And the Rockets' Red Glare

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Rocket design and specifications

Remnants of several types of rockets

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 fertilizerpotassium 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 1Qassam 2Qassam 3
Length79 cm (2 ft 7 in)180 cm (5 ft 11 in)over 200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Diameter6 cm (2.4 in)15 cm (5.9 in)17 cm (6.7 in)
Weight5.5 kg (12 lb)32 kg (71 lb)90 kg (198 lb)
Explosives Payload0.5 kg (1.1 lb)5-7 kg (11-15 lb)10 kg (22 lb)
Maximum Range3 km (1.9 mi)8-10 km (5.0-6.2 mi)10 km (6.2 mi)

Katyusha

TypeMultiple rocket launcher
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
In service1939-
Used bySoviet Union, Russian Federation, and others
WarsWorld War II, 2006 Lebanon War
Production history
VariantsBM-13, BM-8, BM-31, BM-14BM-21BM-24BM-25BM-27BM-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:



Hamas militants preparing to launch deceptively festive looking Qassam rockets


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This page contains a single entry by writch published on January 8, 2009 3:07 PM.

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