The RM-70 is a Czechoslovak 122 mm multiple launch rocket system that adapts the Grad rocket package to an armored Tatra 813 8x8 chassis with forty launch tubes and a second forty-round reload set carried on the vehicle. Czech and open-source reporting document baseline RM-70 launchers in Ukrainian service after 2022, separate from the later RM-70 Vampire modernization.
Ukraine received and fielded Czech-supplied RM-70 launchers during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War; open-source tracking listed more than twenty RM-70s delivered in April 2022, and RUSI captioned Ukrainian artillerymen operating Czech-donated RM-70 MLRS in Ukraine.
Role detailsThe RM-70's battlefield distinction is not a different rocket caliber from Grad, but the vehicle package around it: an armored Tatra 813 8x8 carrier, forty launch tubes, and forty additional rockets in a reloader magazine. Czech MoD data gives the original service range as 20,000 m, while STV's RM-70 GRAD data emphasizes the carried reload set and 18-22 second salvo time.
RM-70 family names separate the original Tatra 813-based Czechoslovak launcher from later Tatra 815, modular, and Vampire modernizations.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
 | Soviet predecessor and rocket-family baseline | The RM-70 keeps the Grad 122 mm rocket concept but moves it to a heavier Tatra 813 8x8 chassis with an onboard reload set. Sources: Rocket Launcher 122 mm type 70, STV Group BM-21 and RM-70 |
| RM-70/85 | Tatra 815-based follow-on | The later 70/85 line moved the RM-70 concept to the Tatra 815 family; the page keeps this as variant context rather than a separate conflict-use claim. |
 | Modernized Czech derivative | The catalog treats the Vampire as a separate modernized weapon page because it uses a new Tatra 815-7 chassis, protected cab, and modern fire-control package. |
The RM-70 uses the same 122 mm Grad-family launcher architecture as the BM-21, but exact round links stay limited to munitions directly named by source.
| Ammunition | Ammunition type | Firing evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | 122 mm high-explosive fragmentation rocket | Missilery describes the RM-70 artillery unit as identical in design to the BM-21 unit and specifically says it fires M-21OF fragmentation high-explosive rockets. |
Defense Express describes the 122 mm RM-70 as a Czechoslovak-developed system produced from 1971 to 1989 and in service from 1972.
Sources: Defense Express RM-70 Already in Ukraine
The Czech Ministry of Defence factsheet described the type 70 rocket launcher as a forty-barrel RM-70 on a Tatra 813 carriage with a lightly armored crew cabin.
Sources: Rocket Launcher 122 mm type 70
Open-source reporting cited in Czech media identified recently delivered RM-70 launchers from Czech stocks in Ukrainian hands, with at least twenty reported for use.
Sources: Echo24 Czech RM-70 Grad
Oryx's Czech military-support list tracked more than twenty 122 mm RM-70 launchers delivered to Ukraine in April 2022, while listing Vampire launchers separately.
Sources: Oryx Czech Military Supplies to Ukraine
Euronews reported a Czech public fundraising campaign to send an RM-70 launcher and 365 rockets to Ukraine.
Sources: Euronews RM-70 Fundraiser
