The 9A52-4 lightweight launch vehicle mounts fewer launch tubes compared with the traditional 12-tube 9A52-2 LV and can be fitted with two types of launch pod containers: 9Ya295-type modular (non-reloadable) container or MZ-196-type reloadable container.

The transporter/loader carries 6 rockets.

The launch vehicle is designed to engage vital dispersed targets, vulnerable elements of which are open and sheltered manpower, soft-skinned, light-armored and armored vehicles of motor-rifled and tank companies, artillery and tactical missile and air defenсe units, helicopters on landing sites, destroy command posts, communication centers and military-industrial infrastructure facilities.

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);
• the 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 launching pod laying on the target. All this provides high survivability of the LV reduced time of staying at a fire position. In urgent fire position displacement mode, the LV is capable of leaving the 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 is from 20 up to 120 km.