Profile
- Type
- Unguided 122 mm artillery rocket
- Conflict side
- Houthi-aligned forces
- Origin
- Soviet Union design family; widely copied and supplied by multiple states
- Service note
- Cold War-origin munition family in continued irregular and state use
Munitions
122 mm Katyusha rocket
The 122 mm Katyusha rocket is the common Grad-style unguided artillery rocket family associated with BM-21 and improvised launchers. In Yemen, open-source investigations document pro-Houthi use of 122 mm unguided rockets in Aden, where their area-effect, low-accuracy fire made them especially dangerous in populated neighborhoods.
- Conflict side
- Houthi-aligned forces
Service History
- In service
- 1960s-present in Grad-compatible rocket artillery and improvised launch use
- Used by
- Houthi-aligned forces, State and non-state operators of Grad-compatible rockets
- Wars
- Yemen Civil War
Production History
- Designer
- Soviet rocket-artillery design lineage associated with the BM-21 Grad family
- Designed
- Early 1960s for the BM-21/M-21 field rocket system
- Unit cost
- Varies by producer and rocket type
- Produced
- 1960s-present for 122 mm Grad-compatible rocket families
- Number built
- Large-scale production across Soviet, Russian, licensed, and foreign-copy lines
- Variants
- 9M22 / M-21OF high-explosive fragmentation rocket, Extended-range 122 mm Grad-compatible rockets, Improvised single-rocket launch configurations
Specifications
- Caliber
- 122 mm
- Guidance
- Unguided, fin-stabilized artillery rocket
- Common rocket length
- About 2.87 m for the 9M22 family
- Common rocket weight
- About 66 kg for the 9M22 family
- Warhead
- High-explosive fragmentation; common 9M22 warhead about 18.4 kg
- Range
- About 20.75 km for common 9M22 rockets; some compatible extended-range rockets reach around 40 km
- Launch platforms
- BM-21 Grad-type multiple rocket launchers, compatible foreign launchers, and improvised single-rocket mounts
Conflict Usage
- Yemen Civil War
- Side: Houthi-aligned forcesRole: Unguided area rocket fire
Pro-Houthi forces fired unguided 122 mm rockets into Aden neighborhoods in July 2015; Human Rights Watch documented 122 mm rocket remnants and assessed the impacts as coming from pro-Houthi positions, while CSIS later identified 122 mm Katyusha rockets among weapons supplied to the Houthis.
122 mm Katyusha rocket Images
Related Weapon Systems
SS-60 Mk4 Cluster Rocket300 mm unguided cluster artillery rocketThe SS-60 Mk4 is a Brazilian 300 mm ASTROS-family unguided artillery rocket made by Avibras for long-range area fires. In the Yemen Civil War, open-source investigations identified SS-60 Mk4-marked rocket remnants and Brazilian ASTROS cluster munition rockets after Saudi-led coalition strikes in Saada governorate.
9K52 Luna-M artillery rocket systemArtillery rocket systemThe 9K52 Luna-M, known to NATO as FROG-7, is a Soviet wheeled short-range artillery rocket system whose unguided 9M21 rockets remained in Houthi hands during the Yemen Civil War, where they were used for close-range and cross-border strikes.
SUU-30H/B dispenserAir-delivered submunition dispenserThe SUU-30H/B is a U.S.-origin, fin-stabilized submunition dispenser used as the cargo body for several air-dropped cluster bomb units, including CBU-52B/B and CBU-58A/B configurations. Open-source munitions documentation links SUU-30H/B remnants to Saudi/UAE-led coalition airstrikes during the Yemen Civil War.
Qassam-series unguided rocketImprovised short-range unguided artillery rocketThe Qassam-series rocket is a locally produced, unguided steel-tube artillery rocket associated with Hamas's Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Its short range, simple solid propellant, and crude launch arrangements make it a low-cost area-fire weapon rather than a precision system; during the Israel-Hamas War, Hamas-led forces used Qassam-series rockets within massed rocket and mortar barrages from Gaza into Israel.
Badr-1 rocketUnguided artillery rocketThe Badr-1 is a Yemeni Houthi-associated rocket that the group unveiled in 2017 and used in the Yemen Civil War for cross-border attacks into Saudi Arabia. Open-source reporting often calls it a ballistic missile, but the UN panel and CSIS describe it as a locally produced, unguided artillery rocket.
LAR-160160 mm artillery rocket / cluster-munition rocketThe LAR-160 is an Israeli 160 mm artillery rocket family originally developed by Israel Military Industries for mobile multiple-rocket launchers. In Nagorno-Karabakh, Human Rights Watch identified Azerbaijani use of LAR-160 cluster-munition rockets that dispersed M095 dual-purpose submunitions across populated areas.Sources
What is a grad?Publisher: Action on Armed Violence | Note: Supports background, common 122 mm Grad rocket specifications, launcher compatibility, manufacturer context, and the distinction between full Grad systems and single Katyusha-style rocket use. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Yemen: Houthi Artillery Kills Dozens in AdenPublisher: Human Rights Watch | Note: Supports Yemen Civil War direct-use context: 122 mm unguided rockets were fired by pro-Houthi forces into Aden neighborhoods in July 2015. | Accessed: 2026-06-20The Iranian and Houthi War against Saudi ArabiaPublisher: Center for Strategic and International Studies | Note: Supports Yemen Civil War supply context: 122-millimeter Katyusha rockets were supplied to Houthi forces as part of Iranian support. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Soviet 122 mm Artillery Rocket ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a public-domain photograph of a Soviet 122 mm artillery rocket used in BM-21 Grad launchers. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Soviet 122 mm Rocket Tail Fins ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a public-domain photograph showing the tail stabilizing fins of a Soviet 122 mm Grad rocket. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Grad 2000 122 mm Rocket Display ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a CC BY-SA 4.0 photograph of a Grad 2000 122 mm MLRS rocket displayed at Partner 2015. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Unexploded 122 mm MRL Projectile ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance for a CC BY-SA 4.0 photograph of an unexploded 122 mm BM-21 Grad projectile in Sri Lanka. | Accessed: 2026-06-20