9K52 Luna-M

The 9K52 Luna-M (Russian: Луна; English: moon, NATO reporting name Frog-7) is a Soviet short-range artillery rocket system which fires unguided and spin-stabilized 9M21 rockets. It was originally developed in the 1960s to provide divisional artillery support using tactical nuclear weapons but gradually modified for conventional use. The 9K52 was eventually succeeded by the OTR-21 Tochka.

9K52 Luna-M
9P113 TEL with 9M21 rocket
TypeArtillery rocket
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In service1962–present
WarsSoviet–Afghan War, Iran–Iraq War, Lebanese Civil War, Gulf War, Yugoslav Wars, 2003 invasion of Iraq, Libyan Civil War, Syrian Civil War, Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
Production history
Variants9M21B (nuclear), 9M21F (HE) and 9M21G (chemical), Laith-90
Specifications (9M21B)
Mass2.5 t (390 st)[1]
Length8,950–9,400 mm (352–370 in)[1]
Width1,700 mm (67 in)[1]
Diameter544 mm (21.4 in)[1]
Crew4[1]
Maximum firing range65 km (40 mi)[1]
WarheadHigh explosive, chemical, nuclear
Warhead weight420 - 457kg[1]
Maximum speed Mach 3
Launch
platform
8 x 8 ZIL-135 missile launcher

Description

Originally called the 3R-11 and 9R11, the 9M21 is a solid fuel rocket with four off-angle vernier chambers immediately behind the warhead section. When the main engine section ignites, the verniers activate to start spinning the rocket to improve stability and accuracy. At range, the 9M21 has a nominal CEP (circular error probable) of 400 meters.[2][3] Western intelligence estimated that its CEP at maximum range was 500 to 700 meters, but Russian sources admit the likely impact point could fall anywhere within an area 2.8 kilometers in depth from range error and 1.8 kilometers in width in azimuth error.[4]

The initial 3R-11 rocket, known also by its military designation R-65 (NATO: Frog-7A), measures 8,900 mm in length. It was replaced in 1968 with an improved R-70 (NATO: Frog-7B) which measures 9,400 mm. This new variant allows for switching warhead sections and the addition of air brakes at the rear of the rocket, lowering the minimum range to 15 km (9.3 mi).[1][3]

The rocket is mounted on a transporter erector launcher (TEL) designated 9P113. Based on the ZIL-135LM 8x8 truck, it features a large hydraulic crane to allow faster reloading.[2] The 9T29 transporter, also based on the ZIL-135RTM chassis, can carry up to three 9M21 rockets.[3]

In addition to its inaccuracy, the fact that the rocket was exposed to the weather was another drawback to the system, particularly when equipped with temperature-sensitive nuclear ordnance. In the early 1960s the Soviets experimented with a modified 9P113 launch vehicle with a fully-enclosed superstructure and launch roof. This did not solve the issue entirely though, necessitating the development of the Tochka.[4]

Operation

In Soviet service, the Luna-M was organized into battalions to provided divisions with rocket artillery support. Each battalion was organized with a headquarters battery and two firing batteries. Total complement included 20 officers, 160 enlisted personnel, four 9P113 launchers and (on average) seven rockets per launcher.[3]

The headquarters battery numbered about 80 personnel and provided the battalion with command and logistical support. Vehicles included 4 9T29 transporter vehicles, a 9T31M1 crane vehicle (Ural-375D), an RM-1 maintenance complex (3 ZIL-157s), an RVD-1 optical maintenance vehicle (Ural-375D) and PKPP maintenance/check vehicle (ZIL-131).[3]

Each firing battery was organized with a headquarters, a meteorological section, a survey section, and two firing sections. The headquarters included a 9S445M command vehicle: a GAZ-66 truck with attached shelter containing fire control computer, radios and telephones. The meteorological section operated the RVS-1 Malakhit and a RMS-1 meteorological radar in the 1970s, but later upgraded to a RMS-1 End Tray radar supported by an auxiliary power unit, each towed by a GAZ-66. The survey section used a GAZ-69TM/TMG/TMG-2, GAZ-66T or UAZ-452T for launch site preparation. Each firing section consisted of a single 9P113.[3]

Preparing the launcher to fire could take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, and launch sites were generally located 20 to 25 kilometers behind the front line. It was the longest-ranged artillery system available to a division commander and typically reserved for special missions. Because the rocket's inaccuracy at long range made the use of conventional warheads insufficient barring a large and vital target, the system was more useful deploying specialized warheads.[3]

History

A number of Luna missiles, and 12 compatible 2-kiloton nuclear warheads, were deployed with Soviet forces in Cuba during the missile crisis in October 1962.[5]

The Luna was later extensively deployed throughout some Soviet satellite states. The rocket has been widely exported and is now in the possession of a large number of countries.

Syria

In what became its first use in combat, Syrian forces fired a Frog-7 barrage at Galilee on 7 October and 8 October 1973, in the course of the Yom Kippur War. Although aimed at Israeli air bases such as Ramat David, the rockets struck several Israeli settlements. These unintended attacks on civilians gave Israel an excuse to launch a sustained air campaign inside Syria itself.[6]

Starting in 2012, during the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian Army fired several Frog-7 rockets against different areas under control of different insurgent formations.[7]

Iraq

Iraq made intensive use of Frog-7 rockets in the war with Iran (1980-1988).[8] After the war with Iran, Iraq modified its remaining stock of 9M21s by extending their range to 100 kilometres, improving their precision by installing a gyroscope, and fitting submunition-carrying warheads, under a project code-named al-Laith.[9] On 21 February 1991, during operation Desert Storm, Senegalese troops were hit hard by a Laith-90. Eight Senegalese soldiers were wounded in action as a result.[10]

