Ukrainian Drones Wipes Out Russian Grad Rocket Launcher in Precision Strike, Video

Operators of Ukraine’s 5th Separate Assault Brigade struck a Russian artillery position with pinpoint precision, destroying a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher and two howitzers, the brigade reported on October 22.

“Accurate work by our pilots: the Grad has been destroyed,” the unit wrote, adding that eliminating these weapons reduces the threat to Ukrainian positions and saves the lives of fellow soldiers.

The BM-21 Grad (“Hail”) is a Soviet-era multiple rocket launcher mounted on a Ural-4320 truck chassis. Armed with 40 launch tubes that fire 122 mm rockets, the Grad can unleash a full salvo in just 20 seconds, saturating an area of up to 14.5 hectares.

With a firing range of 40 km and a reload time of seven minutes, the system is designed for rapid strikes and quick repositioning.

Despite entering service in 1963, the Grad remains a backbone of Russian artillery. However, its age and visibility on the battlefield have made it a prime target for Ukraine’s growing fleet of FPV drones, which are increasingly being used to hunt and destroy mobile launchers before they can fire.

Earlier, Ukrainian forces destroyed a rare Russian long-range multiple launch rocket system, likely the modernized Tornado-S. The strike was carried out by Ukraine’s Lasar’s Group, which detected the launcher operating in a field roughly 33 kilometers from the front line.

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