KTM-78

The Keawhekerewe Tēkararenga Mehe 78 (Multiple Rocket Launcher 78), or KTM-78, is a Shenewan. It was developed in the 1970s, following the end of conscription in Shenewa and the related downscaling of the Imperial Army. When conscription had been in force, the Imperial Army had maintained shock artillery brigades, operating 120mm mortars, whose job was to leverage the relatively quick firing mortars to drop mass of fire on the enemy before an assault. However, with the manpower no-longer available to field these formations, the Imperial Army decided MLRS would be needed to fill the gap, as only MLRS systems could provide the necessary weight of fire with an acceptable allocation of personnel.

However, following the Sorland War, it was realised that the Imperial Army was also lacking a viable counter-battery solution. So, the KTM program was extended and characteristics integrated to allow it to carry out both the counter-battery and massed fires roles.

The KTM-78 remains in service with the Imperial Army, who have recently upgraded their KTM-78s to the new KTMT-78B standard. The KTM-78B replaced the KTM-78A's 40 barrels with the ability to load two rocket pods. These rocket pods can come in either 122mm calibre (in a pod of 18 rockets) or 160mm calibre (in a pod of 10 rockets). Improvements to the vehicle's digitisation and automation were also made, reducing the crew requirement from 6 to 4.

Heavy HE Rockets
The Imperial Army realised, when counter-battery was added to the missions the KTM-78 would be expected to fulfil, that standard high explosive rockets were not ideal for the task. However, equally they realised that Shenewa would not be able to afford large numbers of the more exotic solutions becoming prevalent in the rest of the world, such as DPICM or guided rockets. The solution that was decided upon were so-called "Heavy HE" warheads. These warheads had an intentionally inefficient fill:weight ratio, sacrificing a good fragmentation pattern in order to generate fewer, larger pieces of shrapnel more likely to do damage to equipment.

Whilst this solution was used by the Imperial Army for a number of years, it was far from ideal. Consequently, when money became available for more ammunition types able to do the mission more efficiently, the heavy HE projectiles were phased out of Shenewan arsenals. However, they are still offered for export.

KTM-78A
Original version. Could carry 40 122mm rockets, loaded individually into 40 barrels.

KTM-78B
Latest version in use with the Imperial Army. Now loads rocket pods rather than individual missiles, allowing for a greater variety of munitions to be used and quicker reloads.

KTM-78B2
A variant of KTM-78B equipped with the systems to fire latest generations of Ringeriker guided missiles.

KTM-8
A version mounted on an 8x8 truck demonstrated in 2003. Not acquired.

Users

 * Shenewa: 564 in service with the Imperial Army, of which 96 are KTM-78B2 and 468 are KTM-78B.