Ukrainian war improvisations. American-Soviet hybrid
The war in Ukraine is a place for both the use of modern equipment and numerous field improvisations. Considering the current creativity of Ukrainians, it was only a matter of time before a Frankenstein in the form of a HMMWV with pieces of a BM-21 Grad launcher was created.
During the ongoing war, Ukrainians have shown enormous amounts of creativity, creating very interesting structures or combining drastically different weapons, which seemed impossible before 2022.
The first category might include, for instance, the Panzerjäger, the assembly of one tank from three, or "death trucks" launching Brimstone missiles. Conversely, in the second category one will find, among other things, the integration of Ukrainian planes with Storm Shadow maneuvering missiles, AGM-88 HARM anti-radar, or JDAM/JDAM-ER bombs.
In this context, mounting a six-rail section of the multi-rail rocket launcher BM-21 Grad on the American HMMWV was only a matter of time.
HMMWV as a miniature BM-21 Grad
Using the American HMMWV as a carrier is not a bad solution, as it is a vehicle much heavier and wider than typical pickups or SUVs available in the European market, which positively affects the stability and rigidity of the structure. In addition, the military version is often armored, providing protection against gunfire or artillery shrapnel.
This type of light artillery, depending on the 122 mm caliber rockets used, can lead a bombardment to a distance of about 12 miles for the most common older rockets or over 18 miles in the case of newer ones.
One rocket in the most popular fragmentation-demolition version contains a warhead weighing approximately 42 lbs and has a striking range of about 98 ft, but there are also variants with an incendiary head, a cassette containing anti-tank bomblets, or mines. The ability to fire such a destructive salvo in just a few seconds could be very useful.
