![HIMARS - missile launched](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/HIMARS_-_missile_launched.jpg)
A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of
rocket artillery
Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rocket explosives as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also ...
system that contains multiple
launchers which are fixed to a single
platform
Platform may refer to:
Technology
* Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run
* Platform game, a genre of video games
* Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models
* Weapons platform, a system or ...
, and shoots its
rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a
volley gun
A volley gun is a gun with multiple single-shot barrels that shoot projectiles in volley fire, either simultaneously or in succession. Although capable of unleashing intense firepower, volley guns differ from modern machine guns in that the ...
. Rockets are self-propelled in flight and have different capabilities than conventional
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
s, such as longer
effective range, lower
recoil
Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force requ ...
, typically considerably higher
payload
Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...
than a similarly sized gun artillery platform, or even carrying multiple
warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Explosiv ...
s.
Unguided rocket artillery is notoriously inaccurate and slow to reload compared to gun artillery. A multiple rocket launcher helps compensate for this with its ability to launch multiple rockets in rapid succession, which, coupled with the large
kill zone
In military tactics, the kill zone, also known as killing zone, is an area entirely covered by direct and effective fire, an element of ambush within which an approaching enemy force is trapped and destroyed. The objective of the ambush force i ...
of each warhead, can easily deliver
saturation fire
Saturation fire is a saturation attack using an intense level of artillery bombardment or rapid direct fire (from automatic weapons such as machine guns, autocannons or rotary guns) that is designed to overwhelm a target area with lethal firepowe ...
over a target area. However, modern rockets can use
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
or
inertial guidance
An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors ( accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity ...
to combine the advantages of rockets with the higher accuracy of
precision-guided munition
A precision-guided munition (PGM, smart weapon, smart munition, smart bomb) is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gul ...
s.
History
![11th century basketry fire arrow rocket launcher](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/11th_century_basketry_fire_arrow_rocket_launcher.jpg)
The first multiple rocket launchers were invented during the medieval Chinese
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
, in which the Chinese
fire lance
The fire lance () was a gunpowder weapon and the ancestor of modern firearms. It first appeared in 10th–12th century China and was used to great effect during the Jin-Song Wars. It began as a small pyrotechnic device attached to a polearm weap ...
was fixed backward on a pike or arrow and shot at an enemy as early as 1180.
This form of rocket was used during the
Mongol siege of Kaifeng
In the Mongol siege of Kaifeng from 1232 to 1233, the Mongol Empire captured Kaifeng, the capital of the Jurchen people, Jurchen-led Jin dynasty (1115–1234), Jin dynasty. The Mongol Empire and the Jin dynasty had Mongol conquest of the Jin dy ...
.
Chinese militaries later created multiple rocket launchers that fired up to 100 small fire-arrow rockets simultaneously. The typical powder section of the arrow-rockets was 1/3 to 1/2 ft (10 to 15 cm) long. Bamboo arrow shafts varied from 1.5 ft (45 cm) to 2.5 ft (75 cm) long and the striking distance reached 300 to 400 paces. The Chinese also enhanced rocket tips with poison and made sure that the launchers were mobile. They designed a multiple rocket launcher to be carried and operated by a single soldier.
Various forms of MRLs evolved, including a launcher mounted on a wheelbarrow.
The
Joseon dynasty
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
of Korea used an expanded variant of such a launcher (called a ''
hwacha
The ''hwacha'' or ''hwach'a'' ( ko, 화차; Hanja: ; literally "fire cart") was a multiple rocket launcher and an organ gun of similar design which were developed in fifteenth century Korea. The former variant fired one or two hundred rocket-po ...
'') made of 100 to 200 holes containing rocket arrows placed on a two-wheeled cart. The range of the fired arrows is estimated to have been 2,000 meters. The ''hwacha'' was used to great effect against invading armies during the
Japanese invasions of 1592–1598, most notably the
Battle of Haengju
The Battle of Haengju took place on 14 March 1593 during the 1592–1598 Japanese invasion of Korea. The Japanese attack failed to overcome Haengju fortress.
Background
Gwon Yul was stationed at the fortress of Haengju, a wooden stockade on ...
, in which 40 hwachas were deployed to repel 30,000 Japanese soldiers.
European armies preferred relatively large single-launch rockets prior to World War II. Napoleonic armies of both sides followed the British adoption of
Mysorean rockets
Mysorean rockets were an Indian military weapon, the iron-cased rockets were successfully deployed for military use. The Mysorean army, under Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, used the rockets effectively against the British East India Company ...
as the
Congreve rocket
The Congreve rocket was a type of rocket artillery designed by British inventor Sir William Congreve in 1808.
