Profile
- Type
- Wheeled 273 mm multiple rocket launcher
- Origin
- China
- Service note
- 1990s export system; documented in Armenian service during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war
Artillery
273 mm WM-80 multiple rocket launcher
The WM-80 is a Chinese 273 mm wheeled multiple rocket launcher developed for export by NORINCO from the Type 83 family. Armenia acquired a small number before the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, where it served as a long-range but unguided rocket-artillery system with limited public evidence of combat effect and documented losses to Azerbaijani loitering munitions.
- Built in
- China
Service History
- In service
- Exported in the late 1990s; Armenia reportedly received WM-80 launchers in 1999
- Used by
- Armenian Armed Forces
- Wars
- Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
Production History
- Designer
- NORINCO / Qiqihar subsidiary
- Designed
- 1980s modernization of the Type 83 273 mm rocket system
- Built in
- China
- Unit cost
- Not publicly reported
- Produced
- 1990s export production
- Number built
- Not publicly reported; Armenia reportedly acquired a small battery of four to eight launchers
- Variants
- WM-80, WM-120 extended-range derivative
Specifications
- Caliber
- 273 mm
- Launcher
- Eight rockets in two four-round launch pods on an 8x8 truck chassis
- Maximum range
- Up to 80 km with standard unguided rockets
- Minimum range
- About 34 km
- Rocket weight
- About 505 kg
- Warhead
- About 150 kg; reported high-explosive, cluster, and thermobaric options
- Crew
- 5
- Combat weight
- About 34 tonnes
- Reload time
- About 5-8 minutes with a transport-loading vehicle
- Road speed
- Up to 70 km/h
Conflict Usage
- Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
- Side: ArmeniaArtsakhRole: Long-range unguided rocket artillery
Fielded by Armenian forces during the 2020 war as a scarce long-range rocket-artillery system; open-source loss records document two WM-80 launchers or reloaders destroyed by loitering munition, while public claims about successful firing effects remain limited and contested.
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WM-80 Multiple Launch Rocket SystemPublisher: Missilery.info | Note: Supports WM-80 system background, NORINCO export context, launcher composition, range, rocket, crew, reload, and mobility specifications. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Type 83 / WM-80 273 mm RocketPublisher: Federation of American Scientists | Note: Supports WM-80 relationship to the Type 83 273 mm rocket system, truck-mounted eight-tube layout, reload time, and range-class specifications. | Accessed: 2026-06-20The Air and Missile War in Nagorno-KarabakhPublisher: Center for Strategic and International Studies | Note: Supports Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict direct context that the WM-80 was fielded by Armenia as part of its rocket-artillery inventory during the 2020 war. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Dragons in the Caucasus: Chinese WM-80 MRLs of ArmeniaPublisher: Oryx | Note: Supports Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict direct context that WM-80 systems were fielded by Armenia, moved toward the conflict area, and suffered documented losses during the 2020 war. | Accessed: 2026-06-20The Fight for Nagorno-Karabakh: Documenting LossesPublisher: Oryx | Note: Supports Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict direct evidence that 273 mm WM-80 systems fielded by Armenian forces were destroyed during the 2020 fighting. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Chinese WM-80 MLRS in the Battle for KarabakhPublisher: VPK.name / Vestnik Mordovii | Note: Supports Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict direct-use reporting that WM-80 launchers were used by Armenian forces and that two were destroyed; also supports image provenance from the republication's credited media. | Accessed: 2026-06-20