RM-70 (Raketomet vz. 70)

History

Since the dark days of World War II, the Soviet Army has valued rocket launchers, stockpiling thousands of samples to meet the needs of its armament theory. Rocket launchers, while generally inaccurate against specific targets, provide a relatively inexpensive and psychologically effective battlefield weapon with no line-of-sight -- instead, targeting "areas" is more popular than hitting a target directly.

When effectively deployed - that is, in groups of multiple rocket launchers - salvo launches had devastating results on the enemy and proved worthy of the initiative.

The Czech army was right to follow the Soviet influence on Czechoslovakia in armament doctrine. In the decades after World War II, the Czechs used the simple RM-51 multiple rocket launcher, a six-wheel truck chassis with a jack-and-tilt turret with a 32 x 130 mm rocket, based on the Soviet BM- 13 based on the WWII-era series.

The model is used by the armed forces of Austria, Bulgaria, Cuba, Egypt, Libya and one of the largest operators, Romania, which has procured nearly 600 of these, known locally as "R-2s".

In the 1960s, the Soviet Army reclassified the BM-13 as the BM-21 series, which used 40 x 122mm rocket tubes on a mobile/lifting turret mounted on a six-wheel truck chassis. Over time, this design was passed on to the Czech Army as the localized "RM-70". The RM-70 is an improved version of the BM-21, developed specifically for the needs of the Czech Army, and features a heavy eight-wheeled armored vehicle chassis with 40-barreled 122mm launchers behind the armored crew cab.

The design provides adequate protection for units expected to operate behind friendly forces despite being within the designated enemy target area. The truck chassis includes a T-903-3 V12 multi-fuel engine with 250 horsepower, a range of 250 miles and a top speed of 53 mph. The crew sits in relative comfort and safety in a steel armoured cab with armoured sun visors to provide adequate driving visibility under protection. The machine's 8x8 wheels ensure unrestricted off-road travel, and its mechanized approach allows the machine to keep up with Allied tracked armored and infantry fighting vehicles if necessary.

The vehicle allows for storage of 40 rocket reloads to ensure that the weapon system can be fired twice before a proper full reload of the launch vehicle is required.

The range of the RM-70 allows the crew to launch all 40 missiles to a range of 20 km in less than 20 seconds. The turret is flexible enough to allow the system to engage the target area at any desired angle without having to rotate the entire vehicle to face the fight.

In this way, the vehicle can be used to lay a "carpet" of missile fire and bring it to a safe location for reloading. Point protection against low-flying aircraft and infantry is provided by personal crew weapons or provided vz. 59 series general purpose machine gun.

The RM-70 was developed into a number of notable variants, including the base RM-70 fighter model. The RM-70/85 is a lighter unarmored version with a 265 hp T3-930-51 series engine.

It was followed by the modernized RM-70/85M, which incorporated an all-new fire control system and land navigation package to keep the system fit for the modern battlefield. The rocket was further developed using this derivative, with a range of 36 km. The RM-70 "modular" was introduced in 2000 for the production of NATO-compliant Multiple Rocket Launch Systems (MLRS). The modular nature of the design allows the weapon turret to be exchanged for another type of turret (suitable for rockets of different calibers) if necessary - greatly expanding the tactical appeal of the RM-70 series.

The introduction of these systems took place in 2005. The Vz.92 "Krizan VMZ" is a technical vehicle variant and was developed as another modular solution to serve various battlefield roles, including long-range infantry/anti-tank mines.

Since its introduction in 1971/1972, the RM-70 has been widely used by various armed forces outside the Czech Republic (these are now retired). Operators include Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Finland (122 RakH 89), Georgia, East Germany (to Greece after reunification), Greece, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon, Myanmar, Poland, Rwanda, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Uruguay, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

The official name of the RM-70 is "Raketomet vzor 1970". Although introduced in 1971, the RM-70 is known as "M1972" in NATO nomenclature.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

40 x rockets (single reload); also depends on ammo carrier.

Changes