The Katyusha is a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver explosives to a target area more intensively than conventional artillery, but with lower accuracy and requiring a longer time to reload. They are fragile compared to artillery guns, but are cheap, easy to produce, and usable on almost any chassis. The Katyushas of World War II, the first self-propelled artillery mass-produced by the Soviet Union, were usually mounted on ordinary trucks. This mobility gave the Katyusha, and other self-propelled artillery, another advantage: being able to deliver a large blow all at once, and then move before being located and attacked with counter-battery fire.
Self-propelled artillery is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mortar, and self-propelled rocket artillery. They are high-mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large field gun, howitzer, mortar, or some form of rocket/missile launcher. They are usually used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield.
A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform, and shoots its rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a volley gun. Rockets are self-propelled in flight and have different capabilities than conventional artillery shells, such as longer effective range, lower recoil, typically considerably higher payload than a similarly sized gun artillery platform, or even carrying multiple warheads.
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is an American armored self-propelled multiple launch rocket system.
The BM-21 "Grad" is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first combat use in March 1969 during the Sino-Soviet border conflict. BM stands for boyevaya mashina, and the nickname grad means "hail". The complete system with the BM-21 launch vehicle and the M-21OF rocket is designated as the M-21 field-rocket system and is more commonly known as a Grad multiple rocket launcher system.
The BM-14, is a Soviet-made 140mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), normally mounted on a truck.
The BM-30 Smerch, 9K58 Smerch or 9A52-2 Smerch-M is a heavy self-propelled 300 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union to fire a full load of 12 solid-fuelled projectiles. The system is intended to defeat personnel, armored, and soft targets in concentration areas, artillery batteries, command posts and ammunition depots. It was designed in the early 1980s and entered service in the Soviet Army in 1989. When first observed by the West in 1983, it received the code MRL 280mm M1983. It continues in use by Russia; a program to replace it with the Tornado-S began in 2018.
The Rocket Launcher T34 (Calliope) was a tank-mounted multiple rocket launcher used by the United States Army during World War II. The launcher was placed atop the M4 Sherman, with its prominent vertical side frames anchored to the turret's sides and fired a barrage of 4.5-inch (114 mm) M8 rockets from 60 launch tubes. It was developed in 1943; small numbers were produced and were used by various US armor units in 1944–45. Its name comes from the calliope, a musical instrument also known as a steam organ, which has similar parallel or clustered pipes.
M-63 Plamen is a 128mm multiple rocket launcher developed in 1963 in Yugoslavia for use in the Yugoslav People's Army.
The BM-24 is a multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. It is capable of launching 240mm rockets from 12 launch tubes. Versions of the BM-24 have been mounted on the ZIS-151 and ZIL-157 6×6 Truck chassis and the AT-S tracked artillery tractor, forming the BM-24T from the latter. Production began out of Automotive Factory no. 2 in 1947 in Moscow. Israel operated one battalion, consisting of vehicles captured from Egypt in the Six-Day War. The battalion took part in the Yom Kippur War and the 1982 Lebanon War.
The BM-25 Korshun (Kite) as its Russian name was a multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. It was capable of launching 3R7 250 mm rockets from six launch tubes. The support vehicle is a YAZ-214.
The Type 75 130 mm multiple rocket launcher was developed to carry the 130 mm rocket system developed by the Aerospace Division of the Nissan Motor Company. It used the suspension, tracks and diesel engine of the Type 73 armored personnel carrier. Komatsu was responsible for the chassis and Nissan's Aerospace Division for the launcher and its rockets. 15 Type 75 wind measurement vehicles were built on the same chassis to provide weather information for the rockets.
The LAR-160 is a light artillery rocket with a 160mm calibre, a minimum range of 12 km and a maximum range of 45 km, from a multiple rocket launcher. Each standard launcher holds two 13 rocket Launch Pod Containers (LPC's) for truck or trailer mounting, 18 rocket LPC's for medium armored vehicle's and 26 rocket LPC's for mounting on a MBT chassis. A light version is also manufactured which can be carried by helicopters and towed behind vehicles such as a HMMWV.
The Type 63 multiple rocket launcher is a towed, 12-tube, 107mm rocket launcher produced by the People's Republic of China in the early 1960s and later exported and manufactured globally. Although no longer serving with active infantry units, the Type 63 is still in People's Liberation Army service with specialized formations such as mountain infantry units and special forces detachments. The Type 63 was widely used in the PLA until the late 1980s. It was adopted as the successor of the Type 50-5 of 102mm.
The PHL-81 is a truck-mounted self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher (SPMRL) produced by the People's Republic of China for the People's Liberation Army Ground Force.
The RM-51 multiple rocket launcher was a Czechoslovak Army alternative of the BM-13 multiple rocket launcher developed in the 1950s.
The Firos (FIROS) is an Italian multiple rocket launcher system developed during the Cold War. The system consisted of forty 122 mm long-range rockets mounted on an armoured 6×6 truck (lorry) for mobility.
The Cuban Revolutionary Navy is the navy of Cuba.
The PHL-11 is a truck-mounted self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher (SPMRL) produced by Norinco for the People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It is a modernised replacement for the older PHL-81.
