Russian Anti-Tank/Anti-Infantry RPGs

I've been doing some research on Russian anti-tank weapons. We've all heard plenty of stories about how Abrams tanks in Iraq (and Challangers) shrug off RPG hits like it's nothing, or even have them bounce off. Also we hear frequently about how some poor guys get killed by them in Iraq.

So are RPGs any good against heavy armor, or just infantry? What different kinds of RPGs are there?

RPG - Ruchnaya Protevotankovaya Granata, or hand-held anti-tank grenade.


RPG-2
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Caliber: 40 mm barrel; 82mm warhead
Type: recoilless
Overall length: 650 mm
Weight: 2.83 kg empty; 4.67 kg loaded with grenade
Effective range: 100-150 meters
Armour penetration: 200 mm RHA.

Adopted by the Soviet military in 1949. Has a PG-2 HEAT warhead. The first of the "RPG-#". Saw alot of action in Vietnam and plenty in the mid-east. Although it can be fire by one man, standard crew is two men; a grenadier with the RPG and three extra rounds, and an assistant with an assault rifle and three extra rounds. I would imagine these are available to insurgents in Iraq. This weapon has been replaced in the Soviet military in the 1960s by the RPG-7.

RPG-7

Caliber: 40 mm launcher; 40 and 70 - 105mm warheads (depending on the grenade model)
Type: recoilless launch + rocket booster
Overall length: 650 mm
Weