BM-13N "Katyusha"

Historical information

BM-13N Katyusha on a Lend-Lease Studebaker US6 truck are a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II.

Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver a devastating amount of 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 and easy to produce. Katyushas of World War II, the first self-propelled artillery mass-produced by the Soviet Union, were usually mounted on 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.

The name BM-13 was only allowed into secret documents in 1942, and remained classified until after the war.