Main Missile and Artillery Directorate

The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Russian: Гла́вное раке́тно-артиллери́йское управле́ние Министе́рства оборо́ны Росси́йской Федера́ции (ГРАУ Миноборо́ны Росси́и), tr. Glávnoye rakétno-artilleríyskoye upravléniye Ministérstva oboróny Rossíyskoy Federátsii (GRAU Minoboróny Rossíi)), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (ГРАУ), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the Chief of Armament and Munition of the Russian Armed Forces, a vice-minister of defense.

Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (GRAU)
GRAU emblem
Active	1862–present Current title from 1960
Country	Russia
Type	Central Military Authority
Part of	Chief of Armament and Munition of the Russian Armed Forces
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Nikolay Romanovsky[citation needed]

The organization dates back to 1862 when it was established under the name Главное артиллерийское управление (ГАУ – GAU). The "R" from "rockets" was added to the title from 19 November 1960.

In particular, the GRAU is responsible for assigning GRAU indices to Russian army munitions and equipment.

Arsenals (Russian: Арсенал) of the GRAU, according to Kommersant-Vlast in 2005, include the 53rd at Dzerzhinsk, Nizhniy Novogorod Oblast, the 55th at Rzhev, the 60th at Kaluga, the 63rd at Lipetsk, the 75th at Serpukhov south of Moscow, and the 97th at Skolin (all five in the Moscow Military District). An additional possibly disused arsenal in MMD is the 107th at Toropets.[1] The 80th Arsenal at Gagarskiy, the 116th at Krasno-Oktyabrskiy and the 5th at Alatyr, Chuvash Republic, are all in the Volga–Urals Military District.[2]

As of December 2021, the Chief of the GRAU is Major General Nikolay Romanovsky.^{[citation needed]}