The design was based upon the rockets deployed by the Kingdom of Mysore against the East India Company during the Second, Third, an ...
. These were explosive steel-cased bombardment rockets with minimal launchers. European navies developed naval multiple launcher mounts with steadily improving explosive rockets for light and coastal vessels. These weapons were largely replaced by conventional light artillery during the late nineteenth century.
World War II
![The British Army in Normandy 1944 B9593](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/The_British_Army_in_Normandy_1944_B9593.jpg)
The first
self-propelled MRLs and arguably the most famous was the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
BM-13 Katyusha, first used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and exported to Soviet allies afterwards. They were simple systems in which a rack of launch rails was mounted on the back of a truck. This set the template for modern MRLs. The Americans mounted tubular launchers atop
M4 Sherman
}
The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It ...
tanks to create the
T34 Calliope
The Rocket Launcher T34 (Calliope) was a tank-mounted multiple rocket launcher used by the United States Army during World War II. The launcher was placed atop the M4 Sherman, with its prominent vertical side frames anchored to the turret's sid ...
rocket launching tank, only used in small numbers, as their closest equivalent to the Katyusha. The Germans began using a towed six-tube multiple rocket launcher during World War II, the
Nebelwerfer
The Nebelwerfer (smoke mortar) was a World War II Nazi Germany, German series of weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the German Army (Wehrmacht), Wehrmacht's "smoke troops" (''Nebeltruppen''). Initially, two different mortar ...
, called the "Screaming Mimi" by the Allies. The system was developed before the war to skirt the limitations of the Treaty of Versailles. Later in the war, 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41s were mounted on modified Opel Maultier "Mule" halftracks, becoming
Panzerwerfer
The German ''Panzerwerfer'' refers to either of two different types of half-tracked multiple rocket launchers employed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The two self-propelled artillery vehicles are the ''15 cm Panzerwerfer 42 a ...
42 4/1s. Another version produced in limited numbers towards the end of the war was a conversion of the
Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper
The ''Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper'' (sWS; "Heavy Military Tractor") was a German World War II half-track vehicle used in various roles between 1943 and 1945. The unarmored models were used as supply vehicles and as tractors to haul artillery. Armo ...
("heavy military transport", sWS) halftrack to a configuration similar to the Panzerwerfer 42 4/1, mounting the 10-barreled 15 cm Nebelwerfer.
Another German halftrack MRL system was inspired by the Russian BM-13. Keeping the Soviet 82 mm rocket caliber as well as the launch and rocket stabilisation designs, it was developed into a system of two rows of 12 guide rails mounted to a
Maultier
Maultier (English: "mule") or Sd.Kfz. 3 is the name given to series of half-track trucks used by Germany during World War II. They were based on Opel, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa-Romeo or Ford trucks.
History
Soon after invading the USSR, German troo ...
chassis, each row providing the capacity for 24 rockets, underslung as well as on top of the rails, for 48 rockets total. This vehicle was designated
8 cm Raketen-Vielfachwerfer
The 8 cm Raketen-Vielfachwerfer was a copy of the Soviet BM-8 Katyusha multiple rocket launcher produced in Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
History
The Soviet BM-8 Katyusha rocket launchers first encountered during Operation Barb ...
(8 cm multiple rocket launcher). As the launch system was inspired by and looked similar to the BM-13, which the Germans had nicknamed "Stalin-Orgel" or "Stalin-Organ", the Vielfachwerfer soon became known as the "Himmler-Orgel", or "Himmler-Organ".
Types
There are two main types of MRLs:
* With tubes or pipes, usually made of steel, non-removable from launcher, with options to be reloaded in on the battlefield with rockets loaded manually or semi-automatically. This was the most usual type until the 21st century. It is more convenient for battlefield usage because it does not require special tools to reload modules and test them before using them on launchers as with other types.
* With containers, pods or modules that can be removed from the launcher and quickly replaced with same or different types of rockets and calibers. They are usually reloaded at a factory or within specially-equipped army workshops. These are more modern types of weapons as they are not necessarily related to just one type of rocket and give more options to commanders in the field to deal with different tactical situations using different types of rockets or to quickly reload. They are also easier to upgrade for different types of rockets.
Current usage
![Bangladesh Army WS-22 MLRS (30871693973)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Bangladesh_Army_WS-22_MLRS_%2830871693973%29.jpg)
Like all artillery, MRLs have a reputation of devastating morale on ill-disciplined or already-shaken troops. The material effect depends on circumstances, as well-covered field fortifications may provide reasonable protection.
