GRAU explained
The Main Agency of Missiles and Artillery of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (GRAU) (Russian: '''Главное ракетно-артиллерийское управление МО РФ''' ('''ГРАУ'''), ''Glavnoye raketno-artilleriyskoye upravleniye MO RF (GRAU)'') is a department of the Russian (ex Soviet) Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the Chief of Armament and Munition of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, a vice-minister of defense.
In particular, the GRAU is responsible for assigning GRAU indices to Russian army munitions and equipment.
Arsenals of the GRAU, according to Kommersant-Vlast in 2005, include the 60th at Kaluga, the 55th at Rzhev, the 75th at Serpukhov south of Moscow, (all three in the Moscow Military District) and the 80th at Gagarskiy, the 116th at Krasno-Oktyabrskiy and the 5th, all in the Volga-Urals Military District.[1]
The current Chief of the GRAU is Colonel General Vladimir N. Zaritskiy.
GRAU indices
GRAU indices are of the form , with the optional suffix . A specially assigned codename may follow the index.
For example: «2 S 19 Msta-S», the 2S19 Msta self-propelled howitzer.
Misconceptions
Several common misconceptions surround the scope and originating body of these indices. The GRAU designation is not an industrial designation, nor is it assigned by the design bureau. In addition to its GRAU designation, a given piece of equipment could have a design name, an industrial name and a service designation.
For example, some of the surface-to-air missiles in the S-25 Berkut air defense system had at least four domestic designations:
- design name: La-205
- industry name: Product 205, (Russian: ''izdeliye 205'')
- GRAU index: 5V7
- service designation: V-300
Confusion also arises from the fact that some Soviet general-purpose bombs bore a similar-looking designation. For example, the FAB-250sch entered service in 1944 with the design drawing no. 3-01301 and the designation 7-F-334.
Designation scheme
The first part of a GRAU index is a number indicating which of the several main categories of equipment a given item belongs to. The second part, a Cyrillic character, indicates the subcategory. The third part, a number, indicates the specific model. The optional suffix can be used to differentiate variants of the same model.
1 (Radio and electronics equipment)
2 (Artillery systems)
3 (Army and naval missiles)
4 (Naval missiles and army equipment (munitions, reactive armour, etc.))
5 (Air defense equipment)
- 5B - SAM warheads (5B18, the warhead for the S-125's V-601 missile)
- 5P - SAM launchers (5P75, the four-missile launcher for the S-125 air defense system)
- 5V - SAM missiles (5V55, SAM for S-300 air defense system)
- 5Ae - Computers (5Ae26, a specialized multi-CPU computer with a performance of 1.5 MIPS)
- 5Ya - SAM's (5Ya23, a SAM for the S-75 air defense system)
- 5#
- 53T6 (SH-08/ABM-3 Gazelle), an endoatmospheric interceptor for A-135 air defense system
6 (Firearms, air defense equipment)
- 6B - Body armor (6B1), helmets (6B6)
- 6V - Firearms (6V1, the Dragunov sniper rifle)
- 6G - Firearms (6G3, the RPG-7 man-portable, rocket propelled grenade launcher; 6G17, the VOG-25 40 mm grenade cartridge)
- 6Zh - Firearm equipment (6Zh1M, a 100-round magazine for the PKM machine gun)
- 6P - Firearms (6P1, the 7.62 mm AKM)
- 6T - Firearm equipment (6T2, Samozhenkov's carriage for PKS machine gun)
- 6U - Firearm equipment (6U1, personnel carrier vehicle carriage for PKB/PKBM machine gun)
