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Artillery Rockets

Free-flight artillery rocket systems have greatly improve the conventional, indirect fire capability of the field Army. The systems provide counterbattery fire and suppression of enemy air defenses, light materiel, and personnel targets.

Sometime during the 11th century the Chinese discovered how to make a simple rocket using gunpowder for fuel. It didn't take the military leaders long to realize that the rocket could be used in defense of the great China wall. They strapped the rockets to their arrows and greatly extended the range of the bow and arrow.

According to historians, the Chinese built the first working rockets. They were also the first to use them for military purposes. In AD 1232, some ingenious military leader used arrows powered by small gunpowder rockets to successfully defend the city of K'ai-Fung-Foo against the invading Mongols.

From that time until the 20th century, the rocket had its ups and downs. It was quickly introduced in Europe in the 13th century as a firework and as a weapon. During the Renaissance every army had a rocket corps. But artillery improvements eventually made the cannon more effective because of increased range and accuracy. Occasional improvements in the rocket would bring it back into popularity, but usually not for long.

Used as a barrage weapon the rocket often proved effective for military purposes. In the late 1700's, Haider Ali, Prince of Mysore, India, used iron rockets to defeat a top British unit in battle. The British, in turn, used the rocket against the United States.

In the War of 1812, the British used rockets developed by William Congreve, one of the few men who worked to improve early rocket design. In "The Star Spangled Banner" the reference to the "rockets' red glare" is a description of the British bombardment of Fort McHenry with Congreve rockets.

Congreve and an American, William Hale, did a lot during the l9th century to force armies to reactivate their rocket corps. Congreve's success came in his ability to extend the range of his military rockets to as much as 3,000 yards. Hale attempted to solve the problem of low accuracy by spin stabilization, a technique still used today. As the century progressed, artillery technology again by-passed the rocket and in the beginning of the 20th century, rockets were more a matter of speculation than reality.

Unguided rocket artillery, first used by the Chinese one thousand years earlier, reappeared during World War II in the form of the German 15 centimeter Nebelwerfer that could fire six 70-pound rockets in less than 3 seconds. The Soviet Katusha, first at 90 millimeter and then 122 millimeter, fired over 40 rockets at once. The American entry, the Calliope, fired 60 rockets at a time. Used as area saturation weapons, these rockets caused large numbers of psychiatric as well as physical casualties.

Corporal was America's first ballistic guided missile. It was capable of carrying a nuclear or conventional warhead and was operational in all weather conditions. Fueled with acid and aniline, this missile could travel at Mach 3 and reach far behind enemy lines.

A solid-propellant motor and inertial guidance improved the Sergeant from its predecessor the Corporal. It was capable of carrying a nuclear or conventional warhead. Also, scaled down Sergeant motors were used on the upper stages of the Jupiter C which launched the Army Satellite Explorer I in Jan. 1958.

Honest John was a surface-to-surface unguided rocket used as long-range artillery. This rocket could carry a nuclear or conventional warhead and was used for close support of front line troops. Its launcher was mounted on a standard Army truck making it very simple and mobile.

Little John was the kid brother to the Honest John. This unguided artillery rocket was quickly developed to reach ranges comparable to tube artillery. It could carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. It used a lightweight launcher which made the system very mobile. Lacrosse was an artillery missile capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads and was designed to hit relatively close hard targets. It was guided to its target by a forward observer using radar and radio.

The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) is a free flight, area fire, artillery rocket system that supplements cannon artillery fire. Its primary mission to counter fire and suppression of enemy air defenses. The launcher carries 12 rockets and can volley fire them in any multiple configuration. The rockets have a range of 30 kilometers. The launcher weighs 26. 5 tons (combat loaded).

The Army Tactical Missile System [Army TACMS] was designed for deep attack. The system used the same launcher vehicle as the MLRS but only carried two of guided missiles. When reaching the target area the missile would dispense its submuntions. The submunitions could be as varied as hundreds of bomblets per missile or a few smart anti-armor weapons which could seek, find and destroy targets on their own.