MRLs are still unable to properly engage reverse slope positions in
mountain warfare
Mountain warfare (also known as alpine warfare) is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. Mountain ranges are of strategic importance since they often act as a natural border, and may also be the origin of a water source (for example, ...
because it is more difficult to determine the trajectory compared to that of a
howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
by adding or removing propellant increments. Simple MRL rocket types have a rather long minimum firing range for the same reason. An approach to lessen this limit is the addition of drag rings to the rocket nose. The increased drag slows the rocket down relative to a clean configuration and creates a less flat trajectory. Pre-packaged MRL munitions do not offer this option but some MRL types with individually loaded rockets do.
Improvised MRLs based on helicopter or aircraft-mounted rocket pods (typically of 57–80mm caliber) especially on light trucks and pickups (so-called "
technical
Technical may refer to:
* Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle
* Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data
* Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...
s") are often seen in civil wars when rebels make use of captured launchers and munitions.
Modern MRL systems can use modern land navigation (especially satellite navigation such as GPS) for quick and accurate positioning. The accurate determination of the battery position previously required such effort that making a dispersed operation of the battery was at times impractical. MRL systems with GPS can have their MRLs dispersed and fire from various positions at a single target, just as previously multiple batteries were often united on one target area.
Radar may be used to track
weather balloon
A weather balloon, also known as sounding balloon, is a balloon (specifically a type of high-altitude balloon) that carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a ...
s to determine winds or to track special rockets that self-destruct in the air. The tracking allows determination of the influence of winds and propellant temperatures on the rockets' flight paths. These observations can then be factored into the firing solution for the rocket salvo for effect. Such tracking radars can also be used to predict the range error of individual rockets. Trajectory-correcting munitions may then benefit from this, as a directional radio may send a coded message to the rocket to deploy air brakes at just the right time to correct most of the range error. This requires that the rockets were originally aimed too far, as the range can only be shortened by the air brakes, not extended.
A more sophisticated system makes use of radar data and a one-way radio datalink to initiate a two dimensional (range and
azimuth
An azimuth (; from ar, اَلسُّمُوت, as-sumūt, the directions) is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system. More specifically, it is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction, most commonly north.
Mathematicall ...
) correction of the rocket's flight path with steering by fins or nose thrusters. The latter is more common with systems which can be used to upgrade old rockets and the IMI
ACCULAR
ACCULAR is a family of artillery rockets developed and manufactured by Israel Military Industries (IMI) and used by Israel Defense Forces and international customers. It features 2 different calibers with a maximum range of 40 km with a 20– ...
is an example.
Fin-stabilised rockets also allow for easy course corrections using rudders or minute charges.
Precision-guided munitions
A precision-guided munition (PGM, smart weapon, smart munition, smart bomb) is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gul ...
have been introduced to exploit this. Guidance principles such as GPS satellite navigation, inertial navigation systems and semi-active laser seekers are used for this. This improves dispersion from a
CEP of hundreds of meters at dozens of kilometers' range to just a few meters and largely independent of the range of the round (except for INS, as INS navigation creates a small dispersion that is about proportional to range). This in turn made great increases of rocket (or missile) ranges useful; previously dispersion had made rockets too inefficient and often too dangerous to friendly troops at long ranges.
Long-range MRL missiles often fly a higher quasi-ballistic trajectory than shorter-ranged rockets and thus pose a de-confliction challenge, as they might collide with friendly aircraft in the air.
The differences between an MRL missile and a large anti-tank guided missile, such as the
Nimrod
Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...
, have blurred due to guided MRL missiles such as the
M31 GMLRS
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an American-developed armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher.
The U.S. Army variant of the MLRS vehicle is based on the chassis of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The first M270s wer ...
(guided unitary multiple launch rocket system), which passed flight tests in 2014.
See also
*
*
List of rocket artillery
Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars.
List of rocket artillery systems
Note that the "Calibre" of rocket projectiles may not refer to the warhead diameter but to the ...
*
List of U.S. Army rocket launchers
*
Rouketopolemos
''Rouketopolemos'' (Greek ''Рουκετοπόλεμος'', literally "rocket war") is a local traditional event held annually at Easter in the town of Vrontados (Βροντάδος) on the Greek island of Chios. As a variation of the Greek custom ...
*
Transporter erector launcher
A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles.
History
Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-su ...
References
{{Authority control
Chinese inventions
Salvo weapons
Self-propelled rocket launchers
Military history of the Song dynasty