Thunder 2000 MRL - Design
The "Thunder"-2000 rocket launcher uses the battalion as the combat unit. The entire rocket launcher system includes the rocket launcher, the bomb feeder, the battalion command vehicle, the company command vehicle and the corresponding logistics support vehicles. Each rocket launcher battalion has 2 rocket launchers, and each rocket launcher is equipped with 9 rocket launchers, 9 bomb supply vehicles, 1 company command vehicle and 3 platoon command vehicles.
During combat, the battalion command vehicle can receive target information transmitted from forward observation stations, mobile search radars, UAVs and other reconnaissance platforms, carry out fire planning, and then transmit relevant information to the company command vehicle, and the company command vehicle calculates the shooting based on the information. Zhu Yuan also deployed firepower and directed the rocket launchers to fire. The systems of the entire combat unit are installed on the mobile platform (the rocket launcher is a MAN HX-81 heavy-duty truck; the launcher is an 8x8 truck produced by Iveco; the command vehicle is a "Humvee" high-mobility vehicle). The maneuverability and rapid response ability.
The Thunder 2000 truck uses a highly maneuverable 8x8 chassis vehicle as a vehicle, with a foldable spreader, fully automatic fire control, rack control equipment and high-precision positioning orientator. The complete Thunder 2000 multi-barrel artillery rocket system is composed of firing command vehicle, artillery vehicle, AT8X8 ammunition vehicle, and three types of artillery rockets. The operator consists of 3 personnel including the artillery commander, the deputy gunner and the driver of the artillery vehicle, and the generator operator.
The whole system consists of two parts: a launcher truck and a ammunition feeder. The front section of the truck body includes a cab, a V8 engine and a 12-speed automatic transmission. The top of the cab and the windows are equipped with flame shields, but there is no armor protection. The cab is equipped with a firing controller, a radio station and a ballistic computer. There is an antenna on both sides of the rear, and the vehicle falls down when it is moving or shooting. The middle section of the truck body is divided into upper and lower layers. The upper layer is the spare tire and exhaust pipe, auxiliary generator, hydraulic motor, fire control equipment battery, front hydraulic jack and folding boom. The seat plate for the truck ladder and the stabilizing jack, the fuel tank, the hydraulic control station and the boarding ladder are on the right. The rear section of the truck body is composed of modular components including the orientation instrument, the electric control box and the spring frame drive, as well as the rear hydraulic jack at the rear of the car. The vehicle weighs 30 tons and has a load of about 15 tons. Its engine is a V8 diesel engine (440 horsepower), with a maximum speed of 90 kilometers per hour, a maximum range of 750 kilometers, a climbing degree of 60°, and a wading depth of 0.76 Meter.
With three different fast loading modules, and a highly integrated full-Chinese display shooting command system, it can judge the type of ammunition, self-test and maintain, fast overhaul, automatically calculate the shooting elements according to the type of bullet, and can conduct shooting control and command all-weather and automatically adjust the launcher's high and low angle and firing boundary. The rocket modular design can operate the boom on the vehicle to quickly replace the modules, reducing the operating pressure of the towed vehicle.
The ammunition has three types of rockets with different ranges, covering a range of 7 to 45 kilometers. The carrying warheads are mainly steel ball high-explosive warheads, and are equipped with solid-state engines and flight stabilizers. The Thunder 2000 multi-barrel rocket system uses three types of rockets, MK-15 anti-landing rocket, MK-30 anti-boat wave rocket, and MK-45 anti-berth rocket. The artillery rocket specifications are MK15 (maximum range of 15 kilometers, fully loaded with 3 boxes, totaling 60 pieces), and MK30 (maximum range of 30 kilometers). A full rack can hold 3 boxes, a total of 27 pieces) and MK45 (maximum range 45 kilometers, a full rack can hold 2 boxes, a total of 12 pieces).
The MK-15 rocket is improved on the basis of the "Worker Bee-6" rocket. The projectile diameter is also 117 mm, but the fuze and warhead have been improved. The warhead is a steel ball high-explosive warhead, and the fuze is an air bomb. Fuze, the maximum range of the rocket is 15 kilometers. The magazine is equipped with 20 rockets. The launcher of the "Thunder"-2000 can be loaded with 3 magazines and a total of 60 rockets at a time.
The MK-30 rocket has a projectile diameter of 180 mm and a maximum range of 30 kilometers. Due to the increased projectile diameter, in addition to the high-explosive warhead, it is also equipped with an armor-breaking/killing dual-purpose sub-munition equipped with an electronic time fuze. Warhead. Its bomb box can hold 9 rockets, and the "Thunder"-2000 launcher can be loaded with 3 rockets totaling 27 rockets at a time.
The MK-45 rocket has a projectile diameter of 227 mm and a maximum range of 45 kilometers. There are also two warheads. One is a prefabricated fragment high-explosive warhead with more than 20,000 steel balls; the other is equipped with an electronic time fuze. This type of rocket is 1.725 meters long and weighs 125 kilograms. It is equipped with 518 M-77 bullets and covers an area of ??20,800 square meters. The MK-45's ammunition box is 6-pieces combined, and the "Thunder"-2000 launcher can hold 2 at a time, a total of 12 pieces.
The above three types of rockets all adopt the tail stabilized type, which can reduce the directional dispersion of the rockets. Fast loading and air-tight function of the ammunition box, can effectively reduce the demand for logistics maintenance. The Thunder 2000 artillery can complete the full launch of rockets in one minute, and its impact can cover about 6 football fields (about 200,000 square meters). Therefore, the Thunder 2000 multi-tube rocket system is claimed by Twaiwan the most powerful of the modern multiple rocket systems.
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