Talking about the mortars of the world, we quite logically left on the topic of rocket artillery. Whatever one may say, the famous "Katyusha" and similar systems bore the proud name of rocket launchers. At the same time, it is rather difficult to speak of the world's reactive systems as mortars. This is a completely independent type of artillery, the basis of which was laid by the Chinese back in 492! It was when the first sample of gunpowder was invented.
Those of the readers who, out of necessity, have come across various types of gunpowder, know that this composition can be changed to obtain essentially different qualities. You can make an explosive composition. Can be incendiary. You can even combine it. Many people remember the footage from "The Elusive Avengers", in which the pharmacist made a mine - a billiard ball. "Few … Many …" But this is the fate of more than one thousand of such inventors. Explosive and short.
But back to history. In the 10th century, during the reign of the Song dynasty, a report "On the basics of military affairs" was presented to the emperor in China. It is there that we can first learn about the three types of gunpowder known at that time. One composition was a substance that did not burn so much as smoke. And, accordingly, in the report, this gunpowder was recommended for creating smoke screens using throwing machines.
But the other two compositions are more interesting to us precisely on the topic of our conversation. These trains were on fire! Moreover, the burning was not fast, explosive, but slow. The charge turned out to be incendiary. Once in the enemy's camp, the shells began to actively burn, spinning in place, thereby setting fire to everything around.
The effect of a jet of flame, which causes the charge to move, was noticed by Chinese scientists. And not only noticed, but also used. By placing the charge in a paper tube, the Chinese saw that the direction of movement of the charge could be controlled. Do not aim directly at the target, but at least towards the target.
During that period, China was at war. The wars never stopped. Fighting broke out in one place and then in another. Accordingly, the Chinese army, like the enemy armies, was well equipped. Naturally, by the standards of that time. The soldiers were protected by armor, and the bows worked over huge, from a modern point of view, distances. There was no advantage in armament.
It was then that the Chinese generals began to think about increasing the firing range and "lath penetration" of arrows. The decision was obvious. It is necessary to increase the firing range! But the question arises - how?
The easiest way is to make the bow stiffer. But here the limitations are related to the physical capabilities of the archer. The second way is to create huge bows that work using loading mechanisms, and not the physical strength of a person. Roman scorpions proved the viability of this path. Those familiar with modern bows will name the third way - the compound bow. But the Chinese simply did not know this invention of the ancient Greeks.
And it was here that an ingenious, truly modern solution appeared. Make powder arrows. Combine targeted archery and rocket reactive power. In this case, the arrows fly further, the force of breaking through the obstacle increases, and if they hit the structure, the flammable substance also causes a fire.
All ingenious is simple. A paper rocket was attached to the arrow, just below the tip. Before firing, the archer lit the fuse. In flight, the squib went off and … Does it look like anything? Then we advise you to watch the video of cruise missile launches from modern aircraft or ships … The Chinese gunpowder arrows can be called the army's first missile weapon.
But that's not all. In the same place, in the East, they created the first multiple launch rocket systems! The very same MLRS that are in service with any modern army. The first Hwacha MLRS were named and the Koreans invented them.
The appearance of this system is not at all difficult to imagine. Everyone knows the Grad system. Now, take this setup and put it on a regular two-wheeled cart instead of a car. Everything! Further, the calculation work is also similar.
Powder arrows are inserted into the guide tube. The wicks of the arrows are connected in one place. The cart turns towards the enemy. Next is the "Fire" command. The wick is set on fire and from 50 to 150 arrows flies towards the enemy within 7-10 seconds.
But missile weapons did not come to Europe from China. India is the culprit. More precisely, one of the principalities of India is Mysore.
It is impossible to stop progress. The Chinese invention began to spread to other countries. To Central Asia, to India. to Japan. And those fireworks that appeared, in particular, in Mysore, pushed the Indians to follow approximately the same path as the Chinese earlier. But they did not reach the use of arrows in India. They didn’t think of it, so to speak. But they could attach a saber to the rocket. It turned out to be quite an interesting structure.
Imagine the overwhelming power of such a weapon. Not only does the saber inflict serious injury to the enemy in flight, but at the end of the flight there is an explosion of fireworks!
Imagine the emotions of the British, who, after joining the principality, were attacked by the elephants already known to them and by these very flying and exploding swords. The Raja spared no armaments to "train" the aggressor. However, flintlocks and cannons did their job and by 1799 the British completely occupied Mysore. Among the trophies were the same sabers. And among the British officers was the first European inventor of missiles, William Congreve …
It was William Congreve who, after leaving the army, created a modern prototype of the rocket. First of all, Congreve gave up the paper rocket. He placed the charge in a metal tube. By doing this, he solved two problems at once. First, it made it possible to place a much larger charge in the rocket. And secondly, the metal protected the rocket from rupture at the start.
But the most important thing that William Colgreave came up with was the nozzle. More precisely, a prototype of a modern nozzle. He attached a metal disk to the bottom of the rocket, which, due to the small diameters of the holes, gave an additional inertial moment to the rocket body. The flight range was increased to 2-3 kilometers, depending on the size of the rocket.