- 6Kh - Knives and bayonets (6Kh3, a sword-bayonet for the AKM)
- 6Ts - Sights (6Ts1, the PSO-1 sight for the Dragunov sniper rifle)
- 6Ch - Firearm equipment (6Ch12, the PBS-1 flash suppressor and silencer)
- 6Sh - Firearm equipment (6Sh5, an ammunition belt)
7 (Firearm munitions)
- 7B - Ammunition (7B33, the 7.62 x 54 mm R armour-piercing/incendiary round)
- 7G - Grenades (7G1, the RKG-3 handheld HEAT grenade)
- 7Z - Ammunition (7Z1, the 14.5 x 115 mm incendiary round)
- 7N - Ammunition (7N1, the 7.62 x 54 mm round for sniper rifles)
- 7P - Rocket propelled grenades (7P1, a 40 mm RPG-7 round)
- 7S - Misc. ammunition (7S1, a signal false-fire of orange smoke)
- 7T - Ammunition (7T2, the 7.62 x 54 mm R tracer round)
- 7U - Ammunition (7U1, the 7.62x54mm low speed (subsonic) US cartridge)
- 7Kh - Training ammunition (7Kh1, the 12.7 x 108 mm blank cartridge)
Exceptions
- 71Kh6, the US-KMO Prognoz-2 early warning system satellite
- 73N6 Baikal-1, an automated air defense command and control system
- 76N6, a low-altitude target detector radar
- 75E6 Parol-3, the IFF interrogator for the S-75M and S-125
8 (Army missiles and rocketry)
9 (Army missiles, UAVs)
- 9K - 9К33, Osa surface-to-air missile system; 9К115-2, Metis-M anti-tank missile system; 9K310, the SA-16 Gimlet air defense system
- 9M - 9M62, T-92 UAV from aerial reconnaissance complex "Tipchak"; 9M133, Kornet anti-tank guided missile
- 9S - 9S737, Ranzhir mobile command center
10 (Equipment)
- 10P - Sights (10P19, the PGO-7V sight for RPG-7V grenade launcher)
- 10R - Radios (10R30 Karat-2, a radio transmitter)
11 (Rocketry and associated equipment)
- 11A - Rocketry (11A51, the Korolev N-1 heavy-lift launcher, 11A511, the Soyuz launcher)
- 11B - Nuclear thermal rocket engines (11B91 (RD0410); 11B97)
- 11G - Equipment (11G12, a refuelling station)
- 11D - Rocket engines (11D43, the RD-253 liquid fuel rocket engine (1-st stage of "Proton" space launcher))
- 11K - Rocketry (11K25 Energia, a heavy-lift rocket for the "Buran" space shuttle)
- 11M - Onboard equipment (11M243, solar array actuators for the 11F624 Yantar-2K satellite)
- 11P - Ground equipment (11P825, the launch complex for the 11K25)
- 11S - Rocket stages (11S59, the 1st and 2nd stages ("unit A") of the Soyuz launch vehicle)
- 11F - Satellites (11F67 Molnia-1, a telecom satellite; 11F35K1, the first production Buran; 11F654 GLONASS satellites)
14 (Rocketry and associated equipment)
- 14D - Rocket engines (14D30, the "Briz" booster's S5.98M liquid fuel engine)
- 14I - Ground equipment (14I02, the ground equipment for the "Briz" booster's 8P882 system)
- 14P - Ground equipment (14P72, the service system for the "Briz" booster)
- 14S - Boosters (14S12, the "Briz" booster)
- 14T - Ground equipment (14T81, the storage equipment for the "Briz" booster)
- 14F - Satellites (14F10, the IS-MU Naryad anti-satellite weapon)
15 (Strategic Missile Forces equipment)
17 (Rocketry and associated equipment)
- 17D - Misc. rocket engines (17D58Ae, the stabilization and orientation engine of the "Briz-M" booster)
- 17K - Space-based systems (17K114, a space-based reconnaissance and targeting system)
- 17P - Ground equipment (17P31, the start system for 11K25)
- 17S - Rocket stages (17S40, Unit D of the Proton launcher)
- 17U - Ground equipment (17U551, the "Briz-M" booster testing system)
- 17F - Satellites (17F15 Raduga-1, a telecommunications satellite)
Sources and References
- Kommersant-Vlast, Vys Rossikaya Armiya, 2005
External links and Further Reading
See also
