
  • BM-30 Smerch 300 mm multiple rocket launcher
  • Multiple Launch Rocket System, U.S. multiple rocket launcher
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