| BM-14 | |
|---|---|
A 140mm, 16-round launcher (BM-14) mounted on a GAZ-63 truck.
| |
| Type | Multiple rocket launcher |
| Place of origin | Soviet Union |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1952 - c.1990 (USSR)/ present (Others) |
| Wars | |
| Production history | |
| Designer | NII 303 |
| Designed | 1950 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 5,323 kg (11,735 lb) |
| Length | 5.4 m (17 ft 9 in) |
| Width | 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Height | 2.24 m (7 ft 4 in) |
| Crew | 6[3] |
| Caliber | Diameter: 140 mm (5.5 in) Length: 1 m (3 ft 3 in) Weight: 39.6 kg (87 lb) |
| Barrels | 16 in two rows |
| Elevation | +50°/0° |
| Traverse | 180° |
| Muzzle velocity | 400 m/s (1,300 ft/s) |
| Maximum firing range | 9.8 km (6.1 mi)[3] |
| Engine | GAZ-51 70 HP 6-cylinder petrol |
| Suspension | Wheeled GAZ-63 4x4 chassis |
Operational | 650 km (400 mi) |
| Maximum speed | 65 km/h (40 mph)[3] |
The BM-14 (BM for Boyevaya Mashina, 'combat vehicle'), is a Soviet-made 140mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), normally mounted on a truck.
The BM-14 can fire 140 mm M-14 rockets with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, a smoke warhead or a chemical warhead. It is similar to the BM-13 "Katyusha" and was partly replaced in service by the 122 mm BM-21 Grad.
Launchers were built in 16 and 17-round variants. The rockets have a maximum range of 9.8 kilometers (6.1 mi).
The weapon is not accurate as there is no guidance system, but it is extremely effective in saturation fire.
The BM-14 launcher and its variants can fire 140mm rockets of the M-14-series (also called Soviet-made M14 artillery rockets). They have a minimum range of 3.8 kilometers (2.4 mi) and a maximum range of 9.8 kilometers (6.1 mi).[4] The M-14 series consist of three known types:
During the Syrian Civil War, a rocket engine from a 140 mm M-14-series rocket was identified on 26 August 2013 by the U.N. fact-finding mission in the Muadamiyat al-Sham district southwest of Damascus, allegedly originating from the chemical attack on Western Ghouta on 21 August 2013.[6]
The rockets nozzle assembly had 10 jet nozzles ordered evenly in a circle with an electrical contact plate in the middle. The bottom ring of the rocket engine had the lot number『Г ИШ 4 25 - 6 7 - 179 К』engraved,[6]: 21–22 which means it was produced in 1967 by factory 179 (Sibselmash plantinNovosibirsk).[7] However, no warhead was observed at the impact site and none of the 13 environmental samples taken in the Western Ghouta area tested positive for sarin, although three had "degradation and/or by-products" possibly originating from sarin.[8]: 43–45 On 18 September, the Russian Presidential Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov commented on the U.N. missions findings. He said "these rockets were supplied to dozens of countries", but that "the Soviet Union never supplied warheads with sarin to anyone".[9] Another type of rockets was used in the Eastern Ghouta attack.[4]
Algeria − 48 BM-14/16 as of 2023[update][10]
Cambodia − 20 BM-14-16 as of 2023[update][11]
Republic of Congo[12]
Cuba[13]
Egypt − 32 as of 2023[update][14]
North Korea[15]
Russia − BM-14-17 mounted on Shmel-class (Project 1204) patrol boats as of 2023[16]
Vietnam[17] − fielded during the Vietnam War from 1967[18]
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan ? / 
Republic of Afghanistan /
Islamic State of Afghanistan / 
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan- [19] People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
People's Republic of Angola / Angola − A number destroyed during the Angolan Civil War.[20] Operated BM-14-16s as late as 2005[21]
Democratic Kampuchea / 
People's Republic of Kampuchea / 
State of Cambodia
China[22]
Indonesia - Indonesian Marine Corps (Korps Marinir) operated 36 BM-14-17 launchers. Replaced by the RM-70 in 2003[23]
Federation of Arab Republics (1972-1977)
North Vietnam
Polish People's Republic - [24] − retired
Somalia − BM-14-16 and BM-14-17[25]
Soviet Union[26] − Passed on to successor states in 1991
Syria − 200 BM-14 purchased in 1967.[27] Was in service as late as 2016[28]
South Yemen − 15 BM-14 in 1989.[29] Passed on to the unified Yemeni state
Yemen[30]
