Multiple rocket launcher

Last updated March 29, 2024

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.

Unguided rocket artillery is notoriously inaccurate and slow to reload compared to gun artillery. A multiple rocket launcher helps compensate for this with its ability to launch multiple rockets in rapid succession, which, coupled with the large kill zone of each warhead, can easily deliver saturation fire over a target area. However, modern rockets can use GPS or inertial guidance to combine the advantages of rockets with the higher accuracy of precision-guided munitions.

History

Korean Joseon hwacha multiple rocket launcher (designed in 1409) in a museum Hwacha.jpg — Korean Joseon *hwacha* multiple rocket launcher (designed in 1409) in a museum

The first multiple rocket launchers were invented during the medieval Chinese Song dynasty, in which the Chinese fire lance was fixed backward on a pike or arrow and shot at an enemy as early as 1180.^[1] This form of rocket was used during the Mongol siege of Kaifeng.^[2]

Chinese militaries later created multiple rocket launchers that fired up to 100 small fire-arrow rockets simultaneously. The typical powder section of the arrow-rockets was 1/3 to 1/2 ft (10 to 15 cm) long. Bamboo arrow shafts varied from 1.5 ft (45 cm) to 2.5 ft (75 cm) long and the striking distance reached 300 to 400 paces. The Chinese also enhanced rocket tips with poison and made sure that the launchers were mobile. They designed a multiple rocket launcher to be carried and operated by a single soldier.^[2] Various forms of MRLs evolved, including a launcher mounted on a wheelbarrow.^[1]

The Joseon dynasty of Korea used an expanded variant of such a launcher (called a hwacha ) made of 100 to 200 holes containing rocket arrows placed on a two-wheeled cart. The range of the fired arrows is estimated to have been 2,000 meters. The hwacha was used to great effect against invading armies during the Japanese invasions of 1592–1598, most notably the Battle of Haengju,^[3] in which 40 hwachas were deployed to repel 30,000 Japanese soldiers.^[4]

European armies preferred relatively large single-launch rockets prior to World War II. Napoleonic armies of both sides followed the British adoption of Mysorean rockets as the Congreve rocket. These were explosive steel-cased bombardment rockets with minimal launchers. European navies developed naval multiple launcher mounts with steadily improving explosive rockets for light and coastal vessels. These weapons were largely replaced by conventional light artillery during the late nineteenth century.

World War II

American T34 Calliope (designed in 1943) in action T-34-rocket-launcher-France.jpg — American T34 Calliope (designed in 1943) in action

Video of firing BM-27 Uragan in Russian service, 23 August 2018

The first self-propelled MRLs—and arguably the most famous—was the Soviet BM-13 Katyusha, first used during World War II and exported to Soviet allies afterwards. They were simple systems in which a rack of launch rails was mounted on the back of a truck. This set the template for modern MRLs. The Americans mounted tubular launchers atop M4 Sherman tanks to create the T34 Calliope rocket launching tank, only used in small numbers, as their closest equivalent to the Katyusha. The Germans began using a towed six-tube multiple rocket launcher during World War II, the Nebelwerfer, called the "Screaming Mimi" by the Allies. The system was developed before the war to skirt the limitations of the Treaty of Versailles. Later in the war, 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41s were mounted on modified Opel Maultier "Mule" halftracks, becoming Panzerwerfer 42 4/1s. Another version produced in limited numbers towards the end of the war was a conversion of the Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper ("heavy military transport", sWS) halftrack to a configuration similar to the Panzerwerfer 42 4/1, mounting the 10-barreled 15 cm Nebelwerfer.

Another German halftrack MRL system was inspired by the Russian BM-13. Keeping the Soviet 82 mm rocket caliber as well as the launch and rocket stabilisation designs, it was developed into a system of two rows of 12 guide rails mounted to a Maultier chassis, each row providing the capacity for 24 rockets, underslung as well as on top of the rails, for 48 rockets total. This vehicle was designated 8 cm Raketen-Vielfachwerfer (8 cm multiple rocket launcher). As the launch system was inspired by and looked similar to the BM-13, which the Germans had nicknamed "Stalin-Orgel" or "Stalin-Organ", the Vielfachwerfer soon became known as the "Himmler-Orgel", or "Himmler-Organ".

Types

There are two main types of MRLs:

With tubes or pipes, usually made of steel, non-removable from launcher, with options to be reloaded in on the battlefield with rockets loaded manually or semi-automatically. This was the most usual type until the 21st century. It is more convenient for battlefield usage because it does not require special tools to reload modules and test them before using them on launchers as with other types.
With containers, pods or modules that can be removed from the launcher and quickly replaced with same or different types of rockets and calibers. They are usually reloaded at a factory or within specially-equipped army workshops. These are more modern types of weapons as they are not necessarily related to just one type of rocket and give more options to commanders in the field to deal with different tactical situations using different types of rockets or to quickly reload. They are also easier to upgrade for different types of rockets.

Current usage

Like all artillery, MRLs have a reputation of devastating morale on ill-disciplined or already-shaken troops.^[5] The material effect depends on circumstances, as well-covered field fortifications may provide reasonable protection.

MRLs are still unable to properly engage reverse slope positions in mountain warfare because it is more difficult to determine the trajectory compared to that of a howitzer by adding or removing propellant increments. Simple MRL rocket types have a rather long minimum firing range for the same reason. An approach to lessen this limit is the addition of drag rings to the rocket nose. The increased drag slows the rocket down relative to a clean configuration and creates a less flat trajectory. Pre-packaged MRL munitions do not offer this option but some MRL types with individually loaded rockets do.^[6]

Improvised MRLs based on helicopter or aircraft-mounted rocket pods (typically of 57–80 mm caliber) especially on light trucks and pickups (so-called "technicals") are often seen in civil wars when rebels make use of captured launchers and munitions.^[7]

Modern MRL systems can use modern land navigation (especially satellite navigation such as GPS) for quick and accurate positioning. The accurate determination of the battery position previously required such effort that making a dispersed operation of the battery was at times impractical. MRL systems with GPS can have their MRLs dispersed and fire from various positions at a single target, just as previously multiple batteries were often united on one target area.

Radar may be used to track weather balloons to determine winds or to track special rockets that self-destruct in the air. The tracking allows determination of the influence of winds and propellant temperatures on the rockets' flight paths. These observations can then be factored into the firing solution for the rocket salvo for effect. Such tracking radars can also be used to predict the range error of individual rockets. Trajectory-correcting munitions may then benefit from this, as a directional radio may send a coded message to the rocket to deploy air brakes at just the right time to correct most of the range error. This requires that the rockets were originally aimed too far, as the range can only be shortened by the air brakes, not extended.

A more sophisticated system makes use of radar data and a one-way radio datalink to initiate a two dimensional (range and azimuth) correction of the rocket's flight path with steering by fins or nose thrusters. The latter is more common with systems which can be used to upgrade old rockets and the IMI ACCULAR ^[8] is an example.

Fin-stabilised rockets also allow for easy course corrections using rudders or minute charges. Precision-guided munitions have been introduced to exploit this. Guidance principles such as GPS satellite navigation, inertial navigation systems and semi-active laser seekers are used for this. This improves dispersion from a CEP of hundreds of meters at dozens of kilometers' range to just a few meters and largely independent of the range of the round (except for INS, as INS navigation creates a small dispersion that is about proportional to range). This in turn made great increases of rocket (or missile) ranges useful; previously dispersion had made rockets too inefficient and often too dangerous to friendly troops at long ranges. Long-range MRL missiles often fly a higher quasi-ballistic trajectory than shorter-ranged rockets and thus pose a de-confliction challenge, as they might collide with friendly aircraft in the air.

The differences between an MRL missile and a large anti-tank guided missile, such as the Nimrod, have blurred due to guided MRL missiles such as the M31 GMLRS (guided unitary multiple launch rocket system), which passed flight tests in 2014.^[9]

Related Research Articles

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

A shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile, man-portable rocket launcher, or man-portable missile is a rocket-propelled explosive projectile small enough to be carried by a single person and fired while held on one's shoulder. The word "missile" in this context is used in its original broad sense of a heavy projectile, and encompasses all guided missiles and unguided rockets. In many instances, although not technically defining all shoulder-fired missiles, the name bazooka is regularly used as an informal name, although the actual Bazooka is a type of unguided rocket launcher in its own right.

The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is an American armored self-propelled multiple launch rocket system.

A ranged weapon is any weapon that can engage targets beyond hand-to-hand distance, i.e. at distances greater than the physical reach of the user holding the weapon itself. The act of using such a weapon is also known as shooting. It is sometimes also called projectile weapon or missile weapon because it typically works by launching solid projectiles ("missiles"), though technically a fluid-projector and a directed-energy weapon are also ranged weapons. In contrast, a weapon intended to be used in hand-to-hand combat is called a melee weapon.

<i>Hwacha</i> Korean multiple rocket launcher

The hwacha or hwach'a was a multiple rocket launcher and an organ gun of similar design which were developed in fifteenth century Korea. The former variant fired one or two hundred rocket-powered arrows while the latter fired several dozen iron-headed arrows or bolts out of gun barrels. The term was used to refer to other war wagons or other cart-based artillery in later periods, such as that developed by Byeon Yijung in the 1590s.

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. The complete system is more commonly known as a Grad multiple rocket launcher system.

Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rockets as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used. Fire arrows were also used in multiple launch systems and transported via carts. The first true rocket artillery was developed in South Asia by the Tipu Sultan the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. In the late nineteenth century, due to improvements in the power and range of conventional artillery, the use of early military rockets declined; they were finally used on a small scale by both sides during the American Civil War. Modern rocket artillery was first employed during World War II, in the form of the German Nebelwerfer family of rocket ordnance designs, Soviet Katyusha-series and numerous other systems employed on a smaller scale by the Western allies and Japan. In modern use, the rockets are often guided by an internal guiding system or GPS in order to maintain accuracy.

The Wurfrahmen 40 was a German World War II multiple rocket launcher. It combined a vehicle such as the Sd.Kfz. 251 halftrack or captured French Renault UE Chenillette with rocket artillery to form a more mobile and protected artillery piece than the towed Nebelwerfer. It was nicknamed Stuka zu Fuss and Heulende Kuh.

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 9A52-4 Tornado began in 2018.

The Weishi family of multiple rocket launcher systems were mainly developed by Sichuan Aerospace Industry Corporation in the central province of Sichuan, China at Chengdu city. The systems include the 302 mm (11.9 in) WS-1, the improved 302 mm (11.9 in) WS-1B, the 122 mm (4.8 in) WS-1E, the 400 mm (16 in) WS-2, as well as many other models. The WS-1 series weapon system did not enter PLA service and has order from Thailand. The WS-2 may finally see PLA service in the future. It's worth noticing that although sharing the same name, there are other developers for different models of Weishi series multiple rocket launchers (MRL) other than the primary developer SCAIC.

The A-100 is a 300 mm (12 in), 10-tube multiple rocket launcher developed by Beijing-based China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology for the Chinese PLA ground forces. It is a derivative of Weishi Rockets WS-1 with simple cascade terminal inertial guidance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Precision-guided munition</span> "Smart bombs", used to strike targets precisely

A precision-guided munition is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gulf War guided munitions accounted for only 9% of weapons fired, but accounted for 75% of all successful hits. Despite guided weapons generally being used on more difficult targets, they were still 35 times more likely to destroy their targets per weapon dropped.

The KN-09 (K-SS-X-9) is a North Korean 300 mm rocket artillery system of a launcher unit comprising eight rockets packaged in two four-rocket pods.

The PHL-03 is a truck-mounted self-propelled 12-tube 300 mm long-range multiple rocket launcher of the People's Republic of China.

The Šumadija is a Serbian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher in development since 2017. It is based on Kamaz truck chassis and it is modular in design. It can launch 4 400mm up to 285 km range or 12 rockets 262mm up to 75 km range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMD-20</span> Rocket artillery

The BMD-20 was a 200 mm multiple rocket launcher (MRL) created by the Soviet Union.

The LRSVM M-18 Oganj is a modular self-propelled multiple rocket launcher developed in Serbia on 6x6 chassis. It can have 2 to 8 containers with different guided and unguided missiles.

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.

References

1 2 James, Peter J.; Thorpe, Nick; Thorpe, I. J. (1995). Ancient Inventions. Ballantine Books. p. 238. ISBN 978-0345401021.
1 2 Gruntman, Mike (2005). Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry. American Institute of Aeronautics. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-1563477058.
↑ What Life was Like in the Land of the Dragon (1st ed.). Time-Life. 1998. ISBN 978-0783554587.
↑ Ramsey, Syed (2016). Tools of War: History of Weapons in Early Modern Times. Alpha Edition. ISBN 978-9386101679.
↑ Prenatt, Jamie (2016). Katyusha Russian Multiple Rocket Launchers 1941-Present. Osprey Publishing. p. 4.
↑ Jane's Armour and Artillery 2011-2012 data sheets
↑ "Improvised Employment of S-5 Air-to-Surface Rockets in Land Warfare: A brief history and technical appraisal" (PDF). Armament Research Services. 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2014-08-17.
↑ Richardson, Doug. "Israel Military Industries exhibits reborn Accular guided rocket" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
↑ "Guided MLRS Unitary Rocket" (Press release). Lockheed Martin. 11 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11.

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[James-1] 1 2 James, Peter J.; Thorpe, Nick; Thorpe, I. J. (1995). Ancient Inventions. Ballantine Books. p. 238. ISBN 978-0345401021.

[Gruntman-2] 1 2 Gruntman, Mike (2005). Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry. American Institute of Aeronautics. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-1563477058.

[3] What Life was Like in the Land of the Dragon (1st ed.). Time-Life. 1998. ISBN 978-0783554587.

[4] Ramsey, Syed (2016). Tools of War: History of Weapons in Early Modern Times. Alpha Edition. ISBN 978-9386101679.

[5] Prenatt, Jamie (2016). Katyusha Russian Multiple Rocket Launchers 1941-Present. Osprey Publishing. p. 4.

[6] Jane's Armour and Artillery 2011-2012 data sheets

[7] "Improvised Employment of S-5 Air-to-Surface Rockets in Land Warfare: A brief history and technical appraisal" (PDF). Armament Research Services. 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2014-08-17.

[8] Richardson, Doug. "Israel Military Industries exhibits reborn Accular guided rocket" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2014-08-18.

[lm201408-9] "Guided MLRS Unitary Rocket" (Press release). Lockheed Martin. 11 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-08-11.

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