The BM-8-24 was a T-60 chassis carrying a Katyusha rocket launcher capable of firing 24 82mm rockets at the enemy. The Katyusha rocket launcher first entered service at the start of Operation Barbarossa against the Germans.On 14 July 1941, in an experimental battery commanded by Captain Ivan Fryorov, seven launchers were put into service in Rudnya, wreaking havoc on the German forces in the town before they fled in panic. This success prompted the Red Army to add more Katyushas to its inventory and to form additional batteries and regiments for the vehicle. For reasons of secrecy, all of these units were controlled by the NKVD until the Germans revealed their own multiple rocket launcher system, the Nebelwerfer.The Germans nicknamed the Katyusha launcher after Joseph Stalin - "Stalin's Organ". This German nickname became widely known in the rest of Western Europe. By the end of 1941, eight regiments and 37 independent battalions were equipped with Katyusha rockets, totalling 554 units.