Air-to-air rocket

Success rates were low and the rockets were dangerous to handle in the early fighters built from highly flammable materials.

The first known example of a successful attack of air-to-air rockets on another plane took place on August 20, 1939, during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.

A group of Soviet Polikarpov I-16 fighters under command of Captain N. Zvonaryev successfully destroyed a few Japanese warplanes by launching of RS-82 rockets.

[4] Air-to-air rockets were utilized in World War II to engage bombers because cannon fire proved ineffective at high closing speeds.

[clarification needed] The invention of effective air-to-air missiles spelled the end for their unguided counterparts in the 1950s.