BM-13 "Katyusha"

Historical information

During early World War II the ZIS-6 served as the chassis of the original "Stalin Organ" Katyusha multiple rocket launcher, the BM-13.

The ZIS-6 is a Soviet general purpose 6×4 army cargo truck, a three-axle version of the ZIS-5 two-axle truck.

Katyusha multiple rocket launchers 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.