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, US 3rd Infantry Division, Tactical Operations Center (TOC) of U.S Col. David Perkins, was targeted and struck by either an Iraqi Frog-7[11] rocket or an Ababil-100 SSM missile, killing three soldiers and two embedded journalists. Another 14 soldiers were injured, and 22 vehicles destroyed or seriously damaged, most of them Humvees.[12][13]

Yugoslavia

In the course of the Yugoslav Wars, Serb forces launched Frog-7 rockets on a number of Croatian forces, like Orašje, Croatian military stronghold, in the outskirts of Zupanja,[14] on 2 December 1992, where several civilians were killed,[15] or the military airport Zagreb, on 11 September 1993, while the battle of Medak Pocket was still going on.[16]

Libya

RAF jets targeted and destroyed Frog-7 launchers operated by pro-Gaddafi forces south of Sirte in the 2011 Libyan civil war.[17]

Variants
9M21B
Nuclear-armed variant, fitted with one of three warheads. The original AA-22 has a variable yield of 3, 10 and 20 kilotons. The AA-38 is an improved version with the same three settings. The AA-52 has four yields of 5, 10, 20 and 200 kilotons.[3]
9M21E
Cluster munition variant fitted with a 9N18E dispenser warhead carrying shaped charge dual-purpose submunitions.[3]
9M21F
Standard variant fitted with a 9N18F high explosive/fragmentation warhead.[3]
9M21Kh
Chemical weapon variant, the 436kg 9N18kh warhead is fitted with a VT fuze and carries 216kg of VX nerve agent.[3]
Laith (also Laith-90)
Iraqi version with increased range (100 km), improved accuracy and submunition warhead suitable for attacking troop concentrations.[9]
Ra'ad
Iraqi version with increased range (100 km), improved accuracy and submunition warhead suitable for attacking vehicle or infantry columns.[9]
Fateh
Iraqi version with range increased to 150 km, improved accuracy and submunition warhead.[9]
PV-65
Training rocket.[3]

Operators
Map of 9K52 operators in blue with former operators in red

Current operators

[19]

Former operators
  • 9M21 missile (Luna M)
    9M21 missile (Luna M)
  • 9T29 transporter carrying a 9M21 missile for a 9K52 Luna-M missile complex in Saint Petersburg Artillery museum
    9T29 transporter carrying a 9M21 missile for a 9K52 Luna-M missile complex in Saint Petersburg Artillery museum
  • East German 9P113 TEL
    East German 9P113 TEL
  • 9P113 TEL of the 9K52 system
    9P113 TEL of the 9K52 system

See also

References
  1. Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945-1995. (1995). United States: Marine Corps Intelligence Activity. V-59
  2. Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945-1995. (1995). United States: Marine Corps Intelligence Activity. V-57
  3. Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945-1995. V-58
  4. Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945-1995. V-66
  5. Dobbs, Michael (2008). One minute to midnight : Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the brink of nuclear war (1st ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9781400043583.
  6. Terrill, W. Andrew (2009). Escalation and Intrawar Deterrence During Limited Wars in the Middle East. Strategic Studies Institute. pp. 38. ISBN 978-1-58487-406-5.
  7. "Syria's 'Dirty Dozen': The Luna-M/Frog-7". 23 September 2013. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  8. Iran-Iraq: Ballistic Missile Warfare and its Regional Implications CIA Directorate of Intelligence - 2 July 2012
  9. Altobchi, Ali; Cooper, Tom; Fontanellaz, Adrien (2022). Al-Hussein: Iraqi indigenous conventional arms projects, 1980-2003. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-914377-18-1.
  10. United States Department of State Bureau of African Affairs (1991). AF Press Clips. p. 7.
  11. "Engineers quietly do job, face deadly missile strike". Toledo Blade. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  12. "He (Lt. Col. Wesley, second in command) had gotten only thirty feet from his vehicle when a powerful Abril (sic) missile hit it dead center." Lacey, Jim:Takedown: the 3rd Infantry Division's twenty-one day assault on Baghdad. Naval Institute Press, 2007, page 243. ISBN 1-59114-458-2
  13. Zucchino, David (2004). Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad. Grove Press. p. 162.
  14. "Serbs Fired Surface-to-Surface Missile at Zupanja". FBIS Daily Report: East Europe. The Service (241–252). 12 December 1992.
  15. Županjac (2 December 2019). "Na današnji dan 2.12". Županjac.net (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  16. Wood, John (2003). The Chance of War: Canadian Soldiers in the Balkans, 1992–1995. Dundurn. pp. 107. ISBN 1-55002-426-4.
  17. UK MOD Operation Ellamy Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine from Global Security website, 9 May 2011
  18. "North Korean Missile Designations". Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  19. Military balance 2010
  20. Altobchi, Ali; Cooper, Tom; Fontanellaz, Adrien (2022). Al-Hussein: Iraqi indigenous conventional arms projects, 1980-2003. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-914377-18-1.
  21. Mitzer, Stijn; Oliemans, Joost (22 December 2020). "The Forgotten Deterrent: Kuwait's Luna-M 'FROG-7' Artillery Rockets". Oryx Blog.
  22. Robert Rochowicz (2018) (in Polish). Rakiety operacyjne i taktyczne w Siłach Zbrojnych PRL. „Poligon” No. 1/2018(62), p. 61-68, ISSN 1895-3344
  23. Cooper, Tom (2017). Hot Skies Over Yemen, Volume 1: Aerial Warfare Over the South Arabian Peninsula, 1962-1994. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-912174-23-2.
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