H12G2B40 Ubak

The H12G2B40 Ubak ("hail") is a Menghean 122mm 40-barrel multiple rocket launcher produced from the 1970s until the 2000s. It is a derivative of the Letnian BM-21 Grad, mounting the latter's rocket launch assembly on a Chŏnsŏ J288 medium utility lorry. It has given rise to a number of variants and derivatives of its own, some of them using different chassis designs or loading systems.

Description

The H12G2B40 Ubak is built on a modified Chŏnsŏ J288 6×6 medium utility lorry. The chassis is slightly modified: the frame does not extend out as far behind the rear pair of roadwheels, and the placement of the exhaust pipe is slightly different. The structure above the frame is also custom-built to support the launcher and its associated equipment.

Apart from the domestic chassis, the H12G2B40 is functionally identical to the BM-21 Grad. The launch vehicle has a crew of three, but three additional crew members ride in a separate loading vehicle designated H12G2S40. This is a basic Chŏnsŏ J288 lorry with rockets carried in the rear bed under a tarp. The rocket launcher can be fired from a hand crank inside the cab or from a control unit at the end of a 64-meter cable.

Bringing the vehicle into a fire-ready state from a road march takes three minutes, firing a full salvo takes 20 seconds, and bringing the vehicle back into a road-march state takes two minutes. Thus, the full process of driving into a firing position, preparing the launcher, firing a full volley, and exiting the launch area can be completed in slightly under six minutes, making it difficult for an enemy to respond with counter-battery fire. The vehicle itself, however, is entirely unarmored, making it vulnerable to counter-battery fire and small-arms fire.

Variants

• H12G1B40 - Designation for BM-21 Grad vehicles on the original Ural chassis, imported from Letnia in the early 1970s.
• H12G2B40 Ubak - Designation for the domestic multiple rocket launch system described above.
  • H12G2B40G Ubak-G - Original production version with a manually aimed launcher.
  • H12G2B40N Ubak-N - Improved variant introduced in 2002. It features a CSNS navigation unit, which checks the vehicle's position for increased accuracy and autonomy, and powered elevation and traverse controls for the launcher, which allow the crew to aim the weapon without exiting the vehicle and operating the hand crank controls. These and other changes reportedly shave close to 1 minute off the time required to bring the launcher into action, and they allow a single launch vehicle to execute a firing mission at a greater distance from the battery fire-control post, though the battery FC post must still calculate a firing solution. The H12G2B40N also added compatibility with new types of 122mm rocket ammunition, increasing the launcher's range and versatility.
• H12G3B12 - A 12-round 122mm rocket launcher on a Chŏnsŏ G586 chassis with a folding cab roof, for use by airborne forces and border units. The associated system of vehicles is known as H12G3 Ubak-GB and includes fire-control and command vehicles on airborne-capable G566 hulls.
• H12G4B80 Ichung Ubak - A new vehicle introduced in 2006. It consists of a Samsan S915 8×8 wheeled chassis with a 40-rocket Ubak-N type launcher and a separate bank of forty 122mm rockets between the launcher and the cab. The launcher can automatically reload itself from this bank of stored rockets, without requiring the crew to exit the vehicle or rendezvous with a reload team. The cab itself is armored against small-arms fire and shrapnel and armed with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun. Generally considered to be a separate vehicle rather than an Ubak derivative, but it uses the same 122mm rocket ammunition.
  • H12G4B80G - Early production unit with an unarmored cab. First unveiled in 2004 but produced in small numbers.
  • H12G4B80N - Improved variant with an armored cab, introduced in 2006 and accounting for most "Double Ubak" vehicles.

Organization

The Menghean Army typically assigns 122mm multiple rocket launchers at the divisional level, in a multiple rocket launcher battalion which is part of the division's artillery regiment. In the last decade, there have been some reports that the Menghean Army is transferring some 122mm multiple rocket launchers to the regimental level, with individual regiments in a division gaining one 122mm rocket artillery battery each.

A 122mm multiple rocket launcher battalion is divided into three multiple rocket launcher batteries. Each battery contains two firing platoons with three vehicles each, for a total of six launchers per battery or 18 per battalion. The battery also contains a H12G2JS rear command post, which uses a Chŏnsŏ J288 chassis; a H12G2JG forward observer vehicle, which uses a JJCh-1 chassis; a signal lorry based on the Chŏnsŏ G586; a staff car or 4×4 armored car for the reload platoon commander; and a reload platoon with six Chŏnsŏ J288 lorries serving as reload rocket carriers.

The H12G4 system is structured similarly, except that its forward observer vehicle is based on the BSCh-7 and contains a four-person dismount team with additional fire correction equipment. The battery fire control post and battery signal post also use BSCh-7 derivatives. In total, the H12G4 battery contains twice as many 122mm rockets, because each launch vehicle carries an additional 40-rocket pallet and each reload vehicle carries two such pallets.

Ammunition

There are a wide variety of ammunition types in the H-12 rocket family. The most common types in current service are the H-12GP1 long-range high-explosive rocket, the H-12ChW extended-range anti-tank submunition rocket, and the H-12JI extended-range anti-personnel minelaying rocket. All three have ranges of 35-40 kilometers. Most of the remaining types have been withdrawn from active units or are kept in small numbers for specialty missions. The H-12HM chemical weapons delivery rocket is no longer in service, with all stockpiles safely dismantled in the 1990s.

Designation	Warhead	Warhead mass	Rocket mass	Length	Minimum range	Maximum range
H-12GP	HE-frag	18.4 kg	66.6 kg	2.87 m	5,000 m	20,380 m
H-12GPW	HE-frag	19.2 kg	70.3 kg	2.85 m	8,000 m	28,700 m
H-12GPW1	HE-frag	16 kg	68 kg	3.04 m	12,000 m	40,500 m
H-12GPD	HE-frag	26 kg	70 kg	2.92 m	1,500 m	16,000 m
H-12JCh	3× AT mine	22.8 kg	57.7 kg	3.04 m	1,000 m	13,400 m
H-12ChW	63× Chŏl-u	21.5 kg	67 kg	3.04 m	5,000 m	35,500 m
H-12JI	42× JIG-J	18.5 kg	64 kg	3.04 m	6,000 m	39,000 m
H-12JM	Illumination flare	---	66 kg	3.04 m	6,000 m	18,000 m
H-12HM	Sarin reagents	---	58 kg	2.58 m	5,000 m	24,200 m
H-12JJ	Radar jammer	---	64 kg	3.04 m	5,000 m	18,500 m
H-12YM	Smokescreen	20.2 kg	66 kg	2.95 m	5,000 m	20,000 m

Operators

• Argentstan
• Template:Country data Azbekistan
• Dzhungestan
• Republic of Innominada
• Menghe
• Polvokia
• Qusayn
• Template:Country data Ummayah