Moreover, the inventor refused to attach any additional striking elements to the body and placed two types of charges in the rocket - explosive and incendiary. Accordingly, the missiles were different. 3, 6, 12 and 32 lb. On November 18, 1805, William Congreve presented the rockets to the British government.
The first use of missiles was recorded on November 8, 1806 during the British attack on the French port of Boulogne. From a distance that was inaccessible to the French artillery, 200 missiles were fired. The city was almost completely burned down. The rockets proved to be excellent when firing across squares, but aimed fire is impossible with them.
The same fate befell the Danish city of Copenhagen on September 4, 1807. Then, 40,000 rockets were fired at the city.
The main disadvantage of Congreve's missiles was the lack of a tail unit. In addition, the rocket did not receive rotational motion during launch and in motion.
In 1817, Congreve began to manufacture rockets on an industrial scale. It was then that another invention appeared - an illuminating rocket, the charge of which was lowered to the ground using an "umbrella". In practice, these are the same missiles that are used today in the armies of the world.
At the same time, despite all the positive aspects in the use of missiles, they could not at that time become an independent type of weapon. The use of missiles did not provide the same destruction of targets as the use of barreled artillery. This means that it did not fulfill the main purpose of using guns - the destruction of enemy manpower and fortifications. The rockets remained just helpers.
Another surge of interest in missiles occurred during the First World War. True, they tried to use missiles in aviation. Rockets (not only from Congriva) were placed between the wings of biplanes at an angle of 45 degrees to the top. It was originally planned to shoot down enemy aircraft in this way. However, in order to fire in this manner, the pilot needed to descend close enough to the ground. And this, with insufficient missile accuracy, threatened the pilots with small arms fire from the ground.
They abandoned the use of missiles to combat enemy aircraft, but for such weapons there were already quite normal targets. These are balloons. In the history of the war, there have been recorded cases of the use of incendiary rockets precisely for the destruction of these objects.
An interesting point: a British pilot attacked a German airship with missiles, but missed. Nevertheless, the balloon pilot chose to jump with a parachute, since the jokes with hydrogen ended sadly.
After the end of the First World, the leader in the development of missile weapons was … Germany. And this happened due to the fault of the victorious countries. The fact is that according to the Versailles Treaty, Germany was limited in the production of most types of weapons. But, there was not a word about missiles in the treaty.
And the isolation of Soviet Russia by Western countries pushed the USSR into military-technical cooperation with the Germans. Therefore, in our opinion, the USSR turned out to be the second power that became the leader in the creation of missile weapons. Both powers focused on the creation of solid-propellant missiles to support troops on the battlefield.
However, with all the connections in the field of rocketry, the Germans went the other way, not disclosing their own developments. They were the first to come up with a way to give rotation to rockets through the oblique arrangement of the engine nozzles. The principle that most readers observed in Soviet RPG grenades.
In the USSR, they focused on feathered shells. Both options had advantages and disadvantages. German shells were more accurate. But the Soviets had a long range. German shells did not require long guides. The Soviets were more versatile. Feathered shells could be used not only on the ground, but also in the air and at sea.
I-153 with suspended RS-82
Soviet rockets received their baptism of fire during the events at Lake Khasan and on the Khalkhin-Gol River. It was then that they were used by Soviet I-15bis fighters. The RS-82 shells showed themselves from the best side. The Germans, on the other hand, used their Nebelwerfer shells on June 22, 1941 during an attack on the USSR.
The answer was our BM-13 "Katyusha", which debuted on July 14, 1941. For the first time, rocket mortars were used at the railway station in the city of Orsha, which was crushed by fascist troops. The Katyusha's firepower had a stunning effect. The transport hub was destroyed literally in minutes. From the memoirs of a German officer: - "I was in a sea of fire" …
How did this miracle weapon come about? Who can be called the progenitor? In our opinion, this is the merit of the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Marshal M. Tukhachevsky. It was on his initiative that the Jet Research Institute was created in 1933.
In fact, this institute worked for only 10 years. But in order to understand the significance of this institute, it is enough to list the designers and scientists whose fate is connected with the RNII: Vladimir Andreevich Artemyev, Vladimir Petrovich Vetchinkin, Ivan Isidorovich Gvay, Valentin Petrovich Glushko, Ivan Terentyevich Kleimenov, Sergey Pavlovich Korolev, Georgy Erikhovich Langemak,Vasily Nikolaevich Luzhin, Arvid Vladimirovich Pallo, Evgeny Stepanovich Petrov, Yuri Alexandrovich Pobedonostsev, Boris Viktorovich Raushenbakh, Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov, Ari Abramovich Sternfeld, Roman Ivanovich Popov, Boris Mikhailovich Slonimer.
Tukhachevsky's activities as People's Commissar of Defense, of course, harbored many miracles, but this time it went right.
