Abstract: A locking unit for a missile launching device comprises a pivoting pawl. The pawl has two locking lugs to clamp a shoe on the missile. The pawl is preloaded by a spring towards a locking position in which the shoe of the missile is held by the lugs. A locking lug on the pawl co-operates with a safety pawl against which the locking lug bears in the locked position. The pawl is thus held in the locked position in which the shoe is gripped by the lugs. A safety pin can be fitted through a housing of the locking unit with the pawl in the locked position. This provides a check whether the system has been properly fitted and the pawl is in the correct position. To prevent errors during this check, there is a connecting link on the pawl projecting into the path of the safety pin if the pawl is not in its proper locking position.