Editing Rocket launcher (section)

==Types==
===Shoulder-fired===
{{Main|Shoulder-fired missile}}
The rocket launchers category includes shoulder-fired weapons, 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. Depending on the country or region, people might use the terms "[[bazooka]]" or "[[rocket-propelled grenade|RPG]]" as generalized terms to refer to such weapons, both of which are in fact specific types of rocket launchers. The Bazooka was an American [[anti-tank weapon]] which was in service from 1942 to 1957, while the RPG (most commonly the [[RPG-7]]) is a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] anti-tank weapon.

A smaller variation is the [[gyrojet]], a [[small arms]] rocket launcher with [[ammunition]] slightly larger than that of a [[.45 ACP|.45-caliber]] pistol.

[[Recoilless rifle]]s are sometimes confused with rocket launchers. A recoilless rifle launches its projectile using an explosive powder charge, not a rocket engine, though some such systems have sustainer rocket motors.

===Rocket pod===
[[File:Airforce Museum Berlin-Gatow 288.JPG|thumb|right|[[Su-20]] aircraft with [[UB-32 (rocket pod)|UB-32]] rocket pods, each carrying thirty two [[S-5 rocket]]s]]
A rocket pod is a launcher that contains several [[unguided rocket]]s held in individual tubes, designed to be used by [[attack aircraft]] or [[attack helicopter]]s for [[close air support]]. In many cases, rocket pods are [[Drag (physics)|streamline]]d to reduce [[aerodynamic drag]]. The first pods were developed immediately after World War II, as an improvement over the previous arrangement of firing rockets from rails, racks or tubes fixed under the wings of aircraft. Early examples of pod-launched rockets were the US [[Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket]] and the French [[SNEB]].<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070206192836/http://www.vectorsite.net/twbomb_07.html Vectors Website - 7.0 Unguided Rockets]}}.</ref>

===Large scale===
Larger-scale devices which serve to launch rockets include the [[multiple rocket launcher]], a type of unguided [[rocket artillery]] system.