The result of the RNII's activities was the creation in 1937 of the first Soviet effective missile projectile (RS). Many artillery historians are still arguing about why this shell was still allowed for state tests. The fact is that this weapon was completely unnecessary for the Red Army. It did not fit into the Soviet military doctrine of those years. But more on that below.
Aviation saved the RS. RS (82 and 132) began to be installed on aircraft. Work on improving the shells was carried out in several directions at once. And in 1939, a powerful and long-range M-13 projectile appeared. On tests, this projectile showed such efficiency that the command of the Red Army decided to create a ground version of the installation.
Such an installation was created in 1941. On June 17, BM-13 was tested at the Sofrinsky test site. And then something happened that could not be called anything other than a miracle. The decision on serial production of these machines was made … June 21, 1941. Just a few hours before the start of the war. And the first blow to the Nazis "Katyusha" was inflicted, as written above, on July 14.
But what about the Germans? Many front-line soldiers in their memoirs mention the disgusting sound of German rocket launchers "Nebelwerfer", which were called "Ishaks" at the front.
For the reasons we have already mentioned, the Germans were the first to start building rocket launchers. And the purpose of the MLRS was completely different. We often grin at our names of weapons, but translate the German name for "Ishak" - "Nebelwerfer", and you get a rather frivolous name - "Tumanomet". Why?
The fact is that MLRS were originally created (in the USSR as well) for firing smoke and chemical ammunition. We think that there is no need to talk about the might of the German chemical industry at that time. Suffice it to recall the nerve gases invented in Germany at that time - "Zarin" and "Soman".
The Germans paid considerable attention to both MLRS and rockets "on their own" trying and experimenting with the location of launchers on any chassis or just in the field. The Red Army, in the end, also switched to the same scheme. But during the Second World War, we did not have such a variety of ammunition as the Germans had.
We talk a lot about the leaders in the creation of rocket artillery. But did the military of other countries not see the prospects for this weapon? Have seen. And they even created their own shells and MLRS. but it is not worth talking about success in this direction.
In the US Army, the aviation and navy used 114, 3-mm and 127-mm unguided missiles. The NURS was intended for shelling the coast and coastal batteries of the Japanese. In some footage of American newsreels of that time, you can see the launchers for these missiles based on tanks. But the release of such ground installations was scanty.
The Japanese focused their attention on the development of air-to-air missiles. Which is quite understandable, given the "love" of their opponents to the use of bomber aircraft. Ground-based launchers were also few in number and were used to fire on American ships.
Japanese rocket caliber 400 mm.
The British have developed NURS for their own aviation. The destination is traditional for the island. 76, 2-mm RS were supposed to hit ground and surface targets. Also, in London, an attempt was made to create air defense missiles. But initially it was clear that this idea was futile.
In the future, of course, we will disassemble and compare all the systems of the world, but it is worth noting that today is, if not the unconditional leadership of Russia in matters of MLRS, then a pretty hefty superiority.
Domestic systems are both diverse and modern. But even today, a different approach can be traced between us and our potential.
The BM-21 Grad became a direct descendant of the "Katyusha" BM-13.
The installation was put into service on March 28, 1963. You can talk about this car for a long time. MLRS is famous and you can see its work in thousands of videos. But the main thing is that the BM-21 became the base when creating other systems for firing unguided rockets of 122 mm caliber - "9K59 Prima", "9K54 Grad-V", "Grad-VD", "Light portable rocket system Grad-P", 22 -barrel shipborne "A-215 Grad-M", "9K55 Grad-1", BM-21PD "Dam" - and some foreign systems, including: RM-70, RM-70/85, RM-70 / 85M, Type 89 and Type 81.
Another MLRS received the baptism of fire in Afghanistan. Since 1975, the Uragan (9K57) has been serving in the Russian army.
Although this system is not being released today, its power inspires respect. 426,000 squares of damage for a range of up to 35 km.
MLRS "Smerch" (9K58).
Despite the fact that the "Smerch" was adopted in 1987, this system is unattainable for most countries in terms of creating analogues. The characteristics of this MLRS are 2-3 times higher than those of other installations. Due to its effectiveness and range, the Smerch is close to tactical missile systems, and is similar in accuracy to an artillery gun.
Today is Tornado.
The letters are a tribute to the ancestor / caliber. The essence is in the modern stuffing. Tornado-G (9K51M) is the most modernized version of the BM-21. Works in automatic mode. Uses satellite navigation, computer guidance. Shooting is carried out over long distances.
You can even confuse systems. MLRS "Tornado-G" is really very similar to the "Grad". But on closer inspection, you will see the antenna of the satellite navigation system on the left of the cockpit. The Tornado-S MLRS will have the same antenna. Only it is located above the cockpit.
This is the point: the use of a new automatic guidance and fire control system (ASUNO). Now the shooting is carried out not only "in areas", but aimed, using corrected ammunition. And the firing range (for "Tornado-S") reaches 200 km.
Despite the fact that in most of the strongest armies in the world, precision weapons are preferred today, MLRS was and remains a formidable weapon. That is why the Americans, the Chinese, the Israelis, and the Indians have MLRS.
