Main Missile and Artillery Directorate

For other uses, see Grau (disambiguation).

Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (GRAU)
GRAU emblem
Active	1862–present Current title from 1960
Country	Russia
Type	Central Military Authority
Part of	Chief of Armament and Munition of the Russian Armed Forces
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Nikolay Romanovsky

The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Russian: Гла́вное раке́тно-артиллери́йское управле́ние Министе́рства оборо́ны Росси́йской Федера́ции (ГРАУ Миноборо́ны Росси́и), romanized: Glávnoye rakétno-artilleríyskoye upravléniye Ministérstva oboróny Rossíyskoy Federátsii (GRAU Minoboróny Rossíi)), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (ГРАУ), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the Chief of Armament and Munition of the Russian Armed Forces, a vice-minister of defense.

The organization dates back to 1862 when it was established under the name Главное артиллерийское управление (ГАУ – GAU). The "R" from "rockets" was added to the title from 19 November 1960.

The GRAU is responsible for assigning GRAU indices to Russian army munitions and equipment.

As of December 2021, the Chief of the GRAU was Major General Nikolay Romanovsky.

Arsenals

Satellite imagery of the Lipetsk arsenal

Arsenals of the GRAU, according to Kommersant-Vlast in 2005, included the 53rd at Dzerzhinsk, Nizhniy Novogorod Oblast, the 55th in the Sklad-40 microraion at Rzhev, the 60th at Kaluga, the 63rd at Lipetsk, the 75th at Serpukhov south of Moscow, and the 97th at Skolin (all five in the Moscow Military District). An additional possibly disused arsenal in the Moscow Military District is the 107th at Toropets. The 5th at Alatyr, Chuvash Republic, the 80th Arsenal at Gagarskiy, the 103rd Arsenal at Saransk, Mordovia, and the 116th at Krasno-Oktyabrskiy were all in the Volga–Urals Military District.

Fires and explosions

On 4 September 2024 at 00:35:00 (UTC) NASA's FIRMS detected a fire around the railroad tracks at the entrance to the 93rd GRAU arsenal near Kuzhenkino

Since 2009, there have been a number of fires and explosions at GRAU ammunition storage depots.

• A major series of explosions occurred at an arms depot of the 31st Arsenal of the Caspian Flotilla near Ulyanovsk on 13 November 2009. At least two people were killed in the explosion and 43 were rescued from a bomb shelter where they had taken refuge.

• There were fires and explosions at the 102nd Arsenal GRAU at Pugachevo (Malaya Purga) in Udmurtia (Volga-Urals Military District) in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2018, and two other incidents in 2011 at the 99th Arsenal in Bashkiria and at Ashuluk. There were three more fires in 2012.

• On December 26, 2013, an Antonov An-12B transport aircraft of the Irkut company was flying along the route Novosibirsk - Irkutsk, but when landing, it crashed onto a warehouse of the 109th Arsenal GRAU located near the Irkutsk Northwest Airport (Siberian Military District). All nine people on board were killed - six crew members and three passengers.

• On 7 October 2020, a grass fire reached ammunition in open storage at Military Unit Number 55443 (once maybe the GRAU's 97th Arsenal) near Zheltukhino (ru:Желтухино (деревня, Рязанская область)) in Skopinsky District, Ryazan Oblast, igniting munitions. Whether GRAU or the Western Military District was responsible for the depot was unlear. Interfaks-AVN wrote that there were 113 warehouses and bunkers with 75,000 tons of missiles, rockets, and artillery shells (including 152-mm) at the site. A woman died from injuries and there were at least another 15 victims in stable condition; the fire and explosions "damaged 430 structures, public facilities, apartment buildings, and private homes."

• On 28 June 2022 the cell "BOAK-Vladimir" published a press release claiming sabotage action on railway of Military Unit Number 55443 VD Barsovo (51st Arsenal of the GRAU) near Kirzhach in Vladimir Oblast. The rails were damaged. BOAK's press release stated, "Every stopped train helps to get rid of missiles and rockets, which could hit peaceful Ukrainian cities!"

• On 4 September 2024 the railroad tracks at the entrance to the 93rd GRAU arsenal of military unit 55443-TD near Kuzhenkino and 7 km West-northwest of Borisovsky Khotilovo air base saw an extensive fire detected by NASA's FIRMS.

• Toropets depot explosions – On the night of 17–18 September 2024, during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Ukraine launched a drone attack on the GRAU ammunition depot in Toropets, causing a massive series of explosions and fires while damaging much of the town. The attack resulted in an earthquake-magnitude blast, and NASA satellites detected the resulting fires over an area of approximately 13 km² (5 sq mi). The blast wave spread up to 200 mi (320 km) and was estimated to be consistent with 200–240 tonnes of TNT (840–1,000 GJ) of high-explosives detonating. The Security Service of Ukraine claimed that "Iskander, Tochka and KAB missiles" were stored at the facility. Russian officials reported that 13 people had been injured and that an evacuation of the area had been ordered.

