HVAR

High-Velocity Aircraft Rocket (HVAR)

Unguided RocketType

USA Country of origin

Production History

Caltech, NOTS China LakeDesigner

1944Designed

Specifications

134 lb (61 kg)Missile mass

68 in (173 cm)Length (normal)

5 in (127 mm)Diameter (normal)

TNTExplosive warhead

7.5 lb (3.4 kg)Explosive mass

Other Information

1,600 yd (1,500 m)Maximum firing range

937.5 mph (419 m/s)Speed

NoneGuidance System

Description

Side view of an HVAR unguided rocket.

The HVAR (High-Velocity Aircraft Rocket) was developed to be an American unguided rocket utilised for attacking ground targets from aircraft. This rocket began production towards the end of World War II and saw action through the Korean War. The HVAR was developed as an improvement upon the 5-inch Forward Firing Aircraft Rocket (FFAR) which had the same size warhead, however, it also sported an underwhelming 3.25 in (8.3 cm) rocket motor. The rocket was a good size; however, adaptations were needed to make it a faster rocket especially in a flatter trajectory, being fired from an external mount on an aircraft. Increasing the rocket motor's size allowed for the rocket to take on the 5 in diameter throughout the entire length of the rocket thereby increasing the propellant capacity from 8.5 lb to 23.9 lb. This rocket was outfitted with Ballistite for the propellant which had a greater specific impulse greater than the British, German or Soviet versions of rocket propellant. The ∆V (Delta 'Vee') for the new HVAR increased from 216 m/s to 420 m/s (1,400 ft/s), more than enough to provide the flat trajectory the designers and the military wanted.

The 5 in HVAR rocket was able to pack a punch and in doing so could penetrate 4 ft of reinforced concrete and be effectively used against sinking transport ships, destroying pillboxes, ammunition dumps, tanks and railroad locomotives. It was demonstrated that pilots inexperienced with the HVAR had decreased chances of hitting their target whereas experienced pilots could utilise them with deadly and almost pinpoint accuracy. Often HVAR and Tiny Tim rockets were used together with F-84 jets loading out up to 24 HVAR rockets and two Tiny Tims for an astounding rocket weight of 5,800 lb (2,600 kg).

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the rocket.

Aircrews installing a warhead on a HVAR rocket. Laying on the ground below the centre person is the rocket body protection plug which is removed from the rocket body when installing a warhead, to the left on the ground is the fuse for the rocket which will be installed after the warhead is in place.

Effective damage

Targets

• Smaller ships
• Anti-aircraft artillery
• Pillboxes
• Light to medium armoured tanks
• Locomotives
• Bunkers

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of rockets that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

The HVAR rocket has an effective punch for a 5 in. rocket. This rocket can be utilised against hardened targets such as pillboxes, anti-aircraft artillery and light to medium tanks with positive results. Rockets scoring a direct hit will blast through concrete and armour while nearby hits will also score splash damage. The HVAR can be a tricky rocket to get on target as it is unguided, once it is fired, it will continue to fly until it either hits the target, hits the ground nearby or runs out of fuel. Typically multiple HVAR rockets are fired off a the same time to ensure some contact with the target. While not as unpredictable as the 2.75 in. FFAR Mighty Mouse, it never hurts to fire off an extra rocket when available when attacking a target.

Pros and cons

A B-25 about to be hit by an HVAR unguided missile.

Pros:

• HVARs were rail launched, no drag from empty launchers as in the case of the M8's M-10 launch tubes
• Effectively used against semi-hardened and hardened ground targets
• Fitted to fighters, helicopters, attackers and some bombers
• Effective when used in conjunction with Tiny Tim rockets

Cons:

• Unguided, typically need to fire several to ensure the target is hit
• Difficult to use against moving vehicles unless at very low altitude

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />.

Media

• 

  Image of HVAR and HVAR RAM rockets mounted to a F4U.
• 

  Aircrews loading HVAR rockets on F-51Ds.
• 

  Aircrews loading a napalm bomb next to two HVAR rockets.
• 

  A PB4Y-2 Privateer with an unusual fuselage mounted HVAR rocket rails.
• 

  5-inch FFAR rockets prepped for loading on a PBJ-1H. This rocket is not to be confused with the HVAR which was an upgraded version with a larger rocket body.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the weapon;
• other literature.

Rockets
USA
70 mm	FFAR Mighty Mouse · Hydra-70 M247
110 mm	M8
127 mm	HVAR · Zuni Mk32 Mod 0 ATAP
298 mm	Tiny Tim
408 mm	Yasser
Germany
55 mm	R4M
73 mm	RZ.65
88 mm	Pb2
150 mm	Wgr.41 Spr
210 mm	Wfr.Gr.21
USSR
55 mm	S-5K · S-5KP · S-5M
80 mm	S-8KO · S-8M
82 mm	M-8 · ROS-82 · RBS-82
122 mm	S-13OF
127 mm	S-3K
132 mm	M13 · M-13UK · ROFS-132 · ROS-132 · RBS-132
212 mm	S-1of · S-21
240 mm	S-24 · S-24B
300 mm	M-31
420 mm	S-25O · S-25OF · S-25OFM
425 mm	TT-250
Britain
51 mm	RP
70 mm	CRV7 M247
80 mm	Type R80 SURA T-80-P 3 · Type R80 SURA T-80-US 3
87 mm	AP Mk I · AP Mk II
152 mm	RP-3
183 mm	Triplex R.P.
292 mm	Uncle Tom · Red Angel
Japan
100 mm	Type 5 No.1 Mod.9
120 mm	Type 3 No.1 Mod.28 Mk.1
130 mm	Type 75
210 mm	Type 3 No.6 Mod.27 Mk.1 · Type 5 No.6 Mod.9
China
55 mm	Type 57-1
70 mm	FS70
90 mm	Type 90-1
130 mm	Type 130-2
Italy
50 mm	ARF/8M3(AP-AT)
70 mm	Skyfire-70 AC/AP
France
68 mm	SNEB type 23 · TDA
70 mm	FZ49
100 mm	TBA ECC · TBA Multi-Dart 100 AB
120 mm	T10 140 · T10 151
Sweden
75 mm	srak m/55 Frida · srak m/57B
81 mm	Oerlikon Typ 3Z 8Dla
135 mm	m/56D · psrak m/70
145 mm	psrak m/49B · Psrak m/49/56
150 mm	srak m/51
180 mm	hprak m/49
Israel
80 mm	Flz.-Rakete Oerlikon
127 mm	AR