The Valkiri is a South African self-propelled 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...

 developed in the 1980s by Somchem, a division of the Denel

Denel Aerospace Systems

Denel Dynamics, formerly Kentron, is a division of Denel Ltd, a South African armaments development and manufacturing company wholly owned by the South African Government. It underwent a name change from Kentron to Denel Aerospace Systems during the early part of 2004 and later to Denel Dynamics....

 corporation.

The system is based on the Soviet BM-21 Grad, examples of which were captured during Operation Savannah

Operation Savannah (Angola)

Operation Savannah was the name given to the South African Defence Force's 1975–1976 covert intervention in the Angolan Civil War.-Background:...

 in Angola in 1976. Development was completed in 1981, and it was fielded in 1987 and 1988 by the South African Defense Force (SADF) in southern Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 against Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n supported FAPLA forces, specifically during operations Hooper

Operation Hooper

Operation Hooper was a military operation by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War. This operation forms part of what has come to be called the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale....

 and Modular

Operation Modular

Operation Modular was a military operation by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War. It formed part of what has come to be called the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale....

. An advantage the Valkiri has over other multiple-launch rocket systems is that it is easy to disguise on the battlefield. With the canopy down the Valkiri looks like any other Unimog

Unimog

Unimog is a range of multi-purpose auto four wheel drive medium trucks produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The name Unimog is pronounced in German and is an acronym for the German "UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät", Gerät being the German word for machine or device...

4x4 truck.

Variants

• Valkiri-22 Mk 1 (original version): 24 launch tubes per system.
• Bateleur (current version): 40 launch tubes per system mounted on an armoured Samil 100 6x6 truck.

External links

• Army Recognition.com
• Photos at SA Bush War—half way down the page