A-100 (multiple Rocket Launcher)
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The A-100 is a , 10-tube
multiple rocket launcher A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon ...
developed by Beijing-based
China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) is a major state-owned civilian and military space launch vehicle manufacturer in China and one of the major launch service providers in the world. CALT is a subsidiary of the larger China A ...
(CALT, also known as 1st Space Academy) for the Chinese
PLA ground force The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), also referred to as the PLA Army, is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and also its largest and oldest branch. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 1927 as ...
s. It is a derivative of
Weishi Rockets The Weishi (WS; ) family of multiple rocket launcher systems were mainly developed by Sichuan Academy of Aerospace Technology (SAAT, also known as Base 062) in the central province of Sichuan, China at Chengdu city. The systems include the WS-1 ...
WS-1 with simple cascade terminal
inertial guidance An inertial navigation system (INS; also inertial guidance system, inertial instrument) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning ...
. Although, not active with the Chinese military, the system is active with the Pakistan Army.


Overview

China reportedly received a small number of the Russian Smerch 9K58 300 mm, 12-tube multiple launch rocket system and its ammunition in 1997. The Smerch 9K58 system is capable of firing a ‘smart’ submunition that has a dual-colour infrared sensors for terminal guidance, which enables the rocket to achieve accuracies previously difficult to achieve with unguided rockets of that range. The submunition is fitted with kinetic energy fragment warheads which are said to be able to penetrate 70mm of armour at an angle of 30° to the normal. China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CPMIEC), a trading company that markets Chinese missile and defence technologies to foreign customers, revealed the A-100 multiple launch rocket system in 2000. The system was developed by CALT, which is famous for its ChangZheng (Long March) family of space launch vehicles and DongFeng family of
ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...
s. The A-100 system is CALT's first attempt to break into the tactical weapons market. The development of the A-100 possibly began in the late 1990s and the MRL system was observed in service with the PLA 1st Artillery Division in Guangzhou MR in 2002, possibly for trial and evaluations. Although the system resembles the Russian Smerch 9K58 300 mm rocket system, it is not a copy of the Smerch as previously speculated. The A-100 rocket is fitted with a simple guidance system for greater accuracy. In 2019, Pakistan admitted that China sold the designs of A-100 system to Pakistan and
Inter-Services Public Relations The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) () is the media and public relations wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's Media of Pakistan, civilian media and the Pakistani ...
(ISPR) released an official statement regarding the indigenously developed A-100 and commissioned as Multiple Launch Rocket System in its
Regiment of Artillery Regiment of Artillery may refer to: * Regiment of Artillery (Pakistan) * Regiment of Artillery (India) The Regiment of Artillery is a combat support arm of the Indian Army, which provides massive firepower during all ground operations of t ...
.


Rocket specifications

* Rocket calibre: 300mm * Rocket length: 7,300mm * Rocket weight: 840 kg * Warhead: 235 kg, ~500 submunitions * Firing range: 40~100 km The A-100 fires 300 mm solid propellant rockets, with a firing range of 40~100 km. The A-100 rocket is 7.3m in length, weighs 840 kg, carries a 235 kg warhead, and is stabilised by spin, thrust, and stabilising fins. It is fitted with a warhead containing 500 HE-FRAG (High Explosive Fragmentation) anti-armour/personnel submunitions. The submunition can penetrate 50mm of armour, and has a blast radius of 7m. The submunitions have a spreading radius of 100 +/- 40 metres. The rocket consists of the warhead and fuse, a thrust stabilising system, a rocket motor and the tail section. The rocket motor is a single chamber, solid rocket motor with an advanced hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) composition rocket propellant. The stabilising fins are folded inside the launch tube and open once the rocket leaves the tube. The rocket is equipped with an onboard computer to help correct the horizontal and vertical deviations. During the first three seconds of the rocket's flight, the onboard computer detects the horizontal difference between the programmed trajectory and actual status of the rocket, and controls the rocket's stabilising thrust system to correct the rocket's flying direction. The onboard computer corrects the vertical deviation by adjusting the warhead detonation time so that the submunitions are spread with high accuracy.


Launch vehicle

* Launch vehicle road speed: 60 km/h * Launch vehicle travelling range: 650 km * Reloading time: 20 minutes The launch vehicle is based on a Taian TAS4500 8X8 wheeled truck chassis developed by Tai'an Special Vehicle Manufactory. The vehicle weights 21t and has a maximum load of 22t. The vehicle has a maximum road speed of 60 km/h and a maximum range of 650 km. The vehicles has a gradient of 57% and a fording depth of 1.1m. The vehicle is equipped with four hydraulically operated stabilisers which are lowered in preparation for the rocket launch. 10 launcher tubes mounted on the chassis are arranged as two blocks of four (top) and six (bottom) tubes.


Variants


A100E

Export version


A200

Development of A100 with simple cascade inertial terminal guidance updated by GPS. The arrangement of A200 is different from A100 in that each launching box consists of three rows of launching tubes, three on the top and bottom respectively, and two in the middle. A200 rockets also have additional forward control surfaces that were not present on A100 rockets.


A300

Development of A200 with a range of 290 km and integrated GNSS/
INS INS or Ins may refer to: Places * Ins, Switzerland, a municipality * Creech Air Force Base (IATA airport code INS) * Indonesia, ITF and UNDP code INS * INS Park, an entertainment complex in China Biology *'' Ins'', a New World genus of bee flie ...
guidance.


Operators


Current operators

* -
Azerbaijani Armed Forces The Azerbaijani Armed Forces () is the military of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. It was re-established according to the country's Law of the Armed Forces on 9 October 1991. The original Azerbaijan Democratic Republic's armed forces were ...
- Received six Polonez vehicles from Belarus in 2018. * -
Armed Forces of Belarus The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are the military forces of Belarus. It consists of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, all under the command of the Ministry of Defence. As a landlocked country, Belarus has ...
- Local production of A-200 known as Polonez. Received six A-200 systems from China by 2016. * -
Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consists of three uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backe ...
- Approximately 60 A-100E vehicles delivered from China by 2015. * -
Tanzania People's Defence Force The Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) () is the military force of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was established in September 1964, following a mutiny by the former colonial military force, the Tanganyika Rifles. From its inception, ...
- 12 A-100 MLRS received from China in 2013.


Failed trials

* -
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
- The A-100 MRL was trialed by the PLA in 2002, but the PHL03 was selected instead.


See also

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T-122 Sakarya The T-122 Sakarya is a Turkish Multiple rocket launcher, multiple launch rocket system developed by ROKETSAN. Overview As part of the Turkish Army#Modernization, modernization drive undertaken by the Turkish Military in the 1980s and 90s se ...
*
Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher Pinaka () is a multiple rocket launcher produced in India and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army. The system has a maximum range of for Mark-I Enhanced and for Mark-II ER version, and can ...
*
Fajr-5 The Fajr-5 (rarely Fadjr-5, , "Dawn") is an Iranian 333 mm long-range multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). The Fajr-5 was developed during the 1990s and has since been exported to various armed actors in the Middle East. The Fajr-5 launcher ...
*
TOROS TOROS artillery rocket system (; , lit. "Gunner (artillery), Gunner") is a Turkish rocket artillery multiple rocket launcher system that has been developed in both 230 and 260 mm calibre. The system was developed by TÜBİTAK Defense Industr ...
*
Falaq-2 The Falaq-2 missile is the second generation of Falaq unguided artillery rocket systems. This system was also developed in the 1990s by the Shahid Bagheri Industries, which is part of the Aerospace Industries Organization. It is considered possi ...


References

*Jane's Land Based Air Defence 2005-2006 * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Wheeled self-propelled rocket launchers Self-propelled artillery of the People's Republic of China Multiple rocket launchers Military vehicles introduced in the 2000s China–Pakistan military relations Multiple rocket launchers of Pakistan