Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Cdn CRV-7 rocket is being retired

This is an interesting story for people who follow military weapons and their development/evolution. 2.75 inch rockets are an air to ground weapon, meaning they are fired by aircraft and helicopters at ground targets. Depending on the warhead, they serve as anti-personnel, anti tank or target marking.

This CBC story is about the retirement of the CRV-7 rocket (Cdn Rocket Vehicle 7). The 2.75 inch diameter rockets could be fitted with a number of different warheads including high explosive (HE), anti tank (HEAT), target marking (WP) and flechettes. The warheads were threaded on and torqued into place. Flechette is French for "little dart". You can google for videos of these rockets in use.

I was one of the people who helped test the CRV-7 rocket when it was being developed. Up until the 1970s, Canada had been buying the US Mk 4 Mod 10 folding fin aerial rocket (FFAR) pictured below, but we wanted our own, improved version. Our version swapped out the four stabilizing fins of the US rocket for three wrap around fins, and changed the propellant composition. At the time, we had squadrons stationed in Europe. Our job, as part of NATO, was to repel any ground attacks by the Communists, should they wish to take the continent. This was during the Cold War.

The story of a Cold War-era Canadian-designed rocket comes to an end


Wiki photo - US made FFAR

I loaded a pile of the old FFAR rockets into LAU 68 and LAU 3 pods before we received shipment of the WAFAR (wrap around fin aerial rocket).


Wrap around fin

The Cdn WAFAR had a slightly longer burn time which allowed for a greater stand off distance, and was more accurate because of the redesigned rear stabilizing fin.

Edited to add: We used to dispose of damaged or unusable rockets in one of two ways: We buried them pointy end down (minus the warhead), removed the fin/exhaust nozzle, and lit them off. They could also be buried in a pit, and using det cord and C4, were blown up

neat stuff

NASA still uses the 4 fin 2.75" w/ 18Lb head & a 5 min flare for the open sight operator in their sounding rocket program as Test rockets to link C Band & Telemetry prior to sounding rocket launches.

Bristol Aerospace in MB,CDN supplied a couple rocket motors-Black Brant & Nihka depending on NASA vehicle/payload configuration(s)

I've loaded/launched/witnessed several hundred.

2.75" test rockets were launched @
85deg az
I don't recall apogee
distance was 4000+ meters to impact

The 18Lb steel heads were never recovered
The aluminum rocket tube would splay out like a banana peel upon impact.

Thanks for the information.

Bristol Aerospace was the sole Cdn manufacturer of the CRV7. I don't know if they ever licensed other companies to manufacture them. The original inert warheads had tungsten cores, not steel. They found out, by accident, that they were better penetrators than steel, but most costly, so they were dropped from production.

When we were demonstrating the CRV7 in Europe around 1980, the extra 0.3 seconds of burn time caused impact explosions. The pilots were following their checklists developed with FFARs. As a result, there was a little propellant remaining in the tube on impact. The explosions startled the officers observing and a complaint was laid, accusing the Cdns of using an HE warhead "for show". This wasn't true, and all part of the learning curve.

These steel 18Lb heads are manuf for NASA w/ hollow cavity in the aft end w/ 2 perpendicular holes for a 5minute flare to be inserted for visible for an open sight operator to slave C Band & Telemetry antenna's prior to a NASA,NRL,CSA,ESA & several Univ around the World sounding rocket launches.

NASA/Bristol Aero Space Black Brant 12 configuration 4 stage sounding rocket w/ payload is 70+ feet in length.
950+ miles apogee

That's neat! I like it when there are other uses for things.

These 2.75" "Test Rockets" w/ a 5minute flare inserted into the 18Lb head had 4 spring loaded fins retained at aft/trailing end that would deply once launched.

I don't recall the exact variation/model.

10each packed in hvy duty cardboard tubes in a wooden crate.

Low Alt & High Alt meteorological balloons w/ reflectors & 30minute flare attached were launched for Wind Weighting purposes & tracked by C band radar.

I had no idea they were used for that purpose. Fascinating.

The only FFAR model that I am aware of was the Mk 4 Mod 10. It was probably improved on and carries another name though.