Qassam rocket
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Qassam rocket (Arabic: صاروخ القسام Ṣārūkh al-Qassām; also Kassam) is a simple steel rocket filled with explosives, produced by Hamas. Three models have been used. They are all free-flying artillery rockets lacking any guidance system.
The rocket has gained significant notoriety through its development and deployment by Hamas against civilian [1][2] Israeli targets in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Since 2001, Qassam rockets have claimed the lives of 11 Israelis (as of July 2008).[3]
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[edit] History of the Qassam
Qassam rockets are named after the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, itself named after an Islamic Mojahed Izz ad-Din al-Qassam who led a Palestinian group during the 1930s. According to Hamas, the Qassam rocket was first developed by Nidal Fat'hi Rabah Farahat and Mohamed Khaled and produced under the direction of Adnan al-Ghoul, the "Father of the Qassam", who died on October 22, 2004.
Qassams were first fired at Israeli civil areas in October 2001. The first Qassam to hit Israeli territory was launched on February 10, 2002. The first time an Israeli city was hit was on March 5, 2002, when two rockets struck Sderot. Some rockets have hit as far as the edge of Ashkelon. The total number of Qassam rockets launched exceeded 1,000 by June 9, 2006. During the year 2006 alone, more than 1,000 rockets were launched. In 2008, 1750 rockets were launched[4]. By the end of December, 2008 a total of 15 people had been killed by Qassam rockets since attacks began in 2001[5] (see: List of Qassam rocket attacks).
The introduction of the Qassam rocket took Israeli politicians and military experts by surprise,[6] and reactions have been mixed.[7] In 2006, the Israeli Ministry of Defense viewed the Qassams as "more a psychological than physical threat."[8] The Israel Defence Force has reacted to the deployment of the Qassam rockets by deploying the Red Color early warning system in Sderot, Ashkelon and other at-risk targets. The system consists of an advanced radar that detects rockets as they are being launched, and loudspeakers warn civilians to take cover between 15 and 45 seconds before impact[9] in an attempt to minimize the threat posed by the rockets. A system called Iron Dome, designed to intercept the rockets before they can hit their targets, is currently under development and is expected to be operational by 2010.
Still after the "operation Cast Lead" Qassams are a relevant portion of the rockets plus mortar shells fired from Gaza into Israel. The frequency and number of the attacks can be observed in the thumbnailed graph. Detailed data indicating Qassam occurrence can be found at "Timeline of the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict". The graph uses these data due mainly to Haaretz news reports from the 1st of February [10] up to the 28th [11].
[edit] Rocket design and specifications
The aim of the Qassam rocket design appears to be ease and speed of manufacture, using common tools and components. To this end, the rockets are propelled by a solid mixture of sugar and potassium nitrate, a widely available fertilizer. The warhead is filled with smuggled or scavenged TNT and urea nitrate, another common fertilizer.[12]
The rocket consists of a steel cylinder, containing a rectangular block of the propellant. A steel plate which forms and supports the nozzles is spot-welded to the base of the cylinder. The warhead consists of a simple metal shell surrounding the explosives, and is triggered by a fuze constructed using a simple firearm cartridge, a spring and a nail.[12]
While early designs used a single nozzle which screwed into the base, recent rockets use a seven-nozzle design, with the nozzles drilled directly into the rocket baseplate. This change both increases the tolerance of the rocket to small nozzle design defects, and eases manufacture by allowing the use of a drill rather than a lathe during manufacture due to the smaller nozzle size. Unlike many other rockets, the nozzles are not canted, which means the rocket does not spin about its axis during flight. While this results in a significant decrease in accuracy, it greatly simplifies rocket manufacture and the launch systems required.[12]
| Qassam 1 | Qassam 2 | Qassam 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 79 cm (2 ft 7 in) | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | over 200 cm (6 ft 7 in) |
| Diameter | 6 cm (2.4 in) | 15 cm (5.9 in) | 17 cm (6.7 in) |
| Weight | 5.5 kg (12 lb) | 32 kg (71 lb) | 90 kg (198 lb) |
| Explosives Payload | 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) | 5–7 kg (11–15 lb) | 10 kg (22 lb) |
| Maximum Range | 3 km (1.9 mi) | 8–10 km (5.0–6.2 mi) | 10 km (6.2 mi) |
[edit] Similar rockets
Other Palestinian militant groups have also developed home-made rockets, but they are much less common than the Qassam as developed by Hamas. The media generally refer to all Palestinian high-trajectory rockets as "Qassam rockets" or "Qassam missiles", while they call most rockets fired from Lebanon "Katyushas", as a Katyusha is not a specific model but rather a generic class of rocket.
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad - Al Quds 101 & 2
- Popular Resistance Committees - al Nasser-3
- Tanzim - Saria-2
- Fatah - Kafah
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Gaza's rocket threat to Israel, BBC, Jan. 21, 2008 [1]
- ^ Hamas Must End Attacks Against Civilians, Cease Use of Qassam Rockets, JUNE 8, 2005http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2005/06/08/hamas-must-end-attacks-against-civilians
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ "Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. Incidents: June 28, 2004 (2 killed), September 29, 2004 (2 killed), January 15, 2005 (1 killed), June 7, 2005 (3 killed), July 14, 2005 (1 killed), November 15, 2006 (1 killed), November 21, 2006 (1 killed), May 21, 2007 (1 killed), May 27, 2007 (1 killed), February 27, 2008 (1 killed), May 12, 2008 (1 killed)
- ^ IMRA - Saturday, July 15, 2006 Historical Survey of Israeli Leaders: Will Rockets Fall?
- ^ "Peres: Enough with Qassam hysteria". Ynetnews. 20 June 2006. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3264980,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
- ^ "Defense Ministry: Trade with China resumed". Ynetnews. 1 March 2006. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3222783,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
- ^ "Rocket attacks plague Israeli towns". BBC. 28 December 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7802276.stm. Retrieved on 2009-01-05.
- ^ http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1060562.html
- ^ http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067547.html
- ^ a b c Lorber, Dr Azriel. "The Growing Threat of the Kassam Unguided Rockets". http://www.me-monitor.com/docframes.asp?file=files/The%20Growing%20Threat%20of%20the%20Kassam.htm. Retrieved on 2009-01-05.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Qassam rocket |
- Humanitarian aid organization in Sderot
- About the Qassam-sderotmedia
- GlobalSecurity.org - Qassam Rocket
- The Homemade Rocket That Could Change The Mideast – By Tony Karon, TIME Online Edition (10 February, 2002)
- Qassam-2 missile a wild card in Mideast conflict – CNN (March 5, 2002)
- Gaza rockets kill two in Israel, BBC article (June 28, 2004)
- Palestinian Weapons Production and Smuggling : Missiles & Rockets
- A Visit to a Gaza Rocket Factory, by Ulrike Putz, der Spiegel international (January 29, 2008, in English)
- Victims of Qassam rockets in Sderot
- Rocketboom visits Sderot
- Katyusha & Qassam Rockets on www.aerospaceweb.org
- Updates about rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel on twitter.com
- Photos: Qassam rockets in Sderot
