Leaked: Insurgents' New Rockets Up To 50 Times More Deadly

The portable, long-range rocket is one of the insurgents favorite weapons; rocket attacks have been causing casualties in the Green Zonein Baghdad recently. So the emergence of this documentin Wikileaksrecently may suggest cause for concern.

Called "Iraq: Proximity Fuses found on 107mm Rockets," it describes how a cache of rockets with unusual fuses (pictured) were discovered:

On 16 Feb 2006 Coalition forces discovered a weapons cache at a house located near the intersection of RTE Northstars and RTE Cannucks (38S MB 10569 98193; the WIT report indicated that there was no known city within 6 km of the location). Among the ordnance discovered in the cache were five 107-mm artillery rockets. At least three of these rockets were fused with a fuse not previously seen mated to 107-mm rockets in Iraq. These fuses have been identified as Chinese MD-21 RF proximity fuses.

Proximity fuses were developed in WWII, initially for anti-aircraft use but later to increase the effectiveness of artillery by allowing shells to burst mid-air, spraying shrapnel over a wider area. Proximity-fused weapons are commonly quoted as being four to six times as deadly against ground troops as those with contact fuses. According to the document from Iraq it varies depending on the nature of the target:

• (C//REL TO USA, MCFI) For comparable angles of fall, there is as much as a 30% increase in lethal area for standing personnel.

• (C//REL TO USA, MCFI) The lethality of proximity-fused 107-mm rockets can be more than four times greater for prone, protected personnel

• (C//REL TO USA, MCFI) The most significant difference is for protected personnel without overhead cover (i.e., a foxhole), where a proximity-fuzed rocket can be 50-60 times more lethal than a point-detonating rocket.

The report queries whether the insurgents actually realized what they had -- but notes that it does not make make any difference to the rocket's effectiveness:

It is clear that the fuses in the WIT report are MD-21 fuses designed for use with 107-mm rockets, but it may be a mere coincidence in this case that they were correctly associated with their intended munitions. There is not any information to indicate that these fuzes were sought out specifically for their ability to enhance the rockets' lethality.

However, the preset nature of these fuses would allow them to function in a proximity mode without the operator ever knowing what type of fuses they were. This is the significance of the discovery; regardless of a user's knowledge of the fuse type, MD-21 proximity fuses can substantially increase the effective area of 107-mm rockets. (My emphasis.)

In World War II proximity-fused artillery proved devastatingly effectiveand caused so many casualties that even General Patton commented, "The funny fuse won the Battle of the Bulge for us. I think that when all armies get this shell we will have to devise some new method of warfare."