A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled

projectile.

History
Main article: History of rockets

Rocket carts from the Wubei Zhi

A depiction of a 'long serpent' rocket launcher from the Wubei Zhi

The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows
modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few inches behind the
arrowhead. The rocket was propelled by the burning of the black powder in the
motor; these should not be confused with early fire arrows, which were conventional
arrows carrying small tubes of black powder as an incendiary that ignited only
after the arrow hit its target. The rocket launchers were constructed of wood,
basketry, and bamboo tubes.[1] The launchers divided the rockets with frames meant
to keep them separated, and the launchers were capable of firing multiple rockets
at once. Textual evidence and illustrations of various early rocket launchers are
found in the 1510 edition of the Wujing Zongyao translated by Needham and others at
Princeton University. (The original Wujing Zongyao was compiled between 1040 and
1044 and described the discovery of black powder but preceded the invention of the
rocket. Partial copies of the original survived and Wujing Zongyao was republished
in 1231 during the Southern Song Dynasty, including military developments since the
original 1044 publication. The British scientist, sinologist, historian Joseph
Needham asserts that the 1510 edition is the most reliable in its faithfulness to
the original and 1231 versions, since it was printed from blocks that were re-
carved directly from tracings of the edition made in 1231 AD.) The 1510 Wujing
Zongyao describes the "long serpent" rocket launcher, a rocket launcher constructed
of wood and carried with a wheelbarrow, and the "hundred tiger" rocket launcher, a
rocket launcher made of wood and capable of firing 320 rocket arrows.[2] The text
also describes a portable rocket carrier consisting of a sling and a bamboo tube.
[3]

Rocket launchers known as "wasp nest" launchers were used by the Ming dynasty in
1380 and in 1400 by Li Jinglong against Zhu Di.[4]

Rockets were introduced to the West during the Napoleonic Wars; the Congreve rocket
was a British weapon devised by Sir William Congreve in 1804 after experiencing
Indian rockets at the Siege of Seringapatam (1799). Congreve rockets were launched
from an iron trough about 18 inches (45 centimetres) in length, called a chamber.
[5] These chambers could be fixed to the ground for horizontal launching, secured
to a folding copper tripod for high angle fire or mounted on frames on carts or the
decks of warships.[6]

The collection of the royal armies includes man portable rocket launchers that
appear (based on lock designs) to date from the two decades after 1820.[7] These
don’t appear to have entered general use and no surviving documentation on them has
been found.[7]

During the American Civil War, both the Union and the Confederate Military
experimented upon and produced rocket launchers.[8] Confederate forces used
Congreve rockets in limited uses due to its inaccuracies, while the Union forces
used Hale patent rocket launcher which fired seven to ten inch rockets with fin
stabilizers at a range of 2000 yards.

World War II

A World War II Katyusha rocket launcher, mounted on a ZiS-6 truck.

Pre-war research programmes into military rocket technology by many of the major
powers led to the introduction of a number of rocket artillery systems with fixed
or mobile launchers, often capable of firing a number of rockets in a single salvo.
In the United Kingdom, solid fuel rockets were initially used in the anti-aircraft
role; the 7-inch Unrotated Projectile was fired from single pedestal-mounted
launchers on warships and a 3-inch version was used by shore based Z Batteries, for
which multiple "projectors" were developed. Later developments of these weapons
included the Land Mattress multiple launchers for surface-to-surface bombardment
and the RP-3 air-to-ground rockets that were launched from rails fitted to fighter
bomber aircraft. In Germany, the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 was an adaptation of a
multiple barrelled smoke mortar for artillery rockets. The Soviet's Katyusha was a
self-propelled system, being mounted on trucks, tanks and even trains. The United
States Army deployed the tank mounted T34 Calliope system late in the war.[9]

Types
Shoulder-fired
Main article: Shoulder-fired missile
The rocket launchers category includes shoulder-fired weapons, any weapon that
fires a rocket-propelled projectile at a target yet is small enough to be carried
by a single person and fired while held on one's shoulder. Depending on the country
or region, people might use the terms "bazooka" or "RPG" as generalized terms to
refer to such weapons, both of which are in fact specific types of rocket
launchers. The Bazooka was an American anti-tank weapon which was in service from
1942–1957, while the RPG (most commonly the RPG-7) is a Soviet anti-tank weapon.

A smaller variation is the gyrojet, a small arms rocket launcher with ammunition
slightly larger than that of a .45-caliber pistol.

Recoilless rifles are sometimes confused with rocket launchers. A recoilless rifle
launches its projectile using an explosive powder charge, not a rocket engine,
though some such systems have sustainer rocket motors.

Rocket pod

Su-20 aircraft with UB-32 rocket pods, each carrying thirty two S-5 rockets
A rocket pod is a launcher that contains several unguided rockets held in
individual tubes, designed to be used by attack aircraft or attack helicopters for
close air support. In many cases, rocket pods are streamlined to reduce aerodynamic
drag. The first pods were developed immediately after World War II, as an
improvement over the previous arrangement of firing rockets from rails, racks or
tubes fixed under the wings of aircraft. Early examples of pod-launched rockets
were the US Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket and the French SNEB.[10]

Large scale
Larger-scale devices which serve to launch rockets include the multiple rocket
launcher, a type of unguided rocket artillery system.

See also
Launch pad
List of gun-launched missiles
List of rocket launchers
References
Needham, Joseph (1974). Science and Civilisation in China: Military Technology The
Gunpowder Epic. Cambridge University Press. p. 488. ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.
Needham 1974, p. 493
Needham 1974, p. 495
Needham 1974, p. 514.
Congreve, William (1814), The Details of the Rocket System J. Whiting, London (p.
19)
Bailey, Jonathan B. A. (2004), Field Artillery and Firepower, Naval Institute
Press, Anapolis, ISBN 1-59114-029-3 (p.177)
Jonathan Ferguson (23 January 2023). Who would want a flintlock rocket launcher?
With firearms and weaponry expert Jonathan Ferguson. Royal Armouries. Retrieved 23
January 2023.
Andrews, Evan. "8 Unusual Civil War Weapons". History. APRIL 9, 2013
Bishop, Chris (2002), The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, Metrobooks,
ISBN 978-1586637620 (pp. 169-178)
Vectors Website - 7.0 Unguided Rockets
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