Istorii︠a︡ raket
1348-1918
en
translation: History of missiles - 1348-1918
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Most researchers believe that the origins of rockets are in China, during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD), and are associated with the invention of gunpowder and the beginning of its use for fireworks and entertainment. The force generated by the burning of gunpowder in a limited space was able to move various objects. At the end of the 18th century in India, rockets as weapons were used very widely, and, in particular, there were special detachments of rocketmen, the total number of which reached about 5,000 people. Rocket arrows-projectiles, which were tubes with a charge of a combustible substance, were used by the Indians in battles with British troops.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the British army also adopted military rockets, the production of which was established by William Congreve (Congreve's Rocket). Rocket artillery was widely used until the end of the 19th century. Rockets were lighter and more mobile than artillery pieces. The accuracy and accuracy of firing missiles was small, but comparable to the artillery pieces of that time. However, in the second half of the 19th century, rifled artillery guns appeared, providing greater accuracy and accuracy of fire, and rocket artillery was removed from service almost everywhere. Only fireworks and flares survived. In 1957, in the USSR, under the leadership of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 was created, which in the same year was used to launch the world's first artificial Earth satellite. Thus began the use of rockets for space flights. In military affairs, rockets and rocket technology have shown high efficiency and are used very widely. Without them, it is impossible to imagine the conduct of modern warfare.
