9K52 Luna-M

Originally called the 3R-11 and 9R11, the 9M21 is a solid fuel rocket, with four off-angle vernier chambers immediately behind the warhead section. When the main engine section ignites, the verniers activate to start spinning the rocket, to improve stability and accuracy. At range, the 9M21 has a nominal CEP (circular error probable) of 400 meters.Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945-1995. (1995). United States: Marine Corps Intelligence Activity. V-57Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945-1995. V-58 Western intelligence estimated that its CEP at maximum range was 500 to 700 meters. Russian sources admit the likely impact point could fall anywhere within an area 2.8 kilometers in depth from range error, and 1.8 kilometers in width in azimuth error.Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices: 1945-1995. V-66

The initial 3R-11 rocket, known also by its military designation R-65 (NATO: Frog-7A), measures 8,900 mm in length. It was replaced in 1968 with an improved R-70 (NATO: Frog-7B) which measures 9,400 mm. This new variant allows for switching warhead sections and the addition of air brakes at the rear of the rocket, lowering the minimum range to {{convert|15|km|abbr=on}}.

The rocket is mounted on a transporter erector launcher (TEL), designated 9P113. Based on the ZIL-135LM 8x8 truck, it features a large hydraulic crane to allow faster reloading. The 9T29 transporter, also based on the ZIL-135RTM chassis, can carry up to three 9M21 rockets.

In addition to its inaccuracy, the fact that the rocket was exposed to the weather was another drawback to the system, particularly when equipped with temperature-sensitive nuclear ordnance. In the early 1960s, the Soviets experimented with a modified 9P113 launch vehicle with a fully-enclosed superstructure and launch roof. This did not solve the issue entirely, necessitating the development of the Tochka.

In Soviet service, the Luna-M was organized into battalions to provide divisions with rocket artillery support. Each battalion was organized with a headquarters battery and two firing batteries. Total complement included 20 officers, 160 enlisted personnel, four 9P113 launchers and, on average, seven rockets per launcher.

The headquarters battery numbered about 80 personnel and provided the battalion with command and logistical support. Vehicles included 4 9T29 transporter vehicles, a 9T31M1 crane vehicle (Ural-375D), an RM-1 maintenance complex (3 ZIL-157s), an RVD-1 optical maintenance vehicle (Ural-375D) and a PKPP maintenance/check vehicle (ZIL-131).

Each firing battery was organized with a headquarters, a meteorological section, a survey section, and two firing sections. The headquarters included a 9S445M command vehicle: a GAZ-66 truck with attached shelter containing fire control computer, radios and telephones. The meteorological section operated the RVS-1 Malakhit and a RMS-1 meteorological radar in the 1970s. They later upgraded to a RMS-1 End Tray radar, supported by an auxiliary power unit, each towed by a GAZ-66. The survey section used a GAZ-69TM/TMG/TMG-2, GAZ-66T or UAZ-452T for launch site preparation. Each firing section consisted of a single 9P113.

Preparing the launcher to fire could take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. Launch sites were generally located 20 to 25 kilometers behind the front line. It was the longest-ranged artillery system available to a division commander and typically reserved for special missions. Because the rocket's inaccuracy at long range made the use of conventional warheads insufficient, barring a large and vital target, the system was more useful deploying specialized warheads.

In October 1962, a number of Luna missiles, and 12 compatible 2-kiloton nuclear warheads, were deployed with Soviet forces in Cuba during the missile crisis.{{cite book |last1=Dobbs |first1=Michael |title=One minute to midnight : Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the brink of nuclear war |date=2008 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |isbn=9781400043583 |edition=1st}}

The Luna was later extensively deployed throughout some Warsaw Pact countries and other Soviet allies. The rocket has been widely exported, and is now in the possession of a large number of countries. North Korea may have produced a small number of the rockets domestically under the name Hwasong-3 in the 1970s.{{cite book |last=Mitzer |first=Stijn |last2=Oliemans |first2=Joost |title=The Armed Forces of North Korea: On the Path of Songun |publisher=Helion & Company |date=2020 |isbn=978-1-910777-14-5 |page=198}}

