Karavan

Karavan (Urdu: کاروان, literal English translation: "a group of travelers") was a hard rock band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1997. The band was founded by, former Awaz lead guitarist, Asad Ahmed with the help of his friend and bassist Sameer Ahmed, who were soon joined by drummer Allan Smith and vocalist Najam Sheraz. Karavan is known for fusing eastern percussion and melodies with modern rock. Since their inception, the group has released a collective total of five albums: including four studio albums; and one live album.

They released their debut studio album Rakh Aas in 1997. After a gap of two years, the band recorded their second album Safar with their new vocalist Tanseer Ahmed Daar since Najam Sheraz left the band to pursue a solo career. In 2002, Karavan went on releasing their third album Gardish, which included singles like "Aagay He Aagay", "Dil Ki Pyaas" and "Shor". After a gap of eight years, the band released their fourth album Saara Jahan (2010) which found the band renewed success and popularity.

Rakh

Rakh (Persian: رخ‎‎, also Romanized as Rokh) is a village in Naharjan Rural District, Mud District, Sarbisheh County, South Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its existence was noted, but its population was not reported.

References

RM-70 multiple rocket launcher

The RM-70 (raketomet vzor 1970) multiple rocket launcher is a Czechoslovakian army version and the heavier variant of the BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, providing enhanced performance over its parent area-saturation artillery system that was introduced in 1971 (but the NATO designation is M1972).

Overview

RM-70 was developed in Czechoslovakia as a successor for the RM-51, achieving initial operational capability with its Army in 1972. The launcher was being produced in Dubnica nad Váhom (Slovakia). Originally, it was sold to East Germany. After the Soviet Union collapse and the split of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, it was sold to several states in Africa, America, Asia and Europe.

RM-70 replaced the Ural-375D 6x6 truck by a Tatra T813 "Kolos" 8x8 truck as carrier platform for the 40-round launcher. The new carrier vehicle provides enough space for carrying 40 additional 122mm rockets pack for reload. Nevertheless, RM-70 performance remains near the same as Grad even in terms of vehicle's speed and range. This rocket launcher can fire both individual rounds and volleys, principally by means of indirect fire. It is designed for concentrated fire coverage of large areas (up to 3 hectares in one volley) by high explosive fragmentation shells. The fire is robust with almost 256 kg of explosives used in one volley of 40 rockets. The rockets used are either the original Soviet 9M22 and 9M28, or locally developed models. These are the JROF with a range of 20.75 km, the JROF-K with a range of 11 km, the "Trnovnik" with 63 HEAT-bomblets and with a range of 17.5 km, the "Kuš" with five PPMI-S1 anti-personnel mines or the "Krizhna-R" with 4 anti-tank mines PTMI-D and with a range of 19,450 m.

15 cm Nebelwerfer 41

The 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 (15 cm NbW 41) was a German multiple rocket launcher used in the Second World War. It served with units of the Nebeltruppen, the German equivalent of the U.S. Army's Chemical Corps. Just as the Chemical Corps had responsibility for poison gas and smoke weapons that were used instead to deliver high-explosives during the war, so did the Nebeltruppen. The name Nebelwerfer is best translated as "smoke thrower".

Development

Rocket development had begun during the 1920s and reached fruition in the late-30s. These offered the opportunity for the Nebeltruppen to deliver large quantities of poison gas or smoke simultaneously. The first weapon to be delivered to the troops was the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 in 1940, after the Battle of France, a purpose-designed rocket with gas, smoke and high-explosive warheads. It, like virtually all German rocket designs, was spin-stabilized to increase accuracy. One very unusual feature was that the rocket motor was in the front, the exhaust venturi being about two-thirds down the body from the nose, with the intent to optimize the blast and fragmentation effect of the rocket as the warhead would still be above the ground when it detonated. This proved to greatly complicate manufacture for not much extra effect and it was not copied on later rocket designs. It was fired from a six-tube launcher mounted on a towed carriage adapted from that used by the 3.7 cm PaK 36 to a range of 6,900 metres (7,500 yd). Almost five and a half million 15 cm rockets and six thousand launchers were manufactured over the course of the war.