Description

The Katyusha multiple rocket launcher (Russian: ???????, IPA: [k??t?u??] (About this soundlisten)) is a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver explosives to a target area more quickly than conventional artillery, but with lower accuracy and requiring a longer time to reload. They are fragile compared to artillery guns, but are inexpensive, easy to produce, and usable on any chassis. The Katyushas of World War II, the first self-propelled artillery mass-produced by the Soviet Union, were usually mounted on ordinary trucks. This mobility gave the Katyusha, and other self-propelled artillery, another advantage: being able to deliver a large blow all at once, and then move before being located and attacked with counter-battery fire. Katyusha weapons of World War II included the BM-13 launcher, light BM-8, and heavy BM-31. Today, the nickname is also applied to newer truck-mounted post-Soviet ? in addition to non-Soviet ? multiple rocket launchers, notably the common BM-21 Grad and its derivatives.

Although this type of weapon has existed since the 15th century (Leonardo da Vinci having perfected a similar machine), the design of the Katyusha may have been influenced by Giuseppe Fieschi’s Machine infernale – Fieschi was honored in a religious service at a Moscow church at the prompting of Soviet General Kotskov, the inventor of the Katyusha rocket launcher.