KATYUSHA BM-13 ROCKET LAUNCHER

In 1937 began development of the Katusha rocket artillery system. Because it could be mounted to standard military trucks the system—comprised of a double rack of 16 132mm rockets—was inexpensive and highly mobile. Like most rocket systems, it was less accurate than a conventional artillery gun, but because the system could fire all 16 rockets in a matter of seconds its high rate of fire somewhat compensated for its inaccuracy. And the fearsome amount of noise, smoke, and flames of such a fiery salvo had a strong psychological effect on enemy troops. This was used to good effect by the Red Army on the invading German army. The Western Allies were quick to appreciate the power of this weapon and soon copied it. The BM-13 was even mounted onto Studebaker chassis under the Lend-Lease system (later made in Russia) and also on the ZIS-6 chassis.