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A Matra Type 155 SNEB rocket launcher pod with two red-tipped 68mm dummy rocket projectiles.

The SNEB rocket (French: Societe Nouvelle des Etablissements Edgar Brandt) is an unguided air-to-ground 68 mm rocket projectile (RP) manufactured by the French company TDA Armements, designed for launch by combat aircraft and helicopters. Two other rockets were developed in the 37mm and 100 caliber. The 37mm caliber was one of the earliest fold fin free flight rockets developed after WW2 and was developed mainly for air to air engagements and is no longer in service. The 100mm caliber is in service with the French Air Force and couple other air forces. The 68mm caliber is by far the most popular in use today in both the time span of service and numbers produce, even out pacing the Russian 57mm air to ground rocket, and is commonly referred in both military and civilian publications as the "SNEB rocket pods". Besides France, several other nations produce the SNEB 68mm rocket under license. In France today, the SNEB has been reorganized to the firm of Thomas-Brandt.

The caliber of 68 mm was preferred by the French over other international designs of 57 mm,[1] 70 mm,[2] or 80 mm.[3] The SNEB rocket projectile is propelled by a single rocket motor, and, depending on the warhead loadout on the launchers, it can be used against armoured fighting vehicles, bunkers, or soft targets.

Recent development

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The Systeme de Roquette A Corrections de Trajectoire (SYROCOT) is a program where a laser-guided seeker is incorporated into the design. It is compatible with the existing SNEB system. It is comparable to the US Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System project.

Warheads

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Matra Type 116M rocket launcher mounted on a Fiat G.91, on display at the Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr, Berlin
Two Matra Type 155 rocket launchers with 36× SNEB 68 mm RPs

The SNEB rocket projectiles could be armed with the following warheads:

Rocket launchers/pods

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The French armament company of Matra produced the following types of rocket launcher for use with the SNEB 68 mm RPs:

  • Matra Type 116M rocket launcher — This was lightly constructed and is used as an expendable rocket launcher pod with a frangible nose cone, loaded with 19× SNEB 68mm RPs which were fired in a single rippled 0.5 second salvo with a time interval of 33 milliseconds between each rocket firing, the pod is automatically jettison after all the rockets are expended.[4]
  • Matra Type 155 rocket launcher — Widely produced, this was a reusable device manufactured completely from metal with a fluted nose cone through which the RPs were fired. Loaded with 18× SNEB 68mm RPs, it can be pre-programmed on the ground to fire in shots or in one single ripple salvo as the Type 116M.[4]
  • Matra JL-100 drop tank/rocket pack — This unique arrangement combines a 66 US gallons (250 L) drop tank with a rocket launcher containing 19× SNEB 68 mm RPs in front to form an aerodynamically-shaped pod which can be mounted on over-wing or under-wing hardpoints. One notable aircraft equipped with this was the English Electric Lightning F.53 of Royal Saudi Air Force.[5]

Use by

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External images
SNEB 68 mm rockets Helicopter
image icon 22 round 68mm helicopter pod by Brandt
image icon Fact Sheet 68mm Multi-Dart Rocket
The following is a list of rotor craft that have been fitted with the SNEB 68 mm RPs
External images
SNEB 68 mm rockets Fixed Wing Aircraft
image icon Harrier GR.3 firing entire salvo of 4 rocket pods
image icon Harrier GR.7 in flight with 2 SNEB rocket pods
image icon 1962 Manufacture's ad for various Matra/SNEB rocket pods
image icon French Navy Super Etendard fitted with Type SNEB rocket pods to outer pylons
The following is a list of fixed-wing aircraft that have been fitted with the SNEB 68 mm RPs

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Such as the S-5 rocket.
  2. ^ Such as the Mk 4/Mk 40 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket, the Hydra 70, the Roketsan Cirit, and the CRV7.
  3. ^ Such as the S-8 rocket and the RS-82 rocket.
  4. ^ a b "SNEB rocket launcher pods". Flight Global Archive. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  5. ^ "Multi-mission Lightning". Flight Global Archive. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
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Turning to unguided rockets, the best-known of the well-established types are probably France's SNEB 68 mm and Thomson Brandt 100 mm, Switzerland's Oerlikon 80 mm SURA and 81 mm SNORA and America's 2.75-inch (70 mm) FFAR FFAR Folding Fin Aerial Rocket FFAR Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket FFAR Fuel and Fuel Additive Registration FFAR First-Fit Adjacent Routing FFAR Friends and Families for Autism Research FFAR First Flight Article Review ..... Click the link for more information. and 5-inch (127 mm) HVAR Hvar (khvär), Gr. Pharos, Ital. Lesina, island (1991 est. pop. 11,400), 112 sq mi (290 sq km), in the Adriatic Sea off the Dalmatian coast, Croatia. Fruit growing, cattle raising, and fishing are the chief occupations. ..... Click the link for more information.. Oerlikon sold its SNORA rights to SNIA-BPD which has since developed a number of rocket systems, including the 81 mm Medusa for the A.129 helicopter.

Meanwhile Thomson Brandt and PRB-Gechem have combined their aircraft rocket activities in SA Forges de Zeebrugge (FZ). The product range of FZ now includes the Cargo 70 series with the 9-submunition FZ-100 warhead and the FZ-122, which delivers 240 flechettes weighing 13.7 grammes each. The company has also taken over TBA's Multidart family. The Multidart 68 rockets carry either eight 190-gramme 13.5 mm diameter darts or 36 lighter (35 grammes) 9 mm darts. The larger Multidart 100 carries either 36 darts of the 190-gramme type, or 192 of the 35-gramme type, six 24 mm diameter darts each weighing 1650 grammes. Another recent FZ development is the GRCS GRCS Guardrail Common Sensor (US Army) GRCS Good Rigging Control System (arborist rigging device) (Gun and Rocket Control System) for helicopters.