Editing Multiple rocket launcher (section)

==History==
[[File:11th century basketry fire arrow rocket launcher.jpg|thumb|left|An illustration of a handheld multiple rocket launcher constructed of basketry, as depicted in the 11th century book [[Wujing Zongyao]] of the [[Song dynasty]]]]
[[Image:Hwacha.jpg|thumb|Korean [[Joseon]] ''[[hwacha]]'' multiple rocket launcher (designed in 1409) in a museum]]
The first multiple rocket launchers, known as [[Huo Che]], were invented during the medieval Chinese [[Song dynasty]], in which the Chinese [[fire lance]] was fixed backward on a pike or arrow and shot at an enemy as early as 1180.<ref name=James>{{Cite book |title=Ancient Inventions |last1=James |first1=Peter J. |last2=Thorpe |first2=Nick |last3=Thorpe |first3=I. J. |publisher=Ballantine Books |year=1995 |isbn=978-0345401021 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientinvention00jame/page/238 238] |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientinvention00jame/page/238 }}</ref> This form of rocket was used during the [[Siege of Kaifeng (1232)]].<ref name=Gruntman>{{Cite book |title=Blazing the Trail: The Early History of Spacecraft and Rocketry |last=Gruntman |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Gruntman  |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics |year=2005 |isbn=978-1563477058 |pages=5–6}}</ref>

Chinese militaries later created multiple rocket launchers that fired up to 100 small fire-arrow rockets simultaneously. The typical powder section of the arrow-rockets was 1/3 to 1/2&nbsp;ft (10 to 15&nbsp;cm) long. Bamboo arrow shafts varied from 1.5&nbsp;ft (45&nbsp;cm) to 2.5&nbsp;ft (75&nbsp;cm) long and the striking distance reached 300 to 400 paces. The Chinese also enhanced rocket tips with poison and made sure that the launchers were mobile. They designed a multiple rocket launcher to be carried and operated by a single soldier.<ref name=Gruntman /> Various forms of MRLs evolved, including a launcher mounted on a wheelbarrow.<ref name=James />

The [[Joseon dynasty]] of Korea used an expanded variant of such a launcher (called a ''[[hwacha]]'') made of 100 to 200 holes containing rocket arrows placed on a two-wheeled cart. The range of the fired arrows is estimated to have been 2,000 meters. The ''hwacha'' was used to great effect against invading armies during the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98)|Japanese invasions of 1592–1598]], most notably the [[Battle of Haengju]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=What Life was Like in the Land of the Dragon |publisher=Time-Life |edition=1st |date=1998 |isbn=978-0783554587}}</ref> in which 40 hwachas were deployed to repel 30,000 Japanese soldiers.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Tools of War: History of Weapons in Early Modern Times |last=Ramsey |first=Syed |publisher=Alpha Edition |year=2016 |isbn=978-9386101679 |page=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jkk5DAAAQBAJ&dq=%22hwacha%22+%22choi%22&pg=PT72 }}</ref>

European armies preferred relatively large single-launch rockets prior to World War II. Napoleonic armies of both sides followed the British adoption of [[Mysorean rockets]] as the [[Congreve rocket]]. These were explosive steel-cased bombardment rockets with minimal launchers. European navies developed naval multiple launcher mounts with steadily improving explosive rockets for light and coastal vessels. These weapons were largely replaced by conventional light artillery during the late nineteenth century.

[[File:Rocket warfare.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A painting showing the British forces confronted with [[Mysorean rockets]]]]

===World War II===
[[File:Katyusha Rocket Launcher - Artillery Museum - St. Petersburg - Russia.jpg|thumb|BM-13 [[Katyusha rocket launcher|Katyusha]] (in service since 1941)]]
[[Image:T-34-rocket-launcher-France.jpg|thumb|American [[T34 Calliope]] (designed in 1943) in action]]
[[File:The British Army in Normandy 1944 B9593.jpg|thumb|A German Panzerwerfer [[Sd.Kfz. 4]] captured by the British during the [[Invasion of Normandy]] in 1944]]
[[File:385th Guards Artillery Brigade's 9K57 Uragan firing at the Totsky training ground (23-08-2018).webm|300px|thumb|Video of firing [[BM-27 Uragan]] in Russian service, 23 August 2018]]

The first [[self-propelled artillery|self-propelled]] MRLs—and arguably the most famous—was the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Katyusha rocket launcher|BM-13 Katyusha]], first used during [[World War II]] and exported to Soviet allies afterwards. They were simple systems in which a rack of launch rails was mounted on the back of a truck. This set the template for modern MRLs. The Americans mounted tubular launchers atop [[M4 Sherman]] tanks to create the [[T34 Calliope]] rocket launching tank, only used in small numbers, as their closest equivalent to the Katyusha. The Germans began using a towed six-tube multiple rocket launcher during World War II, the [[15 cm Nebelwerfer 41|Nebelwerfer]], called the "Screaming Mimi" by the Allies. The system was developed before the war to skirt the limitations of the Treaty of Versailles. Later in the war, 15&nbsp;cm Nebelwerfer 41s were mounted on modified Opel Maultier "Mule" halftracks, becoming [[Panzerwerfer]] 42 4/1s. Another version produced in limited numbers towards the end of the war was a conversion of the [[Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper]] ("heavy military transport", sWS) halftrack to a configuration similar to the Panzerwerfer 42 4/1, mounting the 10-barreled 15&nbsp;cm Nebelwerfer.

Another German halftrack MRL system was inspired by the Russian BM-13. Keeping the Soviet 82&nbsp;mm rocket caliber as well as the launch and rocket stabilisation designs, it was developed into a system of two rows of 12 guide rails mounted to a [[Maultier]] chassis, each row providing the capacity for 24 rockets, underslung as well as on top of the rails, for 48 rockets total. This vehicle was designated [[8 cm Raketen-Vielfachwerfer]] (8&nbsp;cm multiple rocket launcher). As the launch system was inspired by and looked similar to the BM-13, which the Germans had nicknamed "''Stalin-Orgel''" or "Stalin-Organ", the Vielfachwerfer soon became known as the "''Himmler-Orgel''", or "Himmler-Organ".