Zuni (rocket)

The Zuni is a 5.0 in (127.0 mm) unguided rocket deployed by the United States armed forces. The rocket was developed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground operations. It can be used to carry various types of warheads, including chaff for countermeasures. It is usually fired from the LAU-10 rocket pod holding four rockets.

Development

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

The Zuni 5-inch Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket (FFAR), was designed as a modular system, to allow the use of different types of warheads and fuzes. One type of warhead was a proximity fuze, as the rocket was originally intended to be used as an air-to-air rocket. The Zuni was approved for production in 1957. A number of different launchers were tested for the Zuni, e.g. single launchers fitted to the AIM-9 Sidewinder launching rails of the Vought F-8 Crusader. However, four-tube LAU-10/A series pods became the most commonly used launcher.