BM-30 Smerch

Russia’s heaviest multiple-launch rocket system — a 300 mm, 12-tube launcher that evolved from Cold-War area saturation into the GLONASS-guided Tornado-S, used extensively on both sides of the Ukraine war.

Overview

The BM-30 Smerch (9K58) and its modernised derivative, the 9K515 Tornado-S, are Russian 300 mm wheeled multiple-launch rocket systems. Designed for deep-fire area saturation, the Smerch entered service in 1987 and has been widely exported; the Tornado-S upgrade, fielded in the 2010s, adds a digital fire-control suite and guided rockets with satellite navigation. A single 12-tube launcher can ripple a full salvo in under 40 seconds, delivering high-explosive, submunition or precision-guided warheads to ranges of up to 120 km, making the system a mainstay of Russia’s rocket-artillery brigades and a prominent combat weapon in the war in Ukraine.

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