The Ukrainian Armed Forces have test-fired the 122 mm 9M221F Typhoon-1 rocket for use with the BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launching system under the guidance of the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau (Dnepr). Movable ground data acquisition and measurements station, developed by Yuzhnoye SDO, was for the first time also involved in this kind of firings to acquire real-time airborne telemetry from the artillery missiles. The tests demonstrated the upgraded rocket’s ability to reach a distance of 40 km, nearly double the 20.4 km range of the original 9M22 high explosive (HE) fragmentation rocket designed for the BM-21 Grad.
The 9M221F Typhoon-1 is used as basic to develop the guided MLRS rocket Typhoon-1M, along with upgrades to the fundamentally new MLRS rockets Typhoon-2 and Typhoon-4. The Typhoon-M1 rocket is differentiated from its Soviet-era, 122-mm original currently fielded with Ukraine’s forces by virtue of having a range extended to 40 km from 20 km while carrying an equally weighted (18.4 kg approx) HEF warhead. The Typhoon-1 122-mm, extended-range (40 km) MLRS rocket that is suitable to be launched from the BM-21 “Grad” MLRS launcher and its related subtypes was revealed to the public at the 2019 Arms & Security Expo held in Kyiv in early October.
This was the second testing phase. The first phase, also successful, was held in November 2019 at the multi-service range in Dnepropetrovsk region to verify the minimum firing range of the artillery missiles. Besides Yuzhnoye SDO the following organizations were involved in the development of Taifun-1 artillery missile: Pavlograd Mechanical Plant, PA Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant, Pavlograd Chemical Plant, SE RPC Fotoprylad, Research State Institute for Chemical Products etc.
Earlier reports stated that Yuzhnoye had worked on the design of a complete range of more powerful projectiles that included 122 mm MLRS rockets for the “Typhoon-1” (unguided) and “Typhoon-1M” (guided); rockets for the MLRS 9K57 “Uragan” or “Typhoon-2” (of 220 mm diameter, with a range extended to 65 km from 35 km in the Soviet-era original); a new 400 mm diameter projectile for the MLRS “Typhoon-4”, which can carry a 200 kg warhead payload to a range of 280 km. By way of comparison, Tochka-U can carry a 480-kg warhead to a range of 120 km, the respective figures for the MLRS Smerch/Vilkha being 250 kg and 70-130 km.
