The Hydra 70 is an American unguided air-to-ground missile from the Cold War and modern times. The length of the rocket - without the head - is 106 cm, with a diameter of 70 millimeters. The take-off weight (without the warhead) is 6.2 kilograms, and its effective range is approx. 8,000 meters. The unit cost of a single rocket is approximately $ 2,800. The Hydra 70 rocket entered service in the early 1950s and remains in service today. The Hydra 70 was developed to replace the FFAR Mk.4 / Mk.40 unguided missile in the line. Compared to its predecessor, it has primarily a changed drive (Mk. 66 solid fuel engine) with greater thrust, which has a positive effect on the range of the projectile and its initial speed. The rocket can carry various warheads weighing up to 4.5 kilograms. The rocket is most often placed in 7- or 19-rail launchers. It can or could be used by a wide range of aircraft, including: UH-1 Huey, AH-1 Cobra, AH-64 Apache, F-16 Fighting Falcon or F / A-18 Hornet. At present, apart from the USA, it is used by the armed forces of many other countries, such as Australia, Egypt, the Netherlands and South Korea.
LAU-3 is an American unguided rocket launcher from the post-war period. The launchers were designed to fire Mk. 4 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket (FFAR for short) caliber 70 mm. A single launcher could hold up to 19 rockets of this type. It is worth adding that initially the FFAR missiles were designed to fight enemy aircraft (especially strategic bombers), but with time they began to be used as air-to-ground missiles. In the course of serial production, several variants of the LAU-3 launcher were created, among them: LAU-3 (basic version of the launcher) or LAU-3 C / A (a launcher adapted to firing single and salvo fire). The LAU-3 launcher (in various versions) was widely used, especially during the Vietnam War (1964 / 1965-1975), where it was mounted on such aircraft as the F-100F or F-105D. It was also very often used by Wild Weasel units, responsible for destroying North Vietnamese air surveillance radars and anti-aircraft missile launchers.