Rocket artillery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars.
Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers and ballistic missiles.
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[edit] Rocket artillery vs conventional artillery
- Rockets produce no recoil, while conventional artillery cannons produce significant recoil. Because of this, artillery cannons usually must be braced against recoil, requiring load out time. In this state, they are immobile, and can not change position easily. Rocket artillery is much more mobile and can change position easily. This "shoot-and-scoot" ability makes the platform difficult to target.
- Rocket artillery cannot usually match the accuracy and sustained rate of fire of conventional artillery, but may be capable of very destructive strikes by delivering a large mass of explosives simultaneously, thus increasing the shock effect and giving the target less time to take cover.
- Rocket artillery typically has a very large fire signature, leaving a clear smoke-trail showing exactly where the barrage came from. However, since the barrage does not take much time, the rocket artillery can move away quickly.
- Cannon artillery can use a forward observer to correct fire, thus achieving further accuracy. This is usually not practical with rocket artillery.
- Cannon artillery shells are typically cheaper and less bulky than rockets, so it can deliver a larger amount of explosive at the enemy per weight of ammunition or per money spent.
- While cannon artillery shells are smaller than rockets, the cannon itself must be very large to match the range of rockets. Therefore rockets typically have longer range while the rocket launchers remain small enough to mount on mobile vehicles. Super huge cannons like the Paris Gun have been rendered obsolete by long range missiles.
- If the artillery barrage was intended as a preparation for an attack, and it usually is, a short but intense barrage will give the enemy less time to prepare by, for instance, sending in reinforcements.
- The higher accuracy of cannon artillery means that it can be used to attack an enemy close to a friendly force. This combined with the higher capacity for sustained fire makes cannon artillery more suitable for defensive fire.
[edit] History
The use of rockets as some form of artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (However, this was mostly a psychological weapon). The basic idea of fire arrows were expanded in such inventions as the Korean Shin Ki Chon. The use of medieval rocket artillery was picked up by the invading Mongols and spread to the Ottoman Turks who in turn used them on the European battlefield. Although the technique was therefore known to Europeans from the 17th century their use fell out of favor until the late 18th century when the British invented the Congreve rocket after Indians used rocket artillery against British forces in battle.
Modern rocket artillery was first employed during the Second World War, in the form of the German Nebelwerfer and Soviet BM-13 Katyusha. Modern examples are high mobile and are used as other self-propelled artillery.
Rockets have equipped ships and aircraft as well as the ground carriages covered here.
[edit] Rocket tanks
[edit] M4 Sherman
The M4 in US service was fitted with rockets on top the existing gun turret. The 752nd Tank Battalion in Italy in WW2 used M4 Sherman tanks with both the short-range T40 Whizbang and the long-range T34 Calliope, including extensive Calliope firing during the static period before the final Po Valley breakthrough. US units in the European Theater of Operations also used Calliope.
- Rocket Launcher T34 Calliope - armed with 60 4.5 inch rocket tubes mounted above the turret. Saw limited combat in 1944-1945. (picture)
- Rocket Launcher T34E1 - T34 with 14 tubes in the 2 bottom units.
- Rocket Launcher T34E2 - T34 modified to accept 7.2" rockets.
- Rocket Launcher T39 - Enclosed box mount with doors, with 20 7.2" rockets.
- Rocket Launcher T40/M17 WhizBang - armed with 20 7.2" rockets. Saw limited combat in 1944-45. A short variant of the T40 was also developed, but saw little usage.
Unused variants
- Rocket Launcher T72 - T34 short tube variant. Never used.
- Rocket Launcher T73 - Similar to the T40, but with only 10 tubes. Never used.
- Rocket Launcher T76 - M4A1 w/ 7.2" rocket launcher in place of main gun. Never used.
- Rocket Launcher T105 - M4A1 w/ rocket case instead of main gun. Never used.
- Multiple Rocket Launcher T99 - 2 box mounts with 22 4.5" rockets, mounted on the turret. Never used.
In 1945 British service, some Shermans were fitted out with two 60 lb RP3 rockets, the same as used on ground attack aircraft, these were called Tulip
Israeli Rocket Shermans:
- MAR-240 Multiple Rocket Launcher - In place of the turret, a launcher for 36 240 mm rockets was fitted. These were Israeli made versions of the Soviet BM-24 Katyusha rocket. Photos: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/MAR-240
- MAR-290 Armored 290mm Rocket Launcher - As with the MAR-240 rocket launcher, except mounting four 290 mm ground-to-ground rockets with a 22 km range. Was used in the 1982 Lebanon War. Photos: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/MAR-290
- Kilshon (Trident) or Kachlilit - The Kilshon was developed to reduce the losses suffered by SAM suppression aircraft by launching anti-radiation missiles from the ground. The Kilshon was based on turretless hull of the M51 Isherman on which a AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missile launcher was mounted. To deliver the desired range, a specially modified AGM-45 with booster was used. Later a prototype was developed for use with the AGM-78 Standard anti-radiation missile, but with the retirement of Shermans from IDF service the Keres (Hook) system was placed onto a heavy truck chassis for the finalized design instead. Photos: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/AGM-45_Shrike
[edit] Sturmtiger
The German WWII Sturmtiger was a vehicle based on the Tiger I heavy tank chassis, armed with a 380 mm rocket mortar.
[edit] Other self-propelled rocket artillery
- BM-8
- Soviet BM-8 was a WWII era 24, 36 or 48 x 82 mm multiple rocket launcher produced in different variants on either truck or T-40/T-60 light tank chassis.
- BM-13
- Soviet BM-13, widely known as Katyusha, was a WWII-era 16 x 132 mm multiple rocket launcher based truck chassis.
- BM-14
- Soviet BM-14 was a post-war 16 x 140 mm multiple rocket launcher on truck chassis.
- BM-21 Grad
- Soviet BM-21 Grad is a 40 x 122 mm multiple rocket launcher produced in a number of versions, mostly on truck chassis.
- BM-27 Uragan
- Soviet BM-27 Uragan is a 16 x 220mm multiple rocket launcher.
- BM-30 Smerch
- Soviet BM-30 Smerch is a 12 x 300mm multiple rocket launcher.
- M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System
- The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is a 12 x 227 mm multiple rocket launcher of United States origin.
- Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher
- The Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher is a multiple barrel rocket launcher of Indian origin.
[edit] Panzerwerfer
Panzerwerfer is the name for two different types of half-tracked multiple rocket launchers employed by Germany during the Second World War.
[edit] Wurfrahmen 40
Wurfrahmen 40 was the German WWII half-track SdKfz 251 converted to fire rockets.
[edit] Towed rocket artillery
[edit] Nebelwerfer
Nebelwerfer was a German WWII era 6 x 150 mm rocket launcher.
