Profile
- Type
- 300 mm heavy multiple launch rocket system
- Conflict side
- Russia
- Origin
- Soviet Union
- Service note
- Entered service in the late Soviet period; still used in the Russia-Ukraine War
Artillery
BM-30 Smerch
The BM-30 Smerch, also designated 9K58, is a Soviet-designed heavy multiple launch rocket system built around a 12-tube 300 mm launcher on an 8x8 wheeled chassis. Its long-range rockets can carry high-explosive, cluster, and thermobaric warheads, making it a deep-fire artillery system rather than a front-line direct-fire weapon. In the Russia-Ukraine War, documented Russian use of 9M55K Smerch cluster rockets has tied the system to attacks on Ukrainian urban areas including Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.
Service History
- In service
- Late 1980s-present
- Used by
- Russian Armed Forces, Ukrainian Armed Forces
- Wars
- Russia-Ukraine War
Production History
- Designer
- Splav State Research and Production Association
- Designed
- Early 1980s
- Built in
- Russia
- Produced
- Late 1980s-present
- Variants
- 9A52, 9A52-2, 9A52-2T
Specifications
- Caliber
- 300 mm
- Launcher
- 12 launch tubes on an 8x8 wheeled chassis
- Rocket family
- 9M55-series rockets, including high-explosive fragmentation, cluster-munition, and thermobaric warhead options
- Firing range
- About 20-70 km with 9M55-series rockets
- Crew
- 3
- Combat weight
- About 43,700 kg
- Road speed
- Up to 60 km/h
- Road range
- About 850 km
Conflict Usage
- Russia-Ukraine War
- Side: Russia
Russian forces used 300 mm 9M55K Smerch cluster-munition rockets during the full-scale invasion, with Human Rights Watch documenting remnants and submunitions from attacks on Kharkiv and Mykolaiv in February and March 2022.
BM-30 Smerch Images
Related Weapon Systems
BM-27 Uragan220 mm self-propelled multiple launch rocket systemThe BM-27 Uragan is a Soviet 220 mm wheeled multiple launch rocket system built around a 16-tube launcher on the ZIL-135LM chassis. Its heavier rockets give it greater payload and range than BM-21 Grad-class systems, with warhead options including high-explosive fragmentation, cluster, and mine-scattering rounds. In the Russia-Ukraine War it remains a legacy heavy rocket artillery system used for area fires, minelaying, and counter-battery targets by forces that inherited or captured Uragan-family stocks.
TOS-2 TosochkaWheeled 220 mm thermobaric multiple rocket launcherThe TOS-2 Tosochka is Russia's wheeled successor to the TOS-1A heavy flamethrower system, using 220 mm thermobaric and incendiary rockets from an 18-tube launcher on a Ural 6x6 truck. Its built-in crane, automated fire-control equipment, and wheeled chassis are intended to make the system more mobile and less dependent on a separate loading vehicle, while Russian forces have fielded it during the Russia-Ukraine War.
Bureviy220 mm self-propelled multiple launch rocket systemBureviy is a Ukrainian 220 mm multiple launch rocket system that modernizes the BM-27 Uragan concept with a Tatra T815-7 8x8 chassis, digital fire-control equipment, and compatibility with Uragan-family rockets. Built by Shepetivka Repair Plant, it gives Ukrainian artillery a more mobile and networked heavy rocket launcher while retaining the 16-tube 220 mm rocket package used for area fires.
RM-70 Vampire122 mm self-propelled multiple launch rocket systemThe RM-70 Vampire is a Czech modernization of the Czechoslovak RM-70 Grad-family multiple launch rocket system, pairing a forty-tube 122 mm launcher with a Tatra 815-7 8x8 chassis and an automatic reload pack. In Ukrainian service it provides mobile area-fire and counter-battery rocket artillery during the Russia-Ukraine War.
Tornado-G122 mm multiple launch rocket systemThe Tornado-G is Russia's 9K51M 122 mm multiple launch rocket system, a modernized Grad-family launcher with automated laying and fire-control equipment intended to shorten setup, firing, and displacement times for rocket artillery units. In the Russia-Ukraine War it appears as a Russian-operated fire-support system, with documented battlefield losses and captures.
Tornado-S300 mm multiple launch rocket systemTornado-S, also known as the 9K515 MLRS, is Russia's modernized 300 mm successor to the BM-30 Smerch, adding automated fire-control and GLONASS-aided guided rockets for longer-range precision fires. In the Russia-Ukraine War it has been documented through recovered 9M54-series guided munition remnants and reported launcher losses, making it one of Russia's higher-end rocket artillery systems in the conflict.Sources
BM-30 Smerch 9K58 MLRSPublisher: Army Recognition | Note: Supports launcher background, manufacturer attribution, variants, dimensions, crew, mobility, and 20-70 km range data. | Accessed: 2026-06-209K58 SmerchPublisher: GlobalSecurity.org | Note: Supports development background, Splav attribution, 12-tube launcher configuration, 9M55K rocket, and 20-70 km range. | Accessed: 2026-06-209M55 Smerch seriesPublisher: Open Source Munitions Portal | Note: Supports 300 mm 9M55-series rocket characteristics and the presence of cluster, high-explosive fragmentation, and thermobaric warhead variants. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Ukraine: Cluster Munitions Launched Into Kharkiv NeighborhoodsPublisher: Human Rights Watch | Note: Directly supports Russia-Ukraine War use by Russian forces, documenting 9M55K Smerch cluster-munition rockets in Kharkiv on February 28, 2022. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Ukraine: Cluster Munitions Repeatedly Used on MykolaivPublisher: Human Rights Watch | Note: Directly supports Russia-Ukraine War use by Russian forces, documenting Smerch rocket remnants and 9M55K Smerch cargo carriers in Mykolaiv attacks in March 2022. | Accessed: 2026-06-20File:BM-30 Smerch ARMY-2018.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Primary image provenance: 9A52-2 launcher and 9T234-2 transporter-loader of the 9K58/BM-30 Smerch system, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. | Accessed: 2026-06-20File:BM-30 Smerch-5173.JPGPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Gallery image provenance: 9A52 launcher of the 300 mm 9K58 Smerch system in Technical Museum Togliatti, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. | Accessed: 2026-06-20