As a relatively cheap anti-infantry weapon and anti-armor weapon, landmines are often used on the battlefield to obstruct and contain the advance of enemy troops. Therefore, in this case, the engineering units of various countries need efficient and reliable demining/demining weapons and equipment, and the UR-77 "Meteorite" tracked rocket demining vehicle designed, developed and produced by the former Soviet Union has been a relatively efficient demining/demining weapon system since its birth in the 70s of the 20th century.
The UR-77 "Meteorite" rocket demining vehicle launches the UZP-77 rocket detonation cord / rocket detonation cord
Replacement for the UR-67 model
In 1967, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant officially began mass production, UR-67 rocket demining vehicle, but with the mass production off the assembly line and after the service in the Soviet Army, in the process of training and use, the Soviet Army found that the UR-67 type, in the demining / minesweeping, there is a situation of missing mines, and can not be used with magnetic detonators or double detonators, reflecting the shortcomings of insufficient versatility.
UR-67 rocket demining vehicle
In this case, the design and development of the UR-77 "Meteorite" rocket demining vehicle, the replacement and successor of the UR-67 rocket demining vehicle, was put on the agenda. The tracked chassis of the UR-77 is produced and manufactured by the Kharkiv Tractor Plant, and the tracked chassis used in the 122 mm tracked self-propelled howitzer of the 2S1 "Carnation" type, and in terms of technical sources, this tracked chassis is derived from the MT-LB tracked armored transport vehicle. The mature chassis mobile platform reduces the R&D cycle, avoids technical risks, compresses R&D costs, and facilitates the completion of design and R&D work and accelerates the pace of mass production in a short period of time, so as to quickly form combat effectiveness.
The MT-LB armored transport vehicle (left) and the 2S1 Carnation self-propelled howitzer (right)
The Arabic numeral "77" of the UR-77 model is a representative of the design and development of the project in 1977, in addition to the name "meteorite", it also has the nickname "Serpent Gorynych", which translates to "fire dragon Zuma", which is the fire-breathing dragon in Slavic national mythology. Designed and developed during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the UR-77 was mass-produced in 1978, and the final mass production reached 550 units, which are still in service with the Russian Army since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Rocket demining vehicle of the UR-77 "Meteorite" type on the march
Performance data at a glance
As a tracked rocket demining vehicle, the UR-77 has a total length, 7.26~7.86 meters, width, 2.85 meters, vehicle height, 2.53~2.7 meters, full combat weight, 15.5~17.1 tons, equipped with on-board radio communication equipment, and the power transmission system is a YaMZ-238 diesel engine and a mechanical gearbox, with 5 forward gears and 1 reverse gear. This diesel engine is a product of Yaroslavl Engine Plant, with a speed of 2100 rpm and a horsepower output, 240~300 hp and a power-to-weight ratio of 62 km/h on the road and 19.3 hp/ton.
YaMZ-238 diesel engine (left) and UR-77 rocket demining vehicle from an aerial view (right)
The UR-77 has a fuel tank capacity of 550 liters, a maximum driving range of 500 km, and can climb slopes of 35°, as well as obstacles up to 0.7 meters high and trenches up to 2.2 meters deep. Because it is a support vehicle that follows the armored troops, the UR-77 is not equipped with any on-board weapon system, nor is it equipped with a smoke screen firing device, such a soft protection system. In terms of armor protection, the UR-77 only relies on its own homogeneous steel armor (RHA), and its armor thickness is only 20 mm at the maximum, which can prevent the damage caused by stray bullets and small-caliber bullets, but the 40 mm high-explosive armor-piercing high-speed grenade can penetrate the hull.
The UR-77 is not equipped with weapon systems and soft protection systems
In the project establishment, design and development, considering the abundant river system in Europe, the UR-77 rocket demining vehicle can cross rivers, has amphibious capabilities, and relies on tracks for paddling when driving in water, and can even launch UZ-67 or UZP-77 rocket detonating cords/rocket detonating cords in the water.
