The Smerch multiple rocket launcher (MRL) system is designed to engage critical area targets whose vulnerable elements are unsheltered and sheltered manpower, soft-skinned, light-armored and armored vehicles of motor-rifle and tank companies, artillery, tactical missile and air defence units, helicopters on the landing areas, destroy command posts, communications centers and military-industrial installations.

Components:

• combat assets (launch vehicles (LV), transporter/loaders, various trajectory-corrected rockets);
• controls facilities (unified command staff vehicles);
• weather support facilities (radio direction finding/weather system);
• maintenance facilities (repair and locksmith workshop to repair artillery armament);
• training aids and special arsenal equipment (9F840 training set, 9F827 training aids, 9F819 special arsenal equipment set).

The launch vehicle provides firing, survey control, ground navigation with data display on the electronic map, and automated launch tube cluster laying on the target. All this provides high survivability of the LV through reduced time of staying at a fire position. In urgent fire position displacement mode, the LV is capable of leaving the fire position within 1 min. For operations in bad weather and at night, the crew is provided with increased comfort.

A wide range of trajectory-corrected rockets has been developed for the Smerch MRL. All the rockets share the same design and differ from each other only in the type warhead used (cluster warhead with fragmentation submunitions, separable and non - separable HE warhead, thermobaric warhead, cluster warhead with shaped-charge/fragmentation submunitions, cluster warhead with sensor-fused submunitions). Range of fire - from 20 up to 120 km.