The Zuni 5-inch Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket (FFAR), or simply Zuni, is a

unguided rocket In military terminology, a rocket is a self-propelled, unguided or guided, weapon-system powered by a rocket engine. Though used primarily as medium- and long-range artillery systems, historically rockets have also seen considerable use as air-t ...

developed by the

Hunter Douglas Hunter Douglas N.V. is a Dutch multinational corporation. Its principal business is making window blinds and coverings. The company is publicly listed. The head office is in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and a management office in Lucerne, Switz ...

Division of Bridgeport Brass Company and deployed by the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

, and the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

. The rocket was developed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground operations. It can be used to carry various types of

warhead A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: *E ...

s, including

chaff Chaff (; ) is dry, scale-like plant material such as the protective seed casings of cereal grains, the scale-like parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil ...

for countermeasures. It is usually fired from the LAU-10 rocket pod holding four rockets.

Development

In the early 1950s,

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

engineers at Naval Ordnance Test Station China Lake began to develop a new 12.7 cm unguided rocket to replace the

High Velocity Aircraft Rocket The High Velocity Aircraft Rocket, or HVAR, also known by the nickname Holy Moses, was an American unguided rocket developed during World War II to attack targets on the ground from aircraft. It saw extensive use during both World War II and th ...

The Zuni was designed as a modular system, to allow the use of different types of warheads and fuzes. One type of warhead had a proximity fuze, as the rocket was originally intended to be used as an air-to-air rocket. This led to its selection as the basis for the

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...

airframe in the early 1950s. The Zuni was approved for production in 1957. A number of different launchers were tested for the Zuni, e.g. the twin-tube launchers fitted to the Sidewinder launching rails of the

Vought F-8 Crusader The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based Air superiority fighter, air superiority jet aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Vought. It was the ...

. However, four-tube LAU-10/A series pods became the most commonly used launcher. The Zuni was named after the Zuni Native American tribe in modern day New Mexico.

Operational history

The 5 inch Zuni rockets were first used in

combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

by F-86F Sabres belonging to the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. USS Forrestal explosion 29 July 1967

The Zuni was widely used in the ground-attack role during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. On May 1, 1967, during a sortie against Kép Air Base,

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

, Lieutenant Commander Theodore R. Swartz of Squadron VA-76, flying from , shot down a

MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 was license-built in China as the Shenyang J-5 an ...

with Zuni rockets. This was the only MiG aircraft to be downed by a

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company, and later, McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D und ...

during the

.Grossnick and Armstrong 1997 Lieutenant Commander Swartz received the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

for his action. Later that year, improper handling of a Mk 32 Zuni rocket and other munitions was responsible for a serious fire aboard USS ''Forrestal'' aircraft carrier, which killed 134 men. Two years later, in early 1969, a similar incident on the USS ''Enterprise'' aircraft carrier resulted in 27 dead, 314 injured and the loss of fifteen aircraft. In January 2023, the United States announced that it would be supplying 4,000 Zuni rockets to the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

for use in the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. The US transferred its last supplies of Zuni rockets to Ukraine. In June 2024, it was reported that Ukraine had expended its supply of Zuni rockets, possibly indicating the extinction of the weapon system.

Rocket motors and warheads

The Zuni family consists out of several different rocket motors and warheads:

Student use

The Australian Government has donated its Zuni rockets to the Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI) and they are used for student experiments which are launched from the Woomera launching range. ASRI has also designed and constructed custom nosecones and payload recovery mechanisms for the Zuni. With a payload of 20 kg, the Zuni has an approximate range of 5.9 km, which it attains in about 40 seconds, experiencing 55 G and 491 m/s (Mach 1.4) during the flight.

Laser Guided Zuni Rocket

The Laser Guided Zuni Rocket is a precision weapon and an upgrade to the unguided Zuni rocket. The North American division of

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.WGU-58/B Laser Guided Zuni Rocket Data Sheet
MBDA which is similar to the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System upgrade to the

Hydra 70 The Hydra 70 rocket (weapon), rocket is an American made diameter fin-stabilized unguided rocket used primarily in the air-to-ground role. It can be equipped with a variety of warheads, and in more recent versions, guidance systems for point att ...

system. The Laser Guided Zuni Rocket is composed of the new WGU-58/B Guidance and Control Section that is attached to the front end of an unguided Zuni rocket and warhead. The weapon requires semi-active laser energy to guide to a precise target. The Laser Guided Zuni Rocket is on the U.S. Marine Corps Aviation Weapons Roadmap and Plan and is compatible with any aircraft that is cleared to carry unguided Zunis in a four-place LAU-10 Launcher, including AV-8B Harriers, F/A-18 Hornets, AH-1 Cobra helicopters and P-3 Orion aircraft. The precision weapon fits in the same launcher as unguided Zunis and requires only a 28V firing pulse and a semi-active laser designator. The weapon was developed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Weapons Division of the U.S. Navy's Air Warfare Center in China Lake, California. In 2009, the Laser Guided Zuni Rocket was successfully tested against both a stationary and moving targets. The weapon successfully underwent a live fire warhead test flight in September 2010.

References

; Notes ; Bibliography *

External links

* {{US military rockets Air-to-air rockets of the United States Air-to-ground rockets of the United States Cold War rockets of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1950s