M-26 artillery rocket

M26 is the basic MLRS rocket. It is unguided with a range of 20 mi (32 km). It is armed with 644 M77 DPICM (Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions) anti-personnel/anti-materiel grenades, which are dispersed over the target in mid-air and detonate on impact.

There is a newer, guided DPICM-armed MLRS rocket called the M30.

The UK Ministry of Defence has recently announced it will cease to use dumb cluster munitions and will destroy its remaining stocks of the M30. The British Army will instead procure the M31 variant which has a unitary high-explosive warhead.

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Rocket artillery

Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars.

Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers.

History

The use of rockets as some form of artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also used in multiple launch systems and transported via carts. Devices such as the Korean Hwacha were able to fire hundreds of fire arrows simultaneously. The use of medieval rocket artillery was picked up by the invading Mongols and spread to the Ottoman Turks who in turn used them on the European battlefield.

Medieval Europe

The use of war-rockets is well documented in Medieval Europe. In 1408 Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy used 300 incendiary rockets in the siege of Liege. The city dwellers coped with this tactic by covering their roofs with dirt.

Metal-cylinder rocket artillery

The earliest successful utilization of rocket artillery is associated with Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Tipu Sultan's father Hyder Ali successfully established the powerful Sultanate of Mysore and introduced the first iron-cased metal-cylinder rocket. The Mysorean rockets of this period were innovative, chiefly because of the use of iron tubes that tightly packed the gunpowder propellant; this enabled higher thrust and longer range for the missile (up to 2 km range). They were used by Hyder Ali's son Tipu Sultan against the larger forces of the British East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars especially during the Battle of Pollilur. Although the rockets were quite primitive, they had a demoralizing effect on the enemy due to the noise and bursting light.

M26

M26, M-26, or M.26 may refer to:

Ivchenko AI-26

The Ivchenko AI-26 is a seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engine used in early Russian helicopters and later used in light utility aircraft.

Design and development

The AI-26 engine was designed by A.G Ivchenko in 1945 with the early designation M-26, later the designation was changed to AI-26. Like the Shvetsov ASh-21 which is basically one bank of cylinders from the Shvetsov ASh-82, the AI-26 was also influenced by the ASh-82. The AI-26 retained the bore, stroke and displacement of the ASh-21 while incorporating new features peculiar to its role. This similarity allowed the AI-26 to use the same production jigs as the ASh-21 and ASh-82 which reduced costs and simplified production. The engine was envisioned as a helicopter engine, but the early test models lacked the necessary equipment to facilitate this role, such as an auxiliary cooling fan, reduction gears and clutch. The GR suffix means "Gelikopter", or helicopter. Engine testing was completed by early 1946 and by 1947 helicopter testing had begun. In late 1947 the decision to mass-produce the engine was made and production commenced at factory No.478 located in Zaporizhia. Between 1947 and the 1970s some 1,300 AI-26GR's were produced. The AI-26V model was also produced in Poland during the 1960s as the LiT-3 and later as the PZL-3S.

M-26 (Michigan highway)

M-26 is a 96.355-mile-long (155.068 km) state trunkline highway in the U.S. state of Michigan, running from two miles (3.2 km) east of Rockland to its junction with US Highway 41 (US 41) in Copper Harbor. It generally runs southwest-to-northeast in the western half or Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The northernmost segment, which closely parallels the shore of Lake Superior on the west side of the Keweenaw Peninsula, is highly scenic.

M-26 previously reached the Wisconsin border, but a section of the highway became US 45. Other changes on the northern end of M-26 incorporated highways that were previously numbered M-111 and M-206 in the Eagle Harbor and Eagle River area.

Route description

Southern terminus to Houghton

M-26 starts at an intersection with US 45 east of Rockland in Michigan's Ontonagon County. From there it runs through the town of Mass City to the junction with M-38 east of Greenland. The two highways join for a short distance before M-26 separates turning northeast to Winona across the Houghton County line. In Twin Lakes M-26 passes the shores of the namesake lakes and Twin Lakes State Park. M-26 passes through wooded, hilly terrain in western Houghton County. The segment of roadway in South Range was recently realigned to smooth out curves in the roadway. From there north, M-26 runs generally downhill on approaching the western business district of Houghton and the Portage Lake Lift Bridge from the west.