In 1985, the Soviet Army started deploying Frog-7B systems armed with high explosive and cluster warheads against villages as part of an effort to deny food supplies for the Afghan mujahideen.{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1088}} In 1989, it was revealed that the Soviet Union supplied the Afghan Army with Frog-7 launchers and expired Frog-7A and Frog-7B rounds from Soviet stockpiles to replace the 1,000-odd Scud-B delivered and fired against the rebel forces.{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1088}}

In its first use in combat, Syrian forces fired a Frog-7 barrage at Galilee on 7 October and 8 October 1973, during the Yom Kippur War. Although aimed at Israeli air bases such as Ramat David, the rockets struck several Israeli settlements. These unintended attacks on civilians gave Israel an excuse to launch a sustained air campaign inside Syria itself.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/escalationintraw0000terr|url-access=registration|title=Escalation and Intrawar Deterrence During Limited Wars in the Middle East|last=Terrill|first=W. Andrew|date=2009|publisher=Strategic Studies Institute|isbn=978-1-58487-406-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/escalationintraw0000terr/page/38 38]|language=en}}

Starting in 2012, during the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian Army fired several Frog-7 rockets against areas under the control of different insurgent formations.{{Cite web|url=http://aoav.org.uk/2013/syrias-dirty-dozen-luna-mfrog-7/|title=Syria's 'Dirty Dozen': The Luna-M/Frog-7|date=23 September 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318172842/http://aoav.org.uk/2013/syrias-dirty-dozen-luna-mfrog-7/|archive-date=18 March 2017|access-date=18 March 2017}}

Iraq made intensive use of Frog-7 rockets in the war with Iran (1980-1988).[https://web.archive.org/web/20170123134152/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP88T00096R000100120003-6.pdf Iran-Iraq: Ballistic Missile Warfare and its Regional Implications] CIA Directorate of Intelligence - 2 July 2012 After the war with Iran, Iraq modified its remaining stock of 9M21s by extending their range to 100 kilometres, improving their precision by installing a gyroscope, and fitting submunition-carrying warheads, under a project code-named al-Laith.{{cite book |last1=Altobchi |first1=Ali |last2=Cooper |first2=Tom |last3=Fontanellaz |first3=Adrien |title=Al-Hussein: Iraqi indigenous conventional arms projects, 1980-2003 |date=2022 |publisher=Helion & Company Publishing |location=Warwick, UK |isbn=978-1-914377-18-1 |page=39}} On 21 February 1991, during operation Desert Storm, Senegalese troops were hit hard by a Laith-90. Eight Senegalese soldiers were wounded in action and one vehicle disabled[http://www.moqatel.com/openshare/Behoth/IraqKwit/37/sec35.doc_cvt.htm Joint Forces Command and Theater of Operations. Military Statement No. (35). 7 Shaaban 1411 AH corresponding to February 21, 1991 AD (In arabic)] as a result{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwlJAQAAIAAJ&q=Frog+troops+wounded+1991+Senegalese+21+February&pg=RA10-PA7|title=AF Press Clips|last=United States Department of State Bureau of African Affairs|date=1991|pages=7|language=en}}

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, US 3rd Infantry Division, Tactical Operations Center (TOC) of U.S Col. David Perkins, was targeted and struck by either an Iraqi Frog-7{{Cite web|url=http://www.toledoblade.com/World/2003/05/11/Engineers-quietly-do-job-face-deadly-missile-strike.html|title=Engineers quietly do job, face deadly missile strike|website=Toledo Blade|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602201752/http://www.toledoblade.com/World/2003/05/11/Engineers-quietly-do-job-face-deadly-missile-strike.html|archive-date=2 June 2014|access-date=2015-12-29}} rocket or an Ababil-100 SSM missile, killing three soldiers and two embedded journalists. Another 14 soldiers were injured, and 22 vehicles destroyed or seriously damaged, most of them Humvees."He (Lt. Col. Wesley, second in command) had gotten only thirty feet from his vehicle when a powerful Abril (sic) missile hit it dead center." Lacey, Jim:Takedown: the 3rd Infantry Division's twenty-one day assault on Baghdad. Naval Institute Press, 2007, page 243. {{ISBN|1-59114-458-2}}{{Cite book|title=Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad|last=Zucchino|first=David|publisher=Grove Press|year=2004|pages=162}}

