The fire arrow was invented by the
chinese in the early 11th
century. These fire arrows were quite similar to the
fireworks in use today.
Fire Arrows were usually
launched from
cylinders or
boxes, and typically had a range of 350 metres. The
concept was pretty much like a rocket propelled arrow with
poison-coated
heads. Sometimes the head was filled with
explosives so that the fire arrow would be more destructive, but these explosives made the fire arrow very
unpredictable. Although very primitive, these Fire Arrows are considered as the first true rockets.
The fire arrow led to the
mongolian invention of what may be the first
grenade-like weapon. The use of
gunpowder spread, and within the 16th century, rocket-like weapons were in use in
Europe.