Rocket Launcher
A device that launches unguided, rocket-propelled projectiles, often used as a weapon.
A rocket launcher is a device, most often a weapon, that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. The projectile contains at least one component of what is called a warhead, which is usually explosive.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Heavy weapon — rocket-propelled explosive
- Damage profile
- Explosive, area-of-effect on detonation
- Appears in
- System Shock (1994); System Shock 2 (1999)
- Ammunition
- Rocket rounds (limited supply, found in caches and dropped by enemies)
- Role in loadout
- Late-game heavy weapon; overkill against single targets, devastating against groups
- Handling
- Two-handed; slower fire rate than SMGs or shotguns
Lore & Background
The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few inches behind the arrowhead. The launchers were constructed of wood, basketry, and bamboo tubes, and were capable of firing multiple rockets at once. Rocket launchers known as 'wasp nest' launchers were used by the Ming dynasty in 1380 and in 1400 by Li Jinglong against Zhu Di. According to the 18th-century historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori, rockets were used in the war between the Republics of Genoa and Venice at Chioggia in 1380, though it is uncertain whether Muratori was correct.
Iron-cased rockets were used by the Kingdom of Mysore under King Hyder Ali and his son King Tipu Sultan against the British East India Company during the 1780s and 1790s. The Congreve rocket was a British weapon devised by Sir William Congreve in 1804 after experiencing Indian rockets at the Siege of Seringapatam (1799). During the American Civil War, Confederate forces used Congreve rockets in limited uses, while US forces used Hale patent rocket launchers. In World War II, the Soviet's Katyusha was a self-propelled system mounted on trucks, tanks, and trains.
Reader's Guide
The rocket launcher category includes shoulder-fired weapons, such as the American Bazooka (in service from 1942 to 1957) and the Soviet RPG-7. A rocket pod is a launcher containing several unguided rockets in individual tubes, designed for use by attack aircraft or attack helicopters. Larger-scale devices include the multiple rocket launcher, a type of unguided rocket artillery system. A rocket launcher may be used for multiple purposes depending on the warhead; anti-tank warheads include high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warheads, which pierce holes in armour.
Did You Know?
- The 1510 edition of the Wujing Zongyao describes the 'long serpent' rocket launcher carried with a wheelbarrow and the 'hundred tiger' rocket launcher capable of firing 320 rocket arrows.
- The Congreve rocket was launched from an iron trough about 18 inches in length, called a chamber.
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