In the Yugoslav Wars, Serb forces launched Frog-7 rockets on a number of Croatian forces, like Orašje, a Croatian military stronghold, on the outskirts of Zupanja,{{Cite journal|title=Serbs Fired Surface-to-Surface Missile at Zupanja|date=12 December 1992|journal=FBIS Daily Report: East Europe |issue=241–252|publisher=The Service}} on 2 December 1992, where several civilians were killed,{{Cite web|url=https://zupanjac.net/na-danasnji-dan-2-12|title=Na današnji dan 2.12.|last=Županjac|date=2019-12-02|website=Županjac.net|language=hr|access-date=2020-01-04}} and the military airport Zagreb, on 11 September 1993, while the battle of Medak Pocket was still going on.{{Cite book|title=The Chance of War: Canadian Soldiers in the Balkans, 1992–1995|last=Wood|first=John|publisher=Dundurn|year=2003|isbn=1-55002-426-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chanceofwarcanad0000unse/page/107 107]|url=https://archive.org/details/chanceofwarcanad0000unse/page/107}}

Between April and October 1992, Bosnian Serb forces fired 14 Frog-7 rockets at the Croatian city of Slavonski Brod, during Operation Corridor 92.*{{cite book |title=Rat u Bosanskoj Posavini 1992. |language=hr |trans-title=War in Bosnian Posavina 1992 |isbn=978-953-6357-86-4 |publisher=Posavska Hrvatska |location=Slavonski Brod, Croatia |first=Jerko |last=Zovak |year=2009 |pages=515, 520}}

RAF jets targeted and destroyed Frog-7 launchers operated by pro-Gaddafi forces south of Sirte, in the 2011 Libyan civil war.[http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/imint/odyssey-dawn-21.htm UK MOD Operation Ellamy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711151011/http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/imint/odyssey-dawn-21.htm |date=11 July 2011 }} from Global Security website, 9 May 2011

;9M21B

:Nuclear-armed variant, fitted with one of three warheads. The original AA-22 has a variable yield of 3, 10 and 20 kilotons. The AA-38 is an improved version with the same three settings. The AA-52 has four yields of 5, 10, 20 and 200 kilotons.

;9M21E

:Cluster munition variant fitted with a 9N18E dispenser warhead carrying shaped charge dual-purpose submunitions.

;9M21F

:Standard variant fitted with a 9N18F high explosive/fragmentation warhead.

;9M21Kh

:Chemical weapon variant, the 436kg 9N18kh warhead is fitted with a VT fuze and carries 216kg of VX nerve agent.

;Laith (also Laith-90)

:Iraqi version with increased range (100 km), improved accuracy and submunition warhead suitable for attacking troop concentrations.

;Ra'ad

:Iraqi version with increased range (100 km), improved accuracy and submunition warhead suitable for attacking vehicle or infantry columns.

;Fateh

:Iraqi version with range increased to 150 km, improved accuracy and submunition warhead.

;PV-65

:Training rocket.

File:9K52 operators.png

• {{EGY}} − 9 as of 2024{{sfn|IISS|2024|page=348}}
• {{PRK}} − 24 Frog-3, Frog-5, and Frog-7 as of 2024{{sfn|IISS|2024|page=283}}