Rocket demining vehicle of the UR-77 type in the water
The rear of the UR-77 has a pan-like hatch that stores 2 pieces for the triggering squid/snip/ The solid towing rocket of the rocket detonating cord, the reason why the appearance of the hatch is designed to be similar to the shape of a frying pan, is to facilitate the improvement of the protection of the hatch, through the inclined arc shape adopted around the hatch, so that the stray bullet fragments and small-caliber bullets can form a ricochet after hitting the hatch around the hatch, so as to realize the installation and storage of 2 solid traction rockets in the protective hatch, and the cabin below the protection hatch, the UZ-67 or UZP-77 rocket detonating cord/rocket detonating cord that is stored and placed.
The moment when the UR-77 launches the solid towed rocket (left) and the schematic diagram of the UZ-67 or UZP-77 hoisting and placing it (right)
The UZ-67 rocket detonating cord/rocket EOD is made of canvas with a total length of 83 meters, and the noose is equipped with 665 kg of TNT explosives, and the flight distance is 200~350 meters. UZP-77 rocket detonating cord/rocket detonating cord, the noose is still made of canvas, the total length, 93 meters, the noose is equipped with 725 kg of PVV-7 explosives, and the flight distance is 200~500 meters.
UZP-77型火箭导爆索/火箭排爆索
Whether it is UZ-67 or UZP-77, it is towed by a solid traction rocket, after flying 200~500 meters, it falls on the ground in the minefield, and after landing, the rocket detonating cord / rocket detonating cord, the internal remote control line is energized to detonate the internal explosives, so that the rocket detonating cord / rocket detonating cord, and the mines within the range of 2~3 meters on the left and right sides also explode, thus opening up a 75~90 meters long and 4~wide mines6 meters of safe road strip, followed by tank armored vehicles lined up longitudinally, safely driving through the minefield.
Schematic diagram of the UR-77 launching the UZ-67 or UZP-77 rocket detonating cord/rocket detonation cord
Participated in military operations and appeared in literature
Although the UR-77 was designed, developed, and produced during the Cold War, it fought in the First Chechen War in 1994 and the Second Chechen War in 1999 since the end of the Cold War after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the first Chechen war in 1994, Russia discovered that the UR-77 rocket demining vehicle could complete the mine-clearing area in one launch, which was equivalent to the mine-clearing workload of an engineer mine-clearing squad for nearly two weeks.
After entering the new century, the UR-77 also participated in the Syrian civil war that broke out in 2011 and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that broke out in 2022, and in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Russia even captured at least 17 UR-77 rocket demining vehicles on the Ukrainian side, in addition, the Russian army also used the UR-77 to carry out the task of bombing buildings in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Rocket demining vehicle of the UR-109 "Meteorite" type under the number 77
Interestingly, at the end of the 70s of the 20th century, the "Third World War" military fantasy novel "The Landing of Soviet Forces in Japan; The Japanese Chapter of the Third World War" co-authored and published by the Japanese military critic Ryūo Kurushima and the Military Research Group also included a text description of the rocket's detonating cord/rocket detonating cord and participating in the war.
Rocket Trigger/Rocket Blasting Cord, also appears in military fiction
The author of the novel, through fantasy and in words, describes in detail how the 4th Guards "Kantermir" Tank Division of the Soviet Army, which undertook the offensive mission, and the 36th Tank Regiment under the command of the tank division, faced the minefields laid and planted by the neighboring countries when the Soviet Union launched a ground war against its neighboring country in June 198X. In the novel, the commander of the 36th Tank Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Latomirovich, faced with a wide minefield planted and laid by a neighboring country, decisively ordered the launch of a rocket detonating cord/rocket detonation cord, thus opening up 4 safe road strips on the minefield, so that the tank armored vehicles of the 36th Tank Regiment could safely drive through the minefield.
The UR-77 rocket demining vehicle is old and strong
UR-77 "Meteorite" tracked rocket demining vehicle, since 1978 mass production and delivery, with the passage of time has a history of more than 40 years, during which it has participated in a number of local wars and military operations, and has shown good reliability in actual combat, and is even used to carry out the destruction of buildings.
The UR-77 "Meteorite" type was involved in a number of local wars and military operations
On the other hand, Russia in the design and development of a new tracked rocket demining vehicle, is not very smooth, from UR-03 to UR-07M to UR-15, Russia has not yet been officially finalized mass production, a new generation of tracked rocket demining vehicle. It can be seen that for a long time to come, the UR-77 "Meteorite" will continue to be the mainstay of the Russian Army in carrying out demining/demining missions.
The UR-77 "Meteorite" is a well-established tracked rocket demining vehicle