Rocket Launcher

A rocket launcher is a device that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile, although the term is often used in reference to mechanisms that are portable and capable of firing actual rockets.

Shoulder-fired

The rocket launchers category includes shoulder-fired weapons, any weapon that fires a rocket-propelled projectile at a target yet is small enough to be carried by a single person and fired while held on one’s shoulder. Depending on the country or region, people might use the terms “bazooka” or “RPG” as generalized terms to refer to such weapons, both of which are in fact specific types of rocket launchers. The Bazooka was an American anti-tank weapon which was in service from 1942–1957, while the RPG (most commonly the RPG-7) is a Soviet anti-tank weapon.

A smaller variation is the gyrojet, a small arms rocket launcher with ammunition slightly larger than that of a .45-caliber pistol.

Recoilless rifles are sometimes confused with rocket launchers. A recoilless rifle launches its projectile using an explosive powder charge, not a rocket engine, though some such systems have sustainer rocker motors.

Rocket pod

A rocket pod is a launcher that contains several unguided rockets held in individual tubes, designed to be used by attack aircraft or attack helicopters for close air support. In many cases, rocket pods are streamlined to reduce aerodynamic drag. The first pods were developed immediately after World War II, as an improvement over the previous arrangement of firing rockets from rails, racks or tubes fixed under the wings of aircraft. Early examples of pod-launched rockets were the US Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket and the French SNEB.[8]

Large scale

Larger-scale devices which serve to launch rockets include the multiple rocket launcher, a type of unguided rocket artillery system.