• On 9 October 2024 the Karachev ammunition storage depot was attacked by Ukrainian drones. The depot is controlled by the 67th GRAU near Karachev, located in Bryansk region, approximately 114 km from the Ukrainian border. Fires, explosions and continuous detonations for hours resulted, but initial battle damage assessment has not yet been made by independent military analysts. Two ammunition depot storage warehouses were destroyed.

• On 20 November 2024 the 13th arsenal located at Kotovo, Novgorod Oblast was attacked by Ukrainian drones and Kotovo residents were evacuated to nearby Okulovka as a precaution.

Current GRAU indices

GRAU indices are of the form ⟨number⟩ ⟨letter⟩ ⟨number⟩, sometimes with a further suffix ⟨letter⟩ ⟨number⟩. They may be followed by a specially assigned codename. For example "2 S 19  Msta-S", the 2S19 Msta self-propelled howitzer, has the index 2S19, without suffix; Msta-S is the codename.

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, one of the surface-to-air missiles in the S-25 Berkut air defense system had at least four domestic designations:

• design name: La-205
• GRAU index: 5V7
• industry name: Product 205 (Izdeliye 205)
• Soviet military designation: V-300

Some Soviet general-purpose bombs bore a designation that looked confusingly similar to GRAU.

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)

• 1K: Buran (the first Buran-class orbiter; see also "#11 (Rocketry and associated equipment)")
• 1L: 1L14, the IFF detector for the 9K310 (Igla) air defense system
• 1S: Radar (1S11, target detecting radar of 1S91 command and control vehicle of 2K12 Kub air defense system)
• 1V: Artillery command vehicles (1V18/19 on BTR-60 chassis, 1V13/16 on MT-LBu chassis)
• 1P: Firearms optic (1P87 optic on AK-12, 1P70 optic on SVDK). 1PN designates the firearms optic as a night vision device, e.g. 1PN51.

2 (Artillery systems)

• 2A: Towed artillery systems (2A65 Msta-B)
• 2B: Mortar Systems (2B9 Vasilek, 2B14 Podnos)
• 2K: Air Defence Systems (2K11, Krug surface-to-air missile system; 2К12, Kub surface-to-air missile system, 2K22, Tunguska surface-to-air gun-missile system)
• 2S: Self-propelled artillery systems (2S1 Gvozdika, 2S19 Msta-S)
• 2U: Training equipment

3 (Army and naval missiles)

• 3M: Various missiles (3M80 Moskit, 3M45 Granit)

4 (Naval missiles and army equipment (munitions, reactive armour, etc.))

• 4G: Warheads (4G15, the high explosive/HEAT warhead for the P-15 Termit anti-ship missile)
• 4K: Naval missiles (4K10, the submarine-launched ballistic missile R-27 (RSM-25) for D-5 "Zyb" system; 4K40, P-15 Termit missile)
• 4P: Launchers
• 4S: Launchers (4S95, the launcher of "Kinzhal/Klinok" (SA-15 Gauntlet) air defense complex)

5 (Air defense equipment)

• 5Ae: Computers (5Ae26, a specialized multi-CPU computer with a performance of 1.5 MIPS)
• 5B: Surface-to-air missile warheads (5B18, the warhead for the S-125's V-601 missile)
• 5P: Surface-to-air missile launchers (5P75, the four-missile launcher for the S-125 air defense system)
• 5V: Surface-to-air missiles (5V55, SAM for S-300 air defense system)
• 5Ya: Surface-to-air missiles (5Ya23, a SAM for the S-75 air defense system)
• 5#

* 51T6 (SH-11/ABM-4 Gorgone), an exoatmospheric anti-ballistic missile interceptor for the A-135 air defense system

* 53T6 (SH-08/ABM-3 Gazelle), an endoatmospheric interceptor for A-135 air defense system

6 (Firearms, air defense equipment)

• 6B: Body armor (6B1; 6B13, for mountain troops; 6B23, MOLLE; 6B43, MOLLE for airborne, naval and special troops), helmets (6B6)
• 6Ch: Firearm equipment (6Ch12, the PBS-1 flash suppressor and silencer; 6Ch63, AK modernize kit; 6Ch64, front grip)
• 6E: Firearm equipment (6E7, flashlight)
• 6G: Grenade or rocket launchers (6G3, the RPG-7 man-portable, rocket-propelled grenade launcher; 6G17, the VOG-25 40 mm grenade cartridge)
• 6Kh: Knives and bayonets (6Kh3, a sword-bayonet for the AKM)
• 6P: Firearms (6P1, the 7.62 mm AKM, and 6P41/6P41M, PKP)
• 6Sh: Firearm equipment (6Sh5, a rifle sling; 6Sh92, tactical vest; 6Sh104, SVD/VSS vest for sniper and backpack with rain cover and 2 side MOLLE pouches; 6Sh105, normal or digital tactical vest; 6Sh112, MOLLE tactical vest for PKM/PKP machine-gunner)
• 6T: Firearm equipment (6T2, Samozhenkov's carriage for PKS machine gun)
• 6Ts: Sights (6Ts1, the PSO-1 sight for the Dragunov sniper rifle)
• 6U: Firearm equipment (6U1, personnel carrier vehicle carriage for PKB/PKBM machine gun)
• 6V: Firearms (6V1, the Dragunov sniper rifle)
• 6Yu: Firearm accessories kit (6Yu4, accessories kit for the AKM)
• 6Zh: Firearm equipment (6Zh1M, a 100-round belt-box for the PKM machine gun)
• 6L: Magazine (6L20, bakelite plastic 5.45×39mm magazine for the AK-74)

7 (Firearm munitions)

• 7B: Ammunition (7B33, the 7.62×54mmR armour-piercing/incendiary round)
• 7G: Grenades (7G1, the RKG-3 handheld HEAT grenade)
• 7Kh: Training ammunition (7Kh1, the 12.7×108mm blank cartridge)
• 7N: Ammunition (7N1, the 7.62×54mmR 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 7.62×54mmR tracer round)
• 7U: Ammunition (7U1, the 5.45×39mm low speed (subsonic) US (Umenshennoy Skorosti; "Reduced Speed") cartridge)
• 7Z: Ammunition (7Z1, the 14.5×115mm incendiary round)

Exceptions

• 71Kh6: the US-KMO Prognoz-2 early warning system satellite
• 73N6 Baikal-1: an automated air defense command and control system
• 75E6 Parol-3: the IFF interrogator for the S-75M and S-125
• 76N6: a low-altitude target detector radar

8 (Army missiles and rocketry)

• 8A: Ballistic missiles
• 8D: Rocket engines (mostly)
• 8F: Warheads
• 8K: Missiles (8K51, 8K63 Dvina, 8K64, 8K67, 8K71, 8K81, 8K84)
• 8P: Expendable launch systems
• 8S: Missile propulsion stages

9 (Army missiles, UAVs)

• 9A: Launchers (9A52, the chassis of the BM-30 Smerch MLRS)
• 9F: Training and equipment systems (9F827 of the BM-30 Smerch system)
• 9K: Systems (9К33 Osa surface-to-air missile system; 9K115-2 Metis-M anti-tank missile system; 9K310 Igla air defense system)
• 9M: Missiles (9M133 Kornet, 9M123 Khrizantema, 9M120 Ataka ATGM)
• 9P: Launchers (9P140, the chassis of the BM-27 Uragan MLRS)
• 9S: 9S737, Ranzhir mobile command center
• 9T: Transporter-loaders and re-supply vehicles (9T234 of the BM-30 Smerch system, 9T244 of the 9K331 Tor system)

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 N1 heavy-lift launcher, 11A511, the Soyuz launcher)
• 11B: Nuclear thermal rocket engines (11B91 (RD0410); 11B97)
• 11D: Rocket engines (11D43, the RD-253 liquid fuel rocket engine (First stage of Proton space launcher))
• 11F: Satellites (11F67 Molniya-1, a telecom satellite; 11F35 K1 Buran (the first Buran-class shuttle; see also "#1 (Radio and electronics equipment)"); 11F654 GLONASS satellites; 11F94 LK, a lunar lander)
• 11G: Equipment (11G12, a refuelling station)
• 11K: Rocketry (11K25 Energia, a heavy-lift rocket for the Buran–class 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 rocket)

14 (Rocketry and associated equipment)

• 14A: Rockets (14A15, is the "Soyuz-2-1v")
• 14D: Rocket engines (14D30, the "Briz" booster's S5.98M liquid fuel engine)
• 14F: Satellites (14F10, the IS-MU Naryad anti-satellite weapon)
• 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)

15 (Strategic Missile Forces equipment)

• 15A: Intercontinental ballistic missiles (15A14 and 15A18, the R-36M (SS-18 Satan) ICBM; 15A15, the UR-100MR (SS-17 Spanker) ICBM)
• 15B: Warheads
• 15D: Rocket engines (mostly)
• 15F: Warheads
• 15N: Command and control vehicles
• 15P: Silo-based launchers (mostly)
• 15U: ICBM ground equipment
• 15Zh: ICBMs and tactical ballistic missiles (15Zh45, the RT-21M Pioneer (SS-20 Saber) TBM)

17 (Rocketry and associated equipment)

• 17D: Misc. rocket engines (17D58Ae, the stabilization and orientation engine of the "Briz-M" booster)
• 17F: Satellites (17F15 Raduga-1, a telecommunications satellite)
• 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)

See also

• Designations of Russian towed artillery
• NATO Reporting Name

References

• The initial version of this article was based on material from aviation.ru. It has been released under the GFDL by the copyright holder.
• Dictionary of GRAU designations at aviation.ru
• Kommersant (21 February 2005). Что такое современная армия России [What is the modern army of Russia]. Vlast (in Russian). 7 (610). Archived from the original on 2007-11-14. Retrieved 20 September 2008.

Further reading

• Lennox, Duncan (March 1993). "Russian Missile Designators". Jane's Intelligence Review, p. 120.
• Zaloga, Steven (August 1994). "Russian Missile Designations". Jane's Intelligence Review, p. 342–349.

External links

• History of the GRAU (in Russian)
• https://russiandefpolicy.com/2020/10/13/the-latest-arsenal-fire/ - arsenal fires, 2020