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| Revealed, Ukraine Deploys New Grim-2 Short-Range Ballistic Missiles To Attack Russia |
Moscow - The Russian Ministry of Defense on March 30, 2023 announced that its troops' air defense systems managed to intercept one surface-to-surface missile belonging to Ukraine Grim-2 (Grom-2/Hrim-2).
Grim-2 is a short-range ballistic missile system developed by the Pivdenne Design Office with A.M. Makarov Southern Machine-Building Plant. The Grim-2 design began to be developed between 2013 – 2016 as a mobile ballistic missile system. This system was first introduced to the public in a military parade in August 2018
In April 2019, it was reported that a prototype of the Grim-2 operational-tactical complex was ready for tests in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Grim-2, which is considered the closest competitor of the Russian-made Iskander-M, was created to replace the Ukrainian military's current Tochka-U ballistic missile, which has a range of 120 km.
Meanwhile, Grom-2 has a firing range of 50 to 280 km. Used to destroy individual or group stationary targets.
The missile is equipped with a warhead with a mass of 480 kg, where the payload can be configured as unitary or cluster. Unity configurations use high-explosive fragmentation payloads. The cluster payload is also equipped with high-explosive sub-munitions.
The estimated area of impact of missiles with a high-explosive fragmentation charge is over 10,000 m², while the cluster payload covers 2-3 hectares.
For specifications, the missile along with the launch container is 7.2 m long and weighs around 3.5 tons. The missile's onboard control system is inertial and equipped with various navigation and guidance systems. The carrier vehicle, the TEL (Transporter Erector Launcher) is based on a domestically made 10X10 truck chassis powered by a 600 hp Deutz turbo diesel engine.
The truck carries two missiles in individual containers located at the rear of the truck. In the firing position, the missile is mounted vertically at the rear of the truck chassis.
Reportedly, initially the development of Grom-2 was for the benefit of the Saudi Arabian armed forces, with most of it being built using Saudi Arabian funds, but the project was never completed. Nevertheless, there are several manufacturing rocket engines and some experimental launchers still available. With the outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine finally attempted to pursue this project independently.