When most people hear the word "rocket" their mental image is of something big, complex and expensive. They are used to watching huge rockets launched on moon missions or billion-dollar space shuttles flying in precise orbits under the control of thousands of technicians.

  The Qassam is quite the opposite - a small, relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture terrorist weapon that one or two people can launch from almost anywhere.Unlike conventional armies which acquire their weapons from established corporations, terrorist do not care if the weapon is elegant or if the equations all balance; they only care if it works. Any well equipped workshop can become a rocket assembly facility and terrorist groups have distributed detailed explanations on how to construct the rockets via the Internet. Similar rockets are manufactured in Iraq.

  Qassams are manufactured primarily in Gaza, but Israel has uncovered a few makeshift rocket workshops in the West Bank as well. Although most of the raw materials used to manufacture the rockets come from basic civilian industries, other materials are imported or stolen from inside Israel or smuggled in through tunnels from Egypt. The fuel is made of a combination of potassium nitrate fertilizer and sugar. The rockets themselves are made of common metal pipes filled with explosives and propellants. The equipment used to manufacture them does not require advanced technology and can be found in simple metal shops and garages.

  Although Hamas has the most advanced rocket manufacturing and launching capabilities, other terrorist groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Quds rockets), the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (al-Aqsa rockets), and the Popular Resistance Committees (Nasser rockets), have made similar weapons a staple of their arsenals.

  These groups have used rockets with greater frequency in recent years to overcome the obstacle posed by Israel's Gaza security fence, which has proven to be extremely effective in preventing Palestinian infiltration from that territory since its completion in 2001. Qassams give Palestinian terrorist organizations the capability to strike deep into Israeli territory, throwing the security assumptions behind future peace negotiations into doubt. Ironically, these groups have exploited the Qassam's notorious inaccuracy, highlighting the random violence that it causes on its targets. For example, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar explained to London's Sunday Telegraph in August 2007 that Hamas prefers rocket attacks to suicide bombings because rockets "cause mass migration, greatly disrupt daily lives and government administration, and make a much [larger] impact....We have no losses, and the impact on the Israeli side is so much."

  Recently Hamas has been able to acquire more capable missiles brought in through smuggling tunnels from Egypt. Hizballah has also launched many rockets at Israel.

An Increasing Number of Rockets

  According to Israeli government statistics, annual rocket attacks doubled from 2002 to 2003 and then nearly quadrupled -- from 225 to 861 -- between 2005 and 2006, totaling more than 3,000 since 2001. For some time now Qassams have been raining on southern Israel at an increasing rate after initially dropping in the wake of Israel's 2005 disengagement. Already in 2008, the average is more than 200 per month, with more than 100 fired in the first week of March alone. And these numbers do not include other bombardment methods such as mortar attacks.

  The targets of the rocket attacks have evolved over time. Prior to disengagement, Israeli settlements within Gaza were the preferred targets. Since then, the attacks have been directed mainly at Israeli towns, villages, and rural communities inside Israel proper.

  Of the hundreds of rockets launched from Gaza, nearly half have targeted Sderot, a working-class Israeli town that -- like any other civilian community -- is virtually defenseless against such attacks. Israeli civil defense authorities use a "color red" system that gives citizens only a few seconds of warning to find shelter before the rockets hit. Twelve people, including children, have died as a result of such attacks, and more than 500 have been wounded.

Qassam Impacts - Sderot

  Early versions of the Qassam could lob a 10 to 20 pound bomb through the air for a distance of five or six miles. The Qassams have been updated and now have much greater range.The rocket is essentially an artillery shell, with the advantage that it does not require need an artillery piece to launch it. Aa couple of simple guide rails can act as a launch pad. Set up the rails, lean the rocket against them, light the fuse and stand back. 30 seconds later a 20 pound bomb explodes five miles away. By the time Israelis can react, the people who ignited the rocket can be long gone from the launch site.

  With improvements in range, nearly a quarter million Israeli civilians now live within range of Palestinian rocket fire - from the more than 100,000 in Ashkelon to the tens of thousands living in towns and villages throughout southern Israel and the western Negev.

  Although Hamas has the most advanced rocket manufacturing and launching capabilities, other groups have made similar weapons a staple of their arsenals, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Quds rockets), the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (al-Aqsa rockets), and the Popular Resistance Committees (Nasser rockets).

  Because they have no guidance system of any kind, Qassam rockets do have their limits. There is no way to know precisely where the rocket will land. However, as a tool of terror, that randomness can make the rocket very effective and every so often the Rocketmen get lucky. The Germans employed the same tactic with the V-1 and V-2 rockets that they sent toward London during World War II. Palestinian terrorists are known to be interested in developing guidance systems; once they figure it out there are several targets within the range of current rockets which would make quite a satisfactory boom if hit.

