The Chinese military marked the world’s first recorded use of rockets in combat nearly eight centuries ago, when they deployed fire arrows and possibly gunpowder-launched grenades against Mongol invaders in the Battle of Kaifung-fu in 1232, according to Nasa.AdvertisementToday, Chinese scientists and engineers are pursuing technological upgrades to transform the affordable, mass-producible traditional rocket artillery into a system capable of striking aerial targets.A research team led by professor Zhang Shifeng at the National University of Defence Technology’s College of Aerospace Science and Engineering has developed a small rocket named Tianxing-1 or “Sky Star-1”.Unlike conventional rocket artillery, this guided munition features...