• {{flag|Afghanistan|1980}} − Frog-7A and Frog-7B{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1088}}
• {{ALG}}{{sfn|Foss|1990|page=737}}
• {{BLR}} − 36 in 2011{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1089}}
• {{BUL}}{{sfn|Foss|1990|page=737}}
• {{CUB}} − Between 65 and 70 launchers{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1089}}
• {{CZS}} − 36 in 1990{{sfn|Foss|1990|page=737}}
• {{DDR}}{{sfn|Foss|1990|page=737}}
• {{HUN}} − 18 in 1990{{sfn|Foss|1990|page=737}}
• {{Flag|Iraq|1963}} – entered service in 1975{{cite book |last1=Altobchi |first1=Ali |last2=Cooper |first2=Tom |last3=Fontanellaz |first3=Adrien |title=Al-Hussein: Iraqi indigenous conventional arms projects, 1980-2003 |date=2022 |publisher=Helion & Company Publishing |location=Warwick, UK |isbn=978-1-914377-18-1 |page=9}}
• {{KUW}} – bought in 1977. Captured by the Iraqi Army during the Gulf War{{cite web |last1=Mitzer |first1=Stijn |last2=Oliemans |first2=Joost |title=The Forgotten Deterrent: Kuwait's Luna-M 'FROG-7' Artillery Rockets |url=https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2020/03/kuwaits-little-known-9k52-luna-m-frog-7.html |website=Oryx Blog |date=22 December 2020}}
• Lebanese Forces − 2 launchers{{sfn|Foss|1990|page=737}}
• {{flag|Libya|1977}} − 40 in 2011{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1089}}
• {{POL}} – 49 launchers, operated between 1966-2001Robert Rochowicz (2018) (in Polish). Rakiety operacyjne i taktyczne w Siłach Zbrojnych PRL. „Poligon” No. 1/2018(62), p. 61-68, ISSN 1895-3344
• {{ROU}} – operated between 1982–1998{{cite book |author-first1=Adrian |author-last1=Stroea |author-first2=Gheorghe |author-last2=Băjenaru |url=https://www.worldwar2.ro/documents/004-artileria-romana-in-date-si-imagini.pdf |title=Artileria Română în date și imagini |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327021330/https://www.worldwar2.ro/documents/004-artileria-romana-in-date-si-imagini.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2023 |publisher=Editura Centrului Tehnic-Editorial al Armatei |language=ro |place=Bucharest |date=2010 |isbn=9786065240803 |pages=142–143}}
• {{RUS}} − Kept in reserve storage as late as of 2011{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1089}}
• {{flag|South Yemen}} – 12 launchers bought from the Soviet Union in 1979{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Tom |title=Hot Skies Over Yemen, Volume 1: Aerial Warfare Over the South Arabian Peninsula, 1962-1994 |date=2017 |publisher=Helion & Company Publishing |location=Solihull, UK |isbn=978-1-912174-23-2 |page=44}}
• {{SYR}} − 18 in 2011{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1089}}
• {{USSR}}{{sfn|Foss|1990|page=737}}
• {{UKR}} − 50 in 2011{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1089}}
• {{YEM}} − 12 in 2011{{sfn|Foss|2011|page=1089}}
• {{YUG}} − 8 in 1990{{sfn|Foss|1990|page=737}}

Luna m frog 7 hameenlinna 4.jpg|A 9M21 missile (Luna M)

9T29 Transporter with 9M21 rocket of 9K52 missile complex «Luna-M» in Military-historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps in Saint-Petersburg, Russia .jpg|A 9T29 transporter carrying a 9M21 missile for a 9K52 Luna-M missile complex, in the Saint Petersburg Artillery museum

Luna m frog 7 hameenlinna 2.jpg|An East German 9P113 TEL

Luna m frog 7 hameenlinna 3.jpg|A 9P113 TEL of the 9K52 system

• Fajr-5
• Falaq-2
• T-122 Sakarya
• TOROS

• {{cite book |editor1-last=Foss |editor1-first=Christopher F |editor1-link=Christopher F Foss |title=Jane's Armour and Artillery 1990-91 |date=1990 |publisher=Jane's Defence Data |location=Surrey |isbn=978-0710609090 |edition=11th |language=en}}
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Foss |editor1-first=Christopher F |title=Jane's Armour and Artillery 2011–2012 |publisher=Janes Information Group |location=Surrey |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-71062-960-9 |pages= |edition=32nd |chapter= |url=https://archive.org/details/janesarmourartil0000unse}}
• {{cite book |last1=International Institute for Strategic Studies |title=The Military Balance 2024 |date=2024 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-040-05115-3 |language=en |ref={{SfnRef|IISS|2024}} |author1-link=International Institute for Strategic Studies }}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/frog-7.htm FAS – Military Analysis Network] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100846/https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/frog-7.htm |date=4 March 2016 }}
• [http://www.history.army.mil/books/www/284a.htm Profile of the Frog 7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709151202/http://www.history.army.mil///books/www/284a.htm |date=9 July 2017 }} from [http://www.history.army.mil/books/www/Wwindx.htm The Whirlwind War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019112421/http://www.history.army.mil/books/www/Wwindx.htm |date=19 October 2014 }} a publication of the United States Army Center of Military History

{{PostWWIISovietAFVS}}

{{Russian and Soviet military designation sequences}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Rocket artillery

Category:Unguided nuclear rockets of the Soviet Union

Category:Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union

Category:Chemical weapon delivery systems

Category:Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology products

Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s

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