Rocket Science

  Israeli Air Force bombed rocket laboratories at the Saudi-funded, Hamas-run Islamic University in Gaza City on December 29, 2008. Rockets and explosives were stored in the laboratories. In 2007, as part of their attempt to recover Gaza from Hamas, Fatah seized 1,000 Qassam rockets at the university, as well as seven Iranian military trainers.

Construction Details

 

View a short video showing the construction of a Qassam rocket

 

  The work of constructing rockets is often done by teams of rocketmen, each specializing in one facet. One team welds thin-walled metal tbing, which has sometimes been imported from Israel, to make the body of the Qassams. Another team welds four simple made of sheet metal at one end of the body. The sheet metal can come from anywhere - an old car fender will do.

  Other rocketmen make fuel, or propellant, for the rocket. A common recipe calls for a 60/40 mixture of sugar and potassium nitrate (common fertilizer), also known as saltpeter.

  Sugar? As it happens sugar contains quite a lot of energy. You can see that energy when you are roasting marshmallows and one of them catches fire. Sugar does not burn energetically enough for use it as a rocket propellant by itself. Potassium nitrate solves that problem by providing an oxidizer that accelerates the reaction. In the United States, there is a whole category of model rocketry called “Candy Rockets.” American hobbyists hold competitions to see who can create the highest-flying sugar-powered rockets. The Palestinians have simply taken the hobby to an extreme.

  The mixture is often heated in large cauldrons over gas burners. Nitrate has to be mixed very slowly with the sugar solution as the mixture, a thick yellow dough, is highly explosive. Palestinians are often killed in "work accidents" if they are not careful.

  Liquid propellant mixture is poured into tubes to cool and harden. After the propellant cools the tube is removes leaving a yellow cylinder of propellant which is inserted into the rocket body.

  After propellant is introduced into the rocket body an exhaust nozzle base plate, having seven steel nozzles, is threaded into the casing before being tack welded into place. The nozzle is a round metal plate with seven holes drilled in it. Each hole is about an inch in diameter, because that is about as big as a standard drill bit can get. Estimated burn time is 1 second, which minimizes erosion.

  Another team constructs a warhead composed of 10 to 20 pounds of TNT or other explosive. It is made of a metal casing filled with an explosive like TNT. The TNT is probably the hardest material for the Palestinians to obtain, so they smuggle it in or harvest it from old military hardware. Fusing is a simple device based on an empty small arms cartridge filled with an explosive booster material operating against a spring-loaded nail.

  Some rocketmen claim they are capable of assembling up to 100 Qassams in a single night. Smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border have ensured that there is never a lack of supplies. TNT comes from Sudan via Egypt. Other components arrive by boat across the sea to Gaza, some from Eastern Europe. The raw materials for one large rocket cost up to US$ 600.

Future Development

  Hamas and other terrorist groups will continue to improve the range, accuracy (perhaps with the development of guidance systems), and lethality of their rockets. There have already been significant improvements in terms of production and assembly, engines, and the introduction of metal pellets to increase lethality. Better technology may also increase shelf life, allowing for greater stockpiling. Eventually, arsenals will be composed mainly of rockets with a range of more than twenty kilometers, compared to earlier arsenals limited to ten kilometers or less. This will greatly expand the number of civilian population centers vulnerable to sudden attack.

  In January of 2009, Hamas, dissatisfied with the accuracy of its missile and rocket strikes against Israel, announced that it is seeking to acquire or develop a guidance system for its extended-range missiles and rockets.

  Hamas sources said the Islamic regime in the Gaza Strip has appealed to its allies to deliver a guidance system for its Katyusha-class rockets. "The attacks have been much more effective than in the past, but we still lack the ability to designate and strike a target."

  Rocket design software, originally intended for model rocket hobbyists, is available that would allow rocketmen to improve their weapons.

  The software combines "design" and "simulation" and allows for the design any size rocket, and then simulate flight to determine expected maximum altitude and airspeed taking into account atmospheric conditions such as windspeed, wind direction and atmospheric pressure. Before construction begins stability and other flight parameters can be assesed and results are updated dynamically as design parameters change.

  On January 14, 2009, Palestinians fired their first rocket with a white phosphorus payload. The rocket impacteded in an open field in the western Negev. No injuries or damage were reported. White phosphorus munitions are commonly employed for illumination or to lay smoke screens, but can be used as offensive anti-personnel incendiary weapons capable of causing serious burns or death. Tha Palestinian rocket was likely intended as an incendiary as it would explode dispersing burning flakes of phosphorus.

Israel's Rocket Defenses

  Israel has invested heavily in developing two long-term defensive capabilities against these threats: the "Iron Dome" and the "Magic Wand." The former, which should be operational by 2010, is intended to intercept smaller rockets with a range of up to seventy kilometers. "Magic Wand" is being designed to protect against the potential threat of longer-range missiles.