According to Hammer of War on September 21, 2023, recent footage emerged online depicting a Ukrainian-made KMDB 122 mm Bastion-1 (or Bastion-01) 6×6 122mm multiple rocket launcher system (MLRS) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Armed Forces launching rockets on M23 militants in the eastern regions of the country, specifically in the province of North Kivu. As of now, the Bastion-01 has been in service with the DRC, Georgian, Senegalese, and Ukrainian armed forces, although the exact quantity and delivery date are unspecified.
The origins of the Bastion-1 can be traced back to the early 2000s when work began in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to develop a modernized version of the BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket system. Ukrainian-made chassis were incorporated into this project, resulting in the proposal of the BM-21U “Grad-M” and BM-21K variants for the Ukrainian armed forces.
By 2006, the KrAZ-6322 army truck, which became the chassis for the Bastion-1, was adopted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of a broader effort to standardize vehicle chassis within the Ukrainian army. Subsequently, Kharkiv’s Automobile Repair Plant and Kharkiv Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau worked on creating a modernized version of the BM-21U “Grad-M” MLRS mounted on the KrAZ-6322 chassis.