Rocket Propelled Grenade
| RPG-7 | |
| Type: | Rocketlauncher |
|---|---|
| Country of origin: | Soviet Union |
| Designed: | 1958 |
| Used by: | Warsaw Pact, most developing countries |
| Number built: | 9,000,000+ |
| Specifications | |
| Weight: | 6.3 kg |
| Length: | 870 mm (34.25 in) |
| Barrel length: | 415 mm (16.3 in) |
| Cartridge: | 85mm |
| Rate of fire: | 650 rounds/min |
| Muzzle velocity: | 710 m/s (~2,330 ft/s) |
| Effective range: | 300m (330 yds) |
| Sights: | Iron |
The RPG-7 is a handheld anti-tank grenade launcher, from the Soviet Union. It is the most widely produced grenade launcher in history, with several million made. RPG means Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomet literally: "a handheld anti-tank grenade launcher".[1] It is based upon a modified and upgraded design of the World War II German Panzerfaust.
The RPG-7 has seen much use since 1961. It is used by both terrorists and (para)military forces.
It has a range of 900 yards, but is quite inaccurate. It is notable for the way the operator uses their hands the wrong way around from other weapons. Warheads are usually a shaped charge anti-tank round, although many variants exist. It weighs about 15 lbs.[2]
Originally designed as a tank killer, two American Blackhawk helicopters were taken down in the Battle of Mogadishu (Somalia, 1993) by RPG-7s.
Ammunition
- PG-7VL - 93mm HEAT warhead; used against vehicles and fortified targets[3]
- PG-7VR - Dual 64mm/105mm HEAT warhead for defeating modern armored vehicles with reactive armor blocks.
- TBG-7V Tanin - 105mm thermobaric warhead for use against personnel and urban warfare
- OG-7V - 40mm Fragmentation warhead for anti-personnel warfare.
See also
- M72 LAW - the Light Antitank Weapon used by the American military, which replaced the bazooka
- AT4 - the replacement for the M72 LAW
- Stugna-P
References
- ↑ US Army Training Manual, full of diagrams and complex analysis
- ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/rpg-7-specs.htm
- ↑ https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/rpg-7-specs.htm