Editing Transporter erector launcher

{{Short description|Self-propelled heavy missile systems}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=April 2024}}
[[Image:sa-4.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[2K11 Krug]] TEL]]

A '''transporter erector launcher''' ('''TEL''') is a [[missile vehicle]] with an integrated [[tractor unit]] that can transport, elevate to a firing position and launch one or more [[Rocket artillery|rocket]]s or [[missile]]s.

==History==
Such vehicles exist for both [[surface-to-air missile]]s and [[surface-to-surface missile]]s. Early on, such missiles were launched from fixed sites and had to be loaded onto trucks for transport, making them more vulnerable to attack, since once they were spotted by the enemy they could not easily be relocated, and if they were it often took hours or even days to prepare them for launch once they reached their new site.

Usually a number of TELs and TELARs are linked to one [[command post]] vehicle (CP or CPV). They may use target information from [[target acquisition]], designation and [[fire-control radar|guidance radar]] (TADAGR or TAR).

=== Transporter erector launcher and radar (TELAR) ===
A '''transporter erector launcher and radar (TELAR)''' is a type of TEL that also incorporates part or all of the radar system necessary for firing the [[surface-to-air missile]]s. Such vehicles have the capability of being autonomous, greatly enhancing their effectiveness. With this type of system each vehicle can fight regardless of the state or presence of support vehicles. The vehicle may have to aim the missile, usually through a [[missile turret|rotating turret]], or they may fire straight up.

=== Transporter launcher and radar (TLAR) ===
A '''transporter launcher and radar''' ('''TLAR''') is the same as a TELAR without the erector capability, because the missile in question is transported in the launch-ready position as default. An example is the [[9K330 Tor]], which mounts a [[vertical launching system]] (VLS)-style block of SAMs that correct their trajectory using rockets on the missile body itself.

=== Mobile erector launcher (MEL) ===
{{main|MIM-104 Patriot}}
The Patriot missile system has a [[towed]] launch vehicle or '''mobile erector launcher''' ('''MEL''').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/spp/starwars/docops/fm44-94fd/gloss.htm |title=FM 44-94 Army Air and Missile Defense Command Operations. Glossary. Part I – Abbreviations and Acronyms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315023557/http://fas.org/spp/starwars/docops/fm44-94fd/gloss.htm |archive-date=2016-03-15|publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]]}}</ref>

[[File:ILauncher (within Sky Sabre).jpg|thumb|An '''iLauncher''' within the Sky Sabre air defence system of the British Army.]]
=== Palletised erector launchers === 
Another sub-set of the TEL are erector-launchers mounted to pallets, which can then be carried by suitable vehicles to create a TEL. The [[MBDA]] iLauncher used to launch the [[Sky Sabre]] missile is one example; a 15-tonne unit which is carried by [[MAN HX]] trucks in [[British Army]] service.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2022/11/common-anti-air-modular-missile-camm/ | title=Common Anti Air Missile (CAMM) - Think Defence | date=5 November 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://corporalfrisk.com/2021/08/14/finnish-land-ceptor-mbda-aiming-high-in-itsuko/ | title=Finnish Land Ceptor – MBDA Aiming High in ITSUKO | date=14 August 2021 }}</ref>

== Rocket launch vehicle ==
{{main|Transporter erector}}
In [[spaceflight]], TELs are support structures used to transport a [[rocket]] [[launch vehicle]] horizontally from an assembly facility to a nearby fixed [[launch pad]] where it is raised vertical for launch. It is similar to TELs, except the fact that most space rockets must be erected and launched with the appropriate [[infrastructure]], such as those found in a [[spaceport]]. This system is used by several [[Space agency#List of space agencies|space-launch agencies]]; the [[Soyuz (rocket family)|Soyuz]] has a TE that can be transported by [[railway]], [[SpaceX]] for [[SpaceX launch vehicles|its launch vehicles]] [[Falcon 9]] and [[Falcon Heavy|Heavy]] (but not [[SpaceX Starship|Starship]]).
[[File:“最高”致敬：快舟一号甲运载火箭致敬武汉和医护 2.png|thumb|Kuaizhou-1A on the TEL, [[Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center]]]]
Some [[small-lift launch vehicle]]s, such as Russian [[Start-1]] and Chinese [[Kuaizhou]] series, can be launched from ordinary TELs from unprepared pads.

==Types==
{{Incomplete list||date=November 2023}}
* Taian [[TA580/TAS5380]] 8×8 TEL
* [[Wanshan Special Vehicle|Wanshan]] [[WS51200]] - 16 wheeled TEL
* [[M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System]] - tracked
* [[Pinaka multi barrel rocket launcher]]
* [[Kub missile system]], [[Buk missile system]] - tracked [[GM chassis]], rarely wheel-based
* [[S-300 missile system]], [[S-400 missile system]] - 8 wheeled truck-based TEL or MT-T tracked transporter
* [[S-500 missile system]]
* [[RT-2PM Topol]], [[RT-2PM2 Topol-M]]
* [[MAZ-7916|MAZ-547A/MAZ-7916]] - 12 wheeled TEL
* [[MAZ-7917]] - 14 wheeled TEL
* [[MZKT-79221]] - 16 wheeled TEL
* [[MAZ-7907]] - 24 wheeled [[gas turbine]] TEL
* [[ASTROS II]] 6x6 wheeled rocket artillery launcher
* [[SPYDER]]

==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed>
Image:s-300V.jpg|A Russian [[S-300 (missile)|S-300V]] TELAR in transit mode
Image:sa10_1.jpg|A Russian [[S-300 (missile)|S-300P]] TEL ready for launch
Image:Pluton 034.jpg|A French [[Pluton (missile)|Pluton]] missile in transit mode
Image:Moscow Parad 2008 Ballist.jpg|[[MAZ-7917]] TEL
Image:Luna m frog 7 hameenlinna 1.jpg|[[9K52 Luna-M|9P113 TEL with 9M21 rocket]]
File:1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment - 191106-A-BS310-0214.jpg|[[M270 MLRS]]
Image:MoscowParade2009 7.jpg|S-300
Image:SCUD 2.JPG|[[MAZ-7310]]
Image:German Patriot missile launcher.jpg|A German PATRIOT launcher
Image:19-03-2012-Parade-rehearsal - Topol-M.jpg|Russian Topol-M [[MZKT-79221]]
Image:Chinese HQ-9 launcher.jpg|HQ-9 [[TA580/TAS5380]] launcher
Image:Buk-MB3K missile launcher (6).jpg|Belarusian [[Buk missile system|Buk-MB3K]] TELAR on MZKT-69225 chassis
</gallery>

==See also==
{{commons category|TEL vehicles}}
* ''[[Meillerwagen]]'', the earliest-designed mobile rocket erection vehicle (trailer) ever deployed  
* [[Missile launch facility]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transporter Erector Launcher}}
[[Category:Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons]]
[[Category:Self-propelled rocket launchers]]
[[Category:Weapons platforms]]
[[Category:Rocket launchers]]
[[Category:Missile launchers]]
[[Category:Transporter erector launcher systems]]