Rocket design and specifications
The aim of the Qassam rocket design appears to be ease and speed of manufacture, using common tools and components. To this end, the rockets are propelled by a solid mixture of sugar and a widely available fertilizer, potassium nitrate. The warhead is filled with smuggled or scavenged TNT and another common fertilizer, urea nitrate.[7]
The rocket consists of a steel cylinder, containing a rectangular block of the propellant. A steel plate which forms and supports the nozzles is spot-welded to the base of the cylinder. The warhead consists of a simple metal shell surrounding the explosives, and is triggered by a fuze constructed using a simple firearm cartridge, a spring and a nail.[7]
Qassam 1 Qassam 2 Qassam 3 Length 79 cm (2 ft 7 in) 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) over 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) Diameter 6 cm (2.4 in) 15 cm (5.9 in) 17 cm (6.7 in) Weight 5.5 kg (12 lb) 32 kg (71 lb) 90 kg (198 lb) Explosives Payload 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) 5-7 kg (11-15 lb) 10 kg (22 lb) Maximum Range 3 km (1.9 mi) 8-10 km (5.0-6.2 mi) 10 km (6.2 mi) Katyusha Type Multiple rocket launcher Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history In service 1939- Used by Soviet Union, Russian Federation, and others Wars World War II, 2006 Lebanon War Production history Variants BM-13, BM-8, BM-31, BM-14, BM-21, BM-24, BM-25, BM-27, BM-30
The media generally refer to all Palestinian high-trajectory rockets as "Qassam rockets" or "Qassam missiles", while they call most rockets fired from Lebanon "Katyushas", as a Katyusha is not a specific model but rather a generic class of rocket.
(REH note) THESE are the things that most people consider "rockets" in my judgment.
Not these:
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