The Type 63 multiple rocket launcher is a towed, 12-tube, 107mm rocket launcher produced by the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
in the early 1960s and later exported and manufactured globally. Although no longer serving with active infantry units, the Type 63 is still in
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...
service with specialized formations such as mountain infantry units and special forces detachments.
The Type 63 was widely used in the PLA until the late 1980s. It was adopted as the successor of the
Type 50-5 of 102mm.
China has also developed a
Type 63 multiple rocket launcher of 130mm. The
RPU-14 is a Soviet 140mm MRL of similar design to the Type 63.
Description
The launcher's 12 tubes are arranged in three removable rows of four each, mounted on a single-axle carriage with rubber tires. The Type 63 originally fired an 18.8 kilogram rocket (Type 63-2) with a 1.3 kilogram warhead. Ammunition for the Type 63 was later improved (Type 75 and Type 81 series), although the overall weight of the rocket remained the same.
A fixed amount of propellant is contained in the rocket motor. The steel-cased rocket is stabilized with spin imparted by six angled nozzles in its base. Type 63 rockets may be launched without the launcher; improvised firing can employ tubing, rails or even dirt berms. The Type 63 was distributed on the basis of six per infantry regiment, or 18 per infantry division. For airborne and mountain units the lighter Type 63-I was developed.
Both the Type 63 and its copies can be mounted on different kinds of armoured and unarmoured vehicles, for example the
MT-LB
The MT-LB (russian: Многоцелевой Тягач Легкий Бронированный, translit=Mnogotselevoy tyagach legky bronirovanny, literally "multi-purpose towing vehicle light armored") is a Soviet multi-purpose, fully amphibi ...
, the
Safir Safir may refer to:
*SAFIR, the Single Aperture Far-Infrared Observatory
*Safir (Arthurian legend), a Saracen Knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend
*Safir (Belgian beer), a Belgian beer now owned by InBev
*Safir (cycling team), a Belgia ...
, the
Mamba
Mambas are fast moving highly venomous snakes of the genus ''Dendroaspis'' (which literally means "tree asp") in the family Elapidae. Four extant species are recognised currently; three of those four species are essentially arboreal and green ...
, the
RG-32 Scout
The RG-32 Scout is a family of mine-resistant 4×4 light armoured vehicles made by BAE Systems Land Systems South Africa (formerly Land Systems OMC) in South Africa. It is based on the RG-31, which is already deployed worldwide with peace-keeping, ...
, the
GAZ-66
The GAZ-66 is a Soviet and later Russian 4x4 all-road (off-road) military truck produced by GAZ. It was one of the main cargo vehicles for motorized infantry of the Soviet Army and is still employed in former Soviet Union countries. It is nick ...
and the
M113.
Licence versions
The Type 63 and its rockets are license-built in several countries including:
*
Sudan – Taka.
*
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
– Fajr-1 of D.I.O. with Haseb-1 rocket.
[Defense Industries Organization 2013 Catalog, Section 3: Rocket Industries Group.](_blank)
/ref>
* South Africa – RO 107 of Mechem Developments.
* North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
– Type 75.
* North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
, Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
– H-12.
* Turkey – T-107 of MKEK
The Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation ( tr, Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi or MKE for short), established in 1950, is a reorganization of government-controlled group of factories in Turkey that supplied the Turkish Armed Forces with mili ...
with rockets TR-107 "Anadolu" and TRB-107.
* Egypt – RL812/TLC of the Helwan Machinery and Equipment Factory (Factory 999).
BM-12 nomenclature issue
NATO and western sources have used the Soviet-style designation ''BM-12'' to describe this weapon system, and further even ascribe Soviet origin and initial manufacture of both launcher and rockets. However, there is no evidence in non-western sources of Soviet development or production, or of the BM-12 moniker being applied. Very similar Type 50-5 or Type 488 102mm rockets were manufactured in China and used in the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
prior to development of the Type 63.
It appears the systems designated BM-12 (for example in Afghanistan and Libya) were or are all of Chinese origin, being merely used or cross-traded by Soviet interests.
Variants
Multiple rocket launchers
* The Chinese Type 81 SPMRL 107mm is a self-propelled export version, based on the Nanjing NJ-230 truck.
* North Korea has developed versions with 18 and 24 launch tubes that are mounted on vehicles such as the tracked VTT-323 or the wheeled M1992.
* ROKETSAN
Roketsan Roket Sanayii ve Ticaret A.S. is a major Turkish weapons manufacturer and defense contractor based in Ankara, Turkey. Incorporated in 1988 by Turkey's Defense Industry Executive Committee (''SSİK'') to establish the nation's industri ...
of Turkey has designed an improved 107mm multiple rocket launch system, consisting of a HMMWV with two 12-round launch modules and a fire control system. The system uses the TR-107 and TRB-107 rockets but the range has been increased to 11 km.
**T-107M, Vehicle Mounted, 12 Steel Tube MBRL
**T-107SPM, Vehicle-mounted 2 × 12 Tubes Disposable MBRL with Insulated Pod
**T-107/122, Vehicle Mounted 3 × 20 Tubes Disposable MBRL with Insulated Pod
Single-tube rocket launchers
A number of countries have developed single-tube, man-portable rocket launchers that fire the same type of rockets:
* China: Type 85 with an empty weight of 22.5 kg.
* Egypt: PRL-81, similar to the Type 85 system.
* South Africa: Inflict of Mechem Developments with an empty weight of 26 kg.
* Iran: Karkhe, Single shot disposable launcher.
Operators
Current operators
*
* – 270.
*
* – ~4
* – former user
*
*
*
* – 12
*
* – 25
** Tigray Defense Forces
The Tigray Defense Forces ( ti, ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ትግራይ, italic=no; TDF: ሓምት), colloquially ''Tigray Army'' () is a paramilitary rebel group in Tigray. It was founded by distant former generals of Ethiopia in 2020 t ...
* - 25
* – ~3
*
* – 1,300 as of 2020
** Liwa Fatemiyoun
Liwa Fatemiyoun ( ar, لِوَاء الْفَاطِمِيُّون, Liwā’ al-Fāṭimīyūn, Persian/Dari: or ), literally "Fatimid Banner", also known as Fatemiyoun Division or Fatemiyoun Brigade, is an Afghan Shia militia formed in 2014 to ...
*
**
** Popular Mobilization Forces
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) ( ar, الحشد الشعبي ''al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī''), also known as the People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization ...
*
*
*
** Syrian Social Nationalist Party
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) or is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present ...
(SSNP)
** Hezbollah
*
* – 4
* – retired
* – 30
* – 33
* – Type-81 variant in service
* Palestine Liberation Organisation
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...
* People's Defense Units
The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democr ...
(YPG)
* – (Launchers captured in Angola, rockets manufactured locally)
*
* – 477
*
* – Manufactured locally as TR-107.
* – Fielded during the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
. 360
* – 16
Former operators
*
** Lebanese Forces
** People's Liberation Army
** Amal Movement
* Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
: 2
See also
* T-122 Sakarya
* Fajr-5
Notes
References
* (JAA) ''Jane's Armour and Artillery 1981–82'', Christopher Foss (ed.), London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd., 1981. .
*
*
External links
OrData report on 107-mm rocket projectile
Mao’s Rockets and the Eastern Afghan Border War, Part IPart IIPart III
article series about the use of Type 63 rockets in Afghanistan.
{{Iran missiles
Artillery of the People's Republic of China
Rocket artillery
Multiple rocket launchers
Military equipment introduced in the 1960s