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Type 81 122mm Rocket Launcher
Type 83 122mm Rocket Launcher
Type 89 122mm Rocket Launcher
Type 90 122mm Rocket Launcher
Type ?? 122mm Rocket Launcher

Chinese 122mm Rocket Launchers are employed in several variants with different rocket quantities mounted on wheeled and tracked vehicles. The Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) has either 24 or 40 tubes arranged in three lines of eight tubes or four lines of ten tubes each. All the tubes are parallel to each other and mounted co-axially on a cradle.

The Type 81 (40-round) launcher is carried on a OQ261 Honyan 6X6 truck chassis, the Type 83 (24-round) MRS is mounted on the rear of 6X6 cross-country chassis, and the Type 90 (40-round) is mounted on the Tiema SC2030 6X6 truck. The Type 90 system incorporates a 40 round rocket launcher on a 6x6 truck chassis with provisions for an additional 40 rounds for rapid reloading. After launch, the reloading process can be completed within 3 minutes, providing additional firepower with quick turnarounds.

The Type 89 (40-round) is fully armoured with the same chassis as the Type 83 152mm self-propelled gun-howitzer. The Type 89, a Chinese tank chassis variant of the Russian BM-21 rocket launcher, can fire 40 122mm rockets in 20 seconds. The launcher is at the back of the vehicle, and the reload pack at front. A similar configuration is featured in a previously undisclosed and un-designated 40-round system that was apparently seen in public for the first time at the October 1999 parade in Beijing celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. This system is mounted on a variant of the Type 85 Armored Personnel Carrier, also known as YW 531H and the M-1967 APC, which is the 5 roadwheel successor to the YW 531.

Ammunition used with the MBRL is in the form of a rocket which consists of one piece. Warhead is attached with rocket motor. A fixed amount of propellant is contained in the rocket motor. The rocket is stabilized with a slow spin.

The Type 81 122mm High Explosive rocket is olive drab with black markings. The rocket weighs 66.8 kilograms (147.3 pounds). This rocket may be found equipped with an ICM fragmentation warhead (model unknown). The ICM warhead contains 4,100 steel balls. The precise lengths of the two rockets are as follows: (a) With HE warhead: 2,873 millimeters (113.11 inches); (b) With enhanced frag warhead: 2,870 millimeters (113.00 inches). The warhead is steel.

Specifications

Diameter122mm
Length~ 9.2 feet
Weight 66.8 kilograms (147.3 pounds)
Range 20-30 km
Warhead HE or enhanced fragmentation

New Type, 50th Anniversary Parade

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http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/type-81-r.htm
Maintained by Robert Sherman
Originally created by John Pike
Updated Tuesday, November 16, 1999 1:09:21 PM