The idea of Russia substituting artillery tubes with 122mm rockets fails on a couple of counts - accuracy and propellent mass.
These two things are related.
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These two things are related.
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https://twitter.com/verekerrichard1/status/1855687035375468827
The inaccuracy of the 122mm Grad rocket system is proverbial.
A full salvo of 40 rockets landing at 20 km range spreads over an area of up to 600 m x 600 m.
It is a wasteful weapon for tube artillery missions and is highly locatable when firing.
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characterisationexplosiveweapons.org/studies/annex-…
A full salvo of 40 rockets landing at 20 km range spreads over an area of up to 600 m x 600 m.
It is a wasteful weapon for tube artillery missions and is highly locatable when firing.
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characterisationexplosiveweapons.org/studies/annex-…
The Ukrainian SSU has made that vulnerability abundantly clear recently in showing 16 Grad launcher truck kill videos.
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mil.in.ua/en/news/ssu-ne…
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mil.in.ua/en/news/ssu-ne…
The real problem with 122mm rockets versus 122mm and 152mm shells is the mass of the propellent versus a rocket.
The most common Russian 122mm rocket is the 9M22 which masses out at ~66 kg.
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The most common Russian 122mm rocket is the 9M22 which masses out at ~66 kg.
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The 9M22 122mm rocket contains 6.4kg of TGAF-5 explosive comprising 40% TNT, 40% RDX, 17% aluminium powder and 3% phlegmatizer.
Its propellent mass is 23.8 kg based on the table below, which I pulled from a study on adding a guidance kit to the 9M22 rocket.
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Its propellent mass is 23.8 kg based on the table below, which I pulled from a study on adding a guidance kit to the 9M22 rocket.
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A 122mm shell for a D-30 gun has a 3.528 kg bursting charge and a 3.6 kg propellent charge.
A 9M22 rocket has about twice the explosive of a 122mm artillery shell but uses six times the propellent to deliver it.
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A 9M22 rocket has about twice the explosive of a 122mm artillery shell but uses six times the propellent to deliver it.
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Assuming it takes five 122mm shells to hit a Ukrainian target using a Russian drone for spotting and a 40 round volley of 122mm rockets for the same target.
The 122mm shells use 17.64 kg of explosives and 18 kg of propellent to service the target.
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The 122mm shells use 17.64 kg of explosives and 18 kg of propellent to service the target.
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The 122mm Grad rocket volley uses 256 kg of explosives and _944_ kg of propellent.
That is enough explosives for 72 122mm shells worth of bursting charges and 262 122mm shells worth of propellent.
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That is enough explosives for 72 122mm shells worth of bursting charges and 262 122mm shells worth of propellent.
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Any Russian attempt to directly substitute 122mm rockets for 122mm artillery shells will amount to a 1/100th structural disarmament of the Russian "God of War" because of the lower accuracy and explosives/propellant inefficiencies involved.
9/9
9/9
@threadreaderapp unroll please
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