Type 63 107mm Rocket Launcher - Program
Type 81 107mm Rocket Launcher
The People's Liberation Army has a long history of developing and equipping rocket launchers. As early as 1948, PLA expert Zhong Lin established a rocket technology laboratory in Hebei and began to develop the A3-type 6-tube 102mm field rocket launcher, which was later transferred to the 52 Factory to continue development. In 1951, China successfully developed Type 427 and Type 488 102mm rockets with a maximum range of 5 kilometers.These rocket launchers are epoch-making for the People's Liberation Army, solving the fundamental problem of having and not having them, but their performance is relatively backward. They are not equipped with troops, but are provided to the North Vietnamese army.
According to the Sino-Soviet agreement, after the outbreak of the Korean War, the Soviet Union successively provided weapons and equipment for 60 divisions. Among them, the 21st Artillery Division and the 22nd Artillery Division (a total of 9 regiments) were equipped with BM-13 rocket launchers, also known as Katyushas .
The Katyusha rocket launcher experienced the brutal test of World War II and also performed well in the Korean War. The first shot of Katyusha entering North Korea was fired by the 203rd Regiment. On September 1, 1951, the regiment was ordered to support the 235th Regiment of the 79th Division of the 27th Army in counterattacking the two battalions of the US 7th Division that occupied our Houdongli position. Entering the position that night, they quickly followed the observation post's daytime shooting instructions and coordinated with the infantry at the time. The entire regiment's 24 Katyusha rocket launchers suddenly fired at the same time without anyone noticing. In an instant, 384 rockets were like countless fire dragons, flying rapidly towards the US military position in the back cave, covering all two battalions of the US 7th Division under our bomb group, instantly killing and wounding more than 700 enemy people.
In fierce mountain battles, PLA officers gradually discovered the advantages of rocket launchers. The weight of rocket launchers and mountain cannons is actually about the same. Compared with traditional mountain cannons, rocket launchers are less accurate, but they have powerful firepower that mountain cannons cannot match. The firepower of a rocket launcher salvo is equivalent to 8 to 10 times the number of mountain artillery troops. It is an excellent suppressive and anti-personnel artillery.
Not to mention, take the 2010 Yeonpyeong Island shelling incident as an example. The Korean People's Army used an outdated 122mm 40-barreled Hail rocket launcher to still suppress South Korea's six advanced K9 self-propelled artillery. After the war, South Korea urgently added US-made M270 multiple rocket launchers here , which was a lesson learned.
In view of the experience of the Korean War, after the war, the People's Liberation Army began to accelerate the research of rocket launchers. In view of the fact that the People's Liberation Army was still mainly based on dismounted infantry, it gave priority to light rocket launchers.
In 1958, the People's Liberation Army began to develop a 130mm multiple rocket launcher. The development work was led by Yang Wencai of Factory 247 and others. After five years of arduous research and experiments, the gun was designed and finalized in 1963 and named the 1963-type 130mm rocket launcher. This kind of rocket launcher has excellent performance and is roughly equivalent to similar rocket launchers in the Soviet Union.
It is equipped on an off-road vehicle chassis, has 19 launch tubes, has a total weight of 4,900 kilograms, and fires a 130 mm diameter turbo rocket launcher with a maximum range of 10 kilometers. A battalion of 12 rocket launchers can fire 288 rockets in a dozen seconds, forming a large-area suppressive firepower. It had good firepower and good accuracy, and was used until the Sino-Vietnam War in 1979. However, the 1963-type 130mm rocket launcher is a traditional rocket launcher. Like the Katyusha, it is mounted on a truck, which determines that it is difficult to adapt to mountain warfare.
While developing the 1963-style 130mm rocket launcher, researchers also developed lightweight mountain rocket launchers. 847 Factory Ji Songying and others began development in 1961 and finalized the design in 1963. This is the famous 1963-style 107mm lightweight towed rocket launcher.
China developed rocket launchers much later than the Soviet Union, but earlier than the West expected. In 1948, PLA expert Zhong Lin established a rocket technology laboratory in Hebei and began to develop the A3-type 6-barrel 102mm field rocket launcher, which was later transferred to the 52 Factory to continue development. On the third day after the birth of New China, the artillery was reported and performed in the Marco Polo Bridge area of Beijing, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu De praised it greatly. In 1951, China successfully developed Type 427 and Type 488 102mm rockets with a maximum range of 5 kilometers. Since China later uniformly adopted Soviet-made equipment, which is the so-called "standardization", the field rocket launcher was not included in the equipment sequence and was transferred to the Vietnamese army. However, it gave the Chinese rocket launcher a good start.
In the late 1950s, Ji Songying and others from the No. 847 Factory began to trial-produce 8-kilometer field rocket launchers. Yang Yintong, the No. 803 Factory and other units, presided over the development of rockets for rocket launchers. In the absence of experience, he overcame numerous difficulties and after repeated experiments, the 1963-type 107mm rocket launcher was designed and finalized in 1963. The gun has 12 launch tubes and can complete a salvo in 7-9 seconds. The firepower is extremely fierce.
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