May 15, 2001 at 4:41 pm
Though in extensive use today and shatteringly effective in combat,is there a place for the rocket launcher in the future?The biggest problem will be that with the gradual phase out of underwing/external pylons in favor of internal weapon bay systems,they will be impossible to carry and deploy because of the way the munitions are ejected out.It’s not likely that a manufacturer/designer would add an extra weapons bay to exclusively accommodate unguided munitions such as rockets plus it would make it much more difficult to aim.Also,today’s strategy seems to be – get in – take one precise shot – get out ,in which rockets would be useless.With the deployment of helicopters such as the Commanche,rocket launcher pods would not even be used for tank busting for which they are most effective and efficient.(Not every country can afford to reserve one whole LGB for one tank etc).What would be the replacement for these incredible weapons and what would pack an equal punch(quantitative as well as qualitative)?