A rocket-assisted projectile (RAP) is a

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

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 ...

, mortar, or

recoilless rifle A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...

round incorporating a

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

motor for independent propulsion. This gives the projectile greater speed and range than a non-assisted ballistic shell, which is propelled only by the gun's exploding charge. Some forms of rocket-assisted projectiles can be outfitted with a laser-guide for greater accuracy. The German

Sturmtiger () was a World War II German assault gun built on the Tiger I chassis and armed with a 380mm rocket-propelled mortar. The official German designation was ''Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW 61''. Its primary task was to provide heavy f ...

(1944) used a 380 mm Rocket Propelled Round as its main projectile. These rounds were high explosive shells or shaped charges with a maximum range of 6,000 m. The gun first accelerated the projectile to 45 m/s (150 ft/s), the 40 kg (88 lb) rocket charge then boosted this to about 250 m/s (820 ft/s). Also the German

Krupp K5 The Krupp K5 was a heavy railway gun used by Germany throughout World War II. Description Krupp's K5 series were consistent in mounting a long gun barrel in a fixed mounting with only vertical elevation of the weapon. This gondola was then m ...

railway gun of

World War 2 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 opposing ...

used rocket assisted projectiles in the later stages of the war, although it also used conventional artillery projectiles. The North Korean M-1978 / M1989 (KOKSAN) 170mm self-propelled gun can use rocket assisted projectiles to achieve a range of around ; at one time this was the world's longest range tube field artillery piece. When

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

standards required member armies to have corps-level artillery that could fire to a minimum range of , nearly all member nations solved the problem with RAP rounds in their 155 mm (6.1 inch) artillery. The

Belgian Army The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...

was the only NATO member army that did not require RAP, reaching the required range with a conventional round.

References

External links

GlobalSecurity.org Rocket Assisted Projectiles page
includes RAP projects from around the world.
Army researchers add power, range to artillery
Picatinny Arsenal Rocket artillery Artillery ammunition {{ammo-stub

See also

References

External links