HVAR

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The HVAR rocket. The highest quality model is shown, some aircraft use a lower quality model (scale is approximate)

Description

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 penetrate 4 ft of reinforced concrete and could be effectively used at 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).

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

Vehicles equipped with this weapon
Fighters 
F2G  F2G-1
F4U  F4U-1C · F4U-1D · F4U-4 · F4U-4B · F4U-4B VMF-214 · F4U-7
F6F  F6F-5 · ▄F6F-5 · ▄Hellcat Mk II · F6F-5N · ▄F6F-5N
F8F  F8F-1 · F8F-1B · ▄F8F-1B
P-47  P-47D-25 · P-47D-28 · ␗P-47D-30 · ⋠P-47M-1-RE · P-47M-1-RE · P-47N-15 · ␗F-47N-25-RE
P-51  P-51D-5 · P-51D-10 · ␗P-51D-20 · P-51D-20-NA · P-51D-30 · P-51H-5-NA · ␗P-51K
Twin-engine fighters  F7F-3 · F-82E · ␗P-38L-1 · P-38L-5-LO
Jet fighters 
CL-13  CL-13 Mk.4 · ◄CL-13A Mk 5 · ◄CL-13B Mk.6
F2H  F2H-2
F9F  F9F-2 · F9F-5
F-80  F-80A-5 · F-80C-10
F-86  F-86A-5 · F-86F-2 · F-86F-25 · ␗F-86F-30 · F-86F-30 ▅ · F-86F-35 · ␗F-86F-40 · F-86F-40 ▅ · F-86F-40 JASDF▅
F-89  F-89D
Meteor  Meteor F Mk.8 G.41K
Strike aircraft 
A2D  A2D-1
A-1H  A-1H
A-26  A-26B-50
AD-2  AD-2
AD-4  AD-4 · ▄AD-4 · ▄AD-4NA
AM-1  AM-1
AU-1  AU-1
F-84B  F-84B-26
F-84F  F-84F · ◄F-84F · ▄F-84F · ▄F-84F · F-84F IAF · F-84F
F-84G  F-84G-21-RE · ␗F-84G-21-RE · ▄F-84G-21-RE · ▄F-84G-26-RE · ␗F-84G-31-RE
Bombers  A-26C-45DT · M.B.175T · PV-2D · SB2C-4 · ▄SB2C-5
Jet bombers  B-57B
Attack helicopters  H-34 · ▄H-34

General info

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.

In-game, there are actually 2 different HVAR rockets, one filled with TNT and the other with "Composition B", the difference being that the one with Composition B has a higher explosive mass of 4.52 kg to the TNT's 3.45 kg.

Rocket characteristics
Mass 62 kg
Maximum speed 403 m/s
Explosive type TNT Comp. B
Explosive mass 3.45 kg 4.52 kg TNTeq
Warhead type SAP-HE

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 rocket.

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
  • Can penetrate roof of most medium tanks, even top-tier ones.

Cons:

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

History

Examine 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

Images

See also

Weapons of similar configuration or role

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • 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
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)
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