Drafted — not technically validated
Record revision 1 · The Navy's 5 in rocket of 1957, fired from four-tube LAU-10 pods and credited with an A-4 Skyhawk's only MiG kill.
Real-world weapon as described in public sources. Weights and dimensions change with the fins, fuzes and variant fitted; the data plate names the variants its figures describe, and differences are noted beside the number they affect. The record describes the weapon; it is not a guide to employing it.
Zuni 5 in rocket · Zuni 5.0 in FFAR
- Origin
- United States; developed at Naval Ordnance Test Station China Lake and by the Hunter Douglas Division of Bridgeport Brass [1]
- In service
- Approved for production in 1957 [1]
- Weight
- Mk 71 Mod 1 motor 79.5 lb (36 kg) plus a warhead of about 46–48 lb (21–22 kg) [1]
- Dimensions
- Diameter 5 in (127 mm); motor length 76–82 in (1.9–2.1 m) depending on the mod [1]
- Warhead or payload
- Interchangeable: Mk 24 high-explosive, Mk 32 anti-tank/anti-personnel, Mk 33 illumination and other heads [1]
- Guidance
- None; a laser-guided Zuni with the WGU-58/B guidance section has been developed [1]
- Fuzing
- Point-detonating, base-detonating or proximity fuzesProximity fuze GlossaryWeapons: A fuze that detonates before impact when any substantial object is detected at a predetermined distance from it., depending on warhead [1]
- Delivery
- Fired from four-tube LAU-10 launchers; the Mk 71 motor's fluted nozzle spins the rocket so it can be launched from fast jets, slow aircraft and helicopters [1] [3] [4]
- Range
- About 5 mi (8 km) [1]
- Carried by
- US Navy and Marine Corps: A-4 Skyhawk, F-8 Crusader, AV-8BAV-8B Harrier II AircraftA vectored-thrust jump jet: vertical or short take-off, flown by the US Marines for close air support. Harrier, F/A-18 HornetF/A-18 Hornet AircraftA carrier-capable fighter and attack aircraft that one pilot can switch between roles on the same sortie., AH-1 Cobra, P-3 Orion [1]
- Pakistan Air Force F-86FF-86 Sabre AircraftThe swept-wing day fighter that met the MiG-15 over Korea. Sabres in 1965; French Air Force [1]
Replacing the HVAR
In the early 1950s, engineers at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake set out to replace the Second World War’s 5 in High Velocity Aircraft Rocket with a new rocket of the same calibre. [1] They designed the Zuni as a modular system, so that one motor could take many different warheads and fuzesFuze GlossaryWeapons: A device that causes the detonation of an explosive charge at the proper time after certain conditions are met. A bomb fuze is mechanical or electrical, and is classed by what sets it off (impact, mechanical time…. Because it was first meant to shoot down aircraft, one warhead had a proximity fuzeProximity fuze GlossaryWeapons: A fuze that detonates before impact when any substantial object is detected at a predetermined distance from it., and the Zuni’s airframe became the starting point for the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. [1] It was approved for production in 1957 and named after the Zuni people of New Mexico. [1]
The Navy’s ordnance manual lists only two rockets in its service: the 2.75 in “Mighty Mouse” and the 5 in Zuni. [2] The Zuni’s Mk 71 motor has spring-loaded fins that open once the rocket leaves the tube and a fluted nozzle that spins it in flight, so the same rocket can be launched from fast jets, slow aircraft and helicopters. [3] It is carried in the four-tube LAU-10 launcher, which weighs 500 to 550 lb when loaded with four complete rounds. [1] [4]
Vietnam
The Zuni was first fired in combat by Pakistan Air Force F-86FF-86 Sabre AircraftThe swept-wing day fighter that met the MiG-15 over Korea. Sabres in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, and it was widely used for ground attack in Vietnam. [1] Its best-remembered moment came in the air-to-air role it was first designed for. On 1 May 1967, during a strike on Kép air base in North Vietnam, Lieutenant Commander Theodore R. Swartz of VA-76, flying an A-4 Skyhawk from USS Bon Homme Richard, shot down a MiG-17 with Zuni rockets: the only MiG downed by a Skyhawk in the war. He was awarded the Silver Star. [1]
The rocket also has a darker place in naval history. Later in 1967, the improper handling of a Zuni and other munitions caused the fire aboard USS Forrestal that killed 134 men, and in 1969 a similar accident aboard USS Enterprise killed 27. [1]
Last rounds
A laser-guidedLGW GlossaryWeapons: Laser-guided weapon. A weapon that uses a seeker to detect laser energy reflected from a laser marked/designated target and through signal processing provides guidance commands to a control system, which guides the… Zuni, using a WGU-58/B guidance section on a standard rocket, was tested successfully in 2009 and appears on the Marine Corps aviation weapons roadmap, for any aircraft cleared to fire Zunis from the LAU-10. [1] In January 2023 the United States announced it would send 4,000 Zuni rockets to Ukraine, transferring its last stocks, and by mid-2024 Ukraine was reported to have used them all. [1]
Sources
- Zuni (rocket). Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuni_(rocket) (accessed 2026-10-26).
- Aviation Ordnanceman, NAVEDTRA 14313, p. 2-1. US Navy, Naval Education and Training Command; copy hosted by Integrated Publishing. https://navyaviation.tpub.com/14313/css/Chapter-2-Aircraft-Rockets-And-Rocket-Launchers-53.htm (accessed 2026-10-26).
- Aviation Ordnanceman, NAVEDTRA 14313, p. 2-5. US Navy, Naval Education and Training Command; copy hosted by Integrated Publishing. https://navyaviation.tpub.com/14313/css/Figure-2-5-Mk-71-Mods-Motor-Nozzle-And-Fin-Assembly-57.htm (accessed 2026-10-26).
- Aviation Ordnanceman, NAVEDTRA 14313, p. 2-17. US Navy, Naval Education and Training Command; copy hosted by Integrated Publishing. https://navyaviation.tpub.com/14313/css/5-0-Inch-Series-Launchers-69.htm (accessed 2026-10-26).
Wikipedia articles are secondary sources and can change; they are cited with the date they were read. NAVEDTRA training manuals and budget justification exhibits are official US publications, but each describes the weapons in service when it was written.