S-13 Rocket

The S-13 rocket was an unguided 122mm rocket weapon developed by the Soviet Air Force for military aircraft use, which still serves in the Russian Aerospace Forces and some other countries. The S-13 rocket is a traditional Russian rocket, which has been introduced and mass-produced by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army long ago, with a very large amount of weapons and equipment. Basically, every fighter jet can carry this rocket without guidance.

The standard S-13 rocket has a range of up to 6 kilometers and has a variety of warheads to choose from. The S-13T rocket, for example, is designed to be used against bunkers and runways, and can penetrate 6 meters of soil or 1 meter of reinforced concrete. S-13OF fragmentation anti-personnel rocket, warhead explosion can form more than 450 pieces of 23 to 35 grams of shrapnel, and the effect of killing personnel and vehicles is significantly. The S-13DF high-explosive rocket has a 40-kilogram charge that can blow anything into the sky.

Designation	Type	Length overall	Launch weight	Warhead weight	Range	Notes
S-13	Penetration	2.54 m	57 kg	21 kg (1.82 kg of explosive)	1.1 – 3 km	Penetrates 3 m of earth and 1 m of reinforced concrete. On runways it produces a demolition area of 20 m2. Velocity 650 m/s.
S-13B	Penetration	2.63 m	60 kg	23 kg (1.92 kg of explosive)	n/a	Penetrates 3 m of earth and 1 m of concrete. Introduced in 2021
S-13T	Tandem HEAT	2.99 m	75 kg	21 kg and 16.3 kg (1.8 kg and 2.7 kg of explosives)	1.1 – 4 km	Combined penetration of 6 m of earth and 1 m of reinforced concrete. Velocity 500 m/s
S-13OF	APAM/FRAG	2.97 m	69 kg	33 kg (7 kg of explosive)	1.6 – 3 km	Produces 450 splinters between 23 and 35 g, capable of penetrating lightly armoured vehicles such as APCs and IFVs. Velocity 530 m/s. Introduced in 1993.
S-13D	FAE	3.12 m	68 kg	32 kg (14.2 kg of fuel)	1.6 – 3 km	35 – 40 kg TNT equivalent. Velocity 530 m/s. Introduced in 1995.
S-13DF	FAE	3.12 m	68 kg	32 kg (14.6 kg of fuel)	0.5 – 6 km	Up to 40 kg TNT equivalent. Velocity 530 m/s. Ordered upgraded in 2018.

Key Features

• High-caliber, heavy-warhead capability for increased penetration and blast/fragmentation effects.

• Multiple warhead types (HE, HEAT/penetration, fragmentation, thermobaric, practice/inert) for mission tailoring.

• Compatible with standard aircraft/helicopter rocket pods and rail adapters.

• Robust motor options for a balance of range and terminal effect; stable ballistic performance in salvo launches.

• Simple mechanical and electrical firing interfaces for rapid integration into legacy and modern platforms.

• Low-cost, reliable unguided solution for high-volume strike tasks.