The BM-13, popularly known as the Katyusha, is a Soviet multiple rocket launcher system developed by the Reactive Scientific Research Institute in 1938. The BM-13 was developed as a mobile artillery piece capable of delivering its ordnance within a short amount of time, at the cost of longer reload times and accuracy. Due to skepticism from the artillery command regarding these shortcomings, only 40 launchers were produced by the time of Operation Barbarossa in 1941. This opinion quickly changed after the successes of the Katyusha became apparent; to compensate for the slow reload time, Katyushas launched in waves at the target before retreating to reload, allowing freshly reloaded launchers to continue the barrage. The ease of manufacture and installation meant that Katyushas could be easily mass-produced compared to conventional artillery pieces. By the end of the war, over 10,000 BM-13 launchers were produced, and over 100,000 were produced when its production ended in the 1970s.

Among several launcher platforms produced during World War II, the BM-13N based on the chassis of the lend-lease Studebaker US6 truck was the most common wartime variant. Due to its good cross-country performance compared to domestic Soviet trucks at that time, the Red Army designated the US6 as the standard platform for Katyusha launchers. In total, around 1,800 BM-13Ns were produced before it was eventually phased out after the war by a variant based on the domestic ZIS-151 truck.

Introduced during Update 1.67 "Assault" as part of the 2017 Victory Day Event, the BM-13N is an artillery piece, belonging more in an artillery formation than in a tank battle. As with any other truck, the Katyusha is extremely vulnerable to incoming fire, not helped by the fact that it has only two crew members, meaning even a grazing hit from machine guns can knock it out. Because of the inability to fire directly, one should stay at a distance from the enemy since its rockets have a blind zone of about 250 m in front of the truck when moving on a flat surface. This is best used as it was back in the days: to support allies.