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M270 MLRS

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.

[edit] History

Illustration of a Chinese rocket launcher of the 1500s

The use of rockets as some form of artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Firearrows were used in multiple launch systems and transported via carts. Fire arrows were also used in Korea, in devices such as the hwacha or the Singijeon. 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.

[edit] Metal-cylinder Rocket Artillery

The first iron-cased metal-cylinder rocket artillery were developed by Tipu Sultan, a Muslim ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, and his father Hyder Ali, in the 1780s. He successfully used these metal-cylinder rockets against the larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. The Mysore rockets of this period were much more advanced than what the British had seen, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes for holding the propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km range). After Tipu's eventual defeat in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and the capture of the Mysore iron rockets, they were influential in British rocket development, inspiring the Congreve rocket, which was soon put into use in the Napoleonic Wars.^[1]

According to Stephen Oliver Fought and John F. Guilmartin, Jr. in Encyclopedia Britannica (2008): "Hyder Ali, prince of Mysore, developed war rockets with an important change: the use of metal cylinders to contain the combustion powder. Although the hammered soft iron he used was crude, the bursting strength of the container of black powder was much higher than the earlier paper construction. Thus a greater internal pressure was possible, with a resultant greater thrust of the propulsive jet. The rocket body was lashed with leather thongs to a long bamboo stick. Range was perhaps up to three-quarters of a mile (more than a kilometre). Although individually these rockets were not accurate, dispersion error became less important when large numbers were fired rapidly in mass attacks. They were particularly effective against cavalry and were hurled into the air, after lighting, or skimmed along the hard dry ground. Hyder Ali's son, Tippu Sultan, continued to develop and expand the use of rocket weapons, reportedly increasing the number of rocket troops from 1,200 to a corps of 5,000. In battles at Seringapatam in 1792 and 1799 these rockets were used with considerable effect against the British."^[2]

Although the technique was familiar to Europeans from the 17th century their use fell out of favor until the late 18th century, when Indian forces from Mysore led by Tipu Sultan invented iron rockets for use as rocket artillery against British forces in battle, which led to the British development of the Congreve rocket. The British thereafter reverse engineered and used iron case "Congreve rockets" in several armed conflicts during the 19th century, including the Battle of Waterloo. Ironically, the technology of metal-cylinder missiles developed by Tipu Sultan contributed to the defeat of his ally Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo.

[edit] World War II

Modern rocket artillery was first employed during World War II, in the form of the German Nebelwerfer and Soviet Katyusha-series. The Soviet Katyushas, nicknamed by Nazi German troops Stalin Organs because of their visual resemblance to a church musical organ, were mounted on trucks or light tanks, while the German Nebelwerfer was a towed and therefore less mobile piece. The Germans also had some self-propelled rocket artillery in the form of the Panzerwerfer and Wurfrahmen 40 which equipped half-track armoured fighting vehicles. An oddity in the subject of rocket artillery during this time was the German "Sturmtiger", a vehicle based on the Tiger I heavy tank chassis that was armed with a 380 mm rocket mortar.

The Western Allies of World War II employed little rocket artillery. During later periods of the war, British and Canadian troops used the Land Mattress, a towed rocket launcher. The United States Army built and deployed a small number of T34 Calliope rocket tanks (converted from M4 Sherman medium tanks) in France and Italy. In 1945, the British also fitted some Shermans with two 60 lb RP3 rockets, the same as used on ground attack aircraft and known as Tulip. In the Pacific, however, the US Navy made heavy use of rocket artillery, adding to the already intense bombardment by the guns of heavy warships to soften up Japanese-held islands before the Marines would land. On Iwo Jima, the US Marines made use of rocket artillery trucks in a similar fashion as the Soviet Katyusha, but on a lesser scale.

[edit] Post-World War II

Israel fitted some of their Sherman tanks with different rocket artillery. An unconventional Sherman conversion was the turretless Kilshon ("Trident") that launched a AGM-45 Shrike anti-radiation missile.

The Soviet Union continued its development of the Katyusha during the Cold War, and also exported them widely.

Modern rocket artillery such as the US M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is highly mobile and are used in similar fashion to other self-propelled artillery.

[edit] Rocket artillery vs Tube artillery

• Rockets produce no recoil, while conventional artillery systems produce significant recoil. Unless firing within a very small arc with the possibility of wrecking a self propelled artillery system's vehicle suspension, gun artillery must usually be braced against recoil. 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. A rocket artillery piece could, conceivably, fire on the move. Rocket systems produce a significant amount of backblast, however, which imposes its own restrictions. Launchers may be sited by the arcs, and their fire can damage themselves or neighbouring vehicles.

• Rocket artillery cannot usually match the accuracy and sustained rate of fire of conventional artillery. They 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. Modern computer-controlled conventional artillery have recently begun to acquire the possibility to do something similar through MRSI but it is an open question if MRSI is really practical in a combat situation.

• Rocket artillery typically has a very large fire signature, leaving a clear smoke-trail showing exactly where the barrage came from. Since the barrage does not take much time, however, the rocket artillery can move away quickly.

• Tube artillery can use a forward observer to correct fire, thus achieving further accuracy. This is usually not practical with rocket artillery.

• Tube artillery shells are typically cheaper and less bulky than rockets, so they can deliver a larger amount of explosive at the enemy per weight of ammunition or per money spent.

• While tube artillery shells are smaller than rockets, the gun 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. Extremely large guns 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, dispersing.

• The higher accuracy of gun 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 than rocket artillery for defensive fire. It is also the only practicable system for counter-battery fire.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rocket artillery

• List of artillery rockets
• Multiple rocket launcher
• Tactical ballistic missile

[edit] References