Rocket launcher

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Rocket Launcher or Missile Launcher refers to a variety of devices designed to enable the firing of rockets as a projectile, either as a launch vehicle for atmospheric or space-borne equipment or an aimed explosive weapon in war. It can refer to:

• Shoulder-launched missile weapon, the wider international term for 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, including the bazooka (often used as a genericized term for any shoulder-launched rocket weapon)
  • Rocket propelled grenade, better known as the RPG, a type of shoulder-launched anti-tank weapons designed by the Soviet Union, capable of firing an unguided rocket equipped with an explosive warhead.
  • Anti-tank guided missile, a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily-armored tanks and other armored fighting vehicles
  • Man-portable air-defense systems, shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles
  • Some people mistakenly think that Recoilless Weapons are rocket launchers. However this is not the case. Recoilless rifles fire a projectile from a shell that differs from a conventional shell in that it does not seal the gases in the breech/barrel of the gun.
• Multiple rocket launcher, a type of unguided rocket artillery system
• Transporter erector launcher, a vehicle with an integrated prime mover that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles
• Launch pad, the area and facilities where rockets or spacecrafts liftoff

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