Zuni (rocket)

In the early 1950s, U.S. Navy engineers at Naval Ordnance Test Station China Lake began to develop a new 12.7 cm unguided rocket to replace the High Velocity Aircraft Rocket.

File:A-4F VA-113 launching Zuni rockets 1968.jpg, 1968.]]

The Zuni was designed as a modular system, to allow the use of different types of warheads and fuzes. One type of warhead had a proximity fuze, as the rocket was originally intended to be used as an air-to-air rocket. This led to its selection as the basis for the AIM-9 Sidewinder airframe in the early 1950s.

The Zuni was approved for production in 1957. A number of different launchers were tested for the Zuni, e.g. the twin-tube launchers fitted to the Sidewinder launching rails of the Vought F-8 Crusader. However, four-tube LAU-10/A series pods became the most commonly used launcher.{{cite web | work = Designation systems |url = http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/5in-rockets.html|title=Air-Launched 5-Inch Rockets|access-date= December 27, 2015}}

The Zuni was named after the Zuni Native American tribe in modern day New Mexico.{{cite web | via = SI |url= https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/zuni-missile/nasm_A19660160000 |title=Zuni missile|publisher=National Air and Space Museum | access-date=May 19, 2020}}

The 5 inch Zuni rockets were first used in combat by F-86F Sabres belonging to the Pakistan Air Force during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.{{cite book|url= https://www.capitolhillbooks-dc.com/pages/books/13153/hussaini-tanvir-m-ahmed-jamal-a-khan-text-intro/paf-over-the-years|title=PAF Over the years |chapter=Wars in the Mach-2 era (1961–1970)| last = Husseini |publisher=directorate of Media Affairs, Pakistan Air Force|edition= rev. |page=45}}

File:USS Forrestal explosion 29 July 1967.jpg

The Zuni was widely used in the ground-attack role during the Vietnam War.

On May 1, 1967, during a sortie against Kép Air Base, North Vietnam, Lieutenant Commander Theodore R. Swartz of Squadron VA-76, flying from {{USS |Bon Homme Richard|CV-31|6}}, shot down a MiG-17 with Zuni rockets. This was the only MiG aircraft to be downed by a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk during the Vietnam War.Grossnick and Armstrong 1997 Lieutenant Commander Swartz received the Silver Star for his action.{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_d73UUmKru9IC|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_d73UUmKru9IC/page/n403 391]|quote= Theodore Swartz 1 May 1967.|title=By Sea, Air, and Land: An Illustrated History of the U. S. Navy and the War in Southeast Asia|first=Edward J.|last= Marolda|date=1 July 1996|publisher=Diane Publishing|via= Internet Archive}}

Later that year, improper handling of a Mk 32 Zuni rocket and other munitions was responsible for a serious fire aboard USS Forrestal aircraft carrier, which killed 134 men. Two years later, in early 1969, a similar incident on the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier resulted in 27 dead, 314 injured and the loss of fifteen aircraft.{{cite web|url= http://www.insensitivemunitions.org/history/the-uss-enterprise-cvan-65-fire-and-munition-explosions/|title=The USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) fire and munition explosions | work = The History of Insensitive Munitions| via = Insensitive munitions}}{{Cite journal | url=https://sma.nasa.gov/docs/default-source/safety-messages/safetymessage-2007-12-01-explosionsaboardussforrestal.pdf?sfvrsn=9fa91ef8_4 | title=Forrestal in Flames | publisher=NASA | journal=System Failure Case Studies | volume=1 | issue=9}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2022/august/dissecting-carrier-disaster|title=Dissecting a Carrier Disaster | Naval History Magazine - August 2022, Volume 36, Number 4}}

In January 2023, the United States announced that it would be supplying 4,000 Zuni rockets to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for use in the Russo-Ukrainian War.{{cite press release |url= https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3261263/more-than-3-billion-in-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/ |title=More Than $3 Billion in Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine |publisher= United States Department of Defense |date=6 January 2022 |access-date=6 January 2023}} The US transferred its last supplies of Zuni rockets to Ukraine.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-22 |title=The Last of America’s 66-Year Old Zuni Rockets Have Been Deployed |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a61633219/zuni-rockets-ukraine-combat/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Popular Mechanics |language=en-US}} In June 2024, it was reported that Ukraine had expended its supply of Zuni rockets, possibly indicating the extinction of the weapon system. {{Cite web|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a61633219/zuni-rockets-ukraine-combat/|title=The Last of America’s 66-Year Old Zuni Rockets Have Been Deployed|date=July 22, 2024|website=Popular Mechanics}}

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The Zuni family consists out of several different rocket motors and warheads:

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The Australian Government has donated its Zuni rockets to the Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI) and they are used for student experiments which are launched from the Woomera launching range.

ASRI has also designed and constructed custom nosecones and payload recovery mechanisms for the Zuni. With a payload of 20 kg, the Zuni has an approximate range of 5.9 km, which it attains in about 40 seconds, experiencing 55 G and 491 m/s (Mach 1.4) during the flight.

The {{convert|5|in|mm|adj=on|sigfig= 3}} Laser Guided Zuni Rocket is a precision weapon and an upgrade to the unguided Zuni rocket. The North American division of MBDA is the only manufacturer of the Laser Guided Zuni Rocket,[http://www.mbdainc.com/downloads/zuni-data.pdf WGU-58/B Laser Guided Zuni Rocket Data Sheet], MBDA {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110408234710/http://www.mbdainc.com/downloads/zuni-data.pdf |date=April 8, 2011}} which is similar to the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System upgrade to the Hydra 70 system.{{cite web|url= http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/AVN/Documents/Signed%20AvPlan.pdf |title= 2007 Marine Aviation Plan | publisher = USMC |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071127050437/http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/AVN/Documents/Signed%20AvPlan.pdf |archive-date=November 27, 2007}} The Laser Guided Zuni Rocket is composed of the new WGU-58/B Guidance and Control Section that is attached to the front end of an unguided Zuni rocket and warhead. The weapon requires semi-active laser energy to guide to a precise target.{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznHtJ1E7Ko&playnext=1&list=PL1E5E6460DAEAAB22 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190928040617/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznHtJ1E7Ko&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=2019-09-28 |url-status= dead|title=Laser Guided Zuni (TM) Stationary Target Composite Video Public Release May, 2009|date= January 9, 2010|access-date=December 27, 2015|via=YouTube}} The Laser Guided Zuni Rocket is on the U.S. Marine Corps Aviation Weapons Roadmap and Plan and is compatible with any aircraft that is cleared to carry unguided Zunis in a four-place LAU-10 Launcher, including AV-8B Harriers, F/A-18 Hornets, AH-1 Cobra helicopters and P-3 Orion aircraft. The precision weapon fits in the same launcher as unguided Zunis and requires only a 28V firing pulse and a semi-active laser designator. The weapon was developed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Weapons Division of the U.S. Navy's Air Warfare Center in China Lake, California.{{cite AV media|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kIkJfptmZg&feature=BF&list=PL1E5E6460DAEAAB22&index=4|title=Laser Guided Zuni (TM) Moving Target Shot August, 2009|date=January 9, 2010|access-date=December 27, 2015|via=YouTube}}

In 2009, the Laser Guided Zuni Rocket was successfully tested against both a stationary and moving targets.Jean Dupont 10/6/2009, [http://www.mbda-systems.com/mbda/site/ref/scripts/newsFO_complet.php?lang=EN&news_id=292 MBDA Incorporated Scores a Direct Hit in a Moving Target Demonstration of the Semi-Active Laser Guided Zuni Rocket], MBDA {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101017081050/http://www.mbda-systems.com/mbda/site/ref/scripts/newsFO_complet.php?lang=EN&news_id=292 |date=October 17, 2010}} The weapon successfully underwent a live fire warhead test flight in September 2010.{{cite web|url= http://www.mbdainc.com/|title=MBDA Inc. |access-date=December 27, 2015}}{{Page needed | date = January 2023}}

; Notes

{{Reflist|30em}}

; Bibliography

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book |author=Grossnick, R. and Armstrong W.J. |title=United States Naval Aviation, 1910–1995 |year=1997 |publisher=Naval Historical Center |isbn=0-16-049124-X}}

{{Refend}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Zuni rockets}}

{{US military rockets}}

Category:Air-to-air rockets of the United States

Category:Air-to-ground rockets of the United States

Category:Cold War rockets of the United States

Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1950s