Adjustable Jet Projectile 9M542

At the end of April 2012, an advertising passport and an export certificate were approved for the 300 mm 9M542 extended range rocket projectile with an inseparable shrapnel head part to the 9K58 Smerch multiple launch rocket system. The relevant military representation of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation issued a conclusion on the readiness to carry out export deliveries of the said RS.

The 9M542 is a deep upgrade of the 9M55K rocket.

The development of the projectile was carried out in accordance with the tactical and technical specifications agreed with the Russian Ministry of Defence for delivery to the foreign customer. The projectile was not developed for the Russian customer and has no analogues.

The projectile is designed to destroy manpower, unarmoured and lightly armoured equipment, destroy command posts, communication centers and military industrial facilities.

The projectile has the following technical data:

The composition of the export sample of the projectile: electronic-temporal device 9B172 (the delivery set may also include an EVU 9B172-1), the control system unit 9B708, the head part 9940 and missile part 9941.

As a result of the analysis of the above data with the data of the previously developed projectiles for the Smerch system, it was concluded that increased range could be achieved by reducing the weight of the head end and increasing the length of the missile part. At the same time, the length of 7600 mm common for all projectiles was retained, but the weight of the projectile was increased by 5-10 kg. It is also possible to assert that the engine was lengthened due to the gunpowder charge of the parachute compartment design used in the designs of the Smerch RS system, and the head part was borrowed from the RS 9M55F or 9M528 or their variants. It is possible that an increase in range could be additionally achieved through subplanning provided by the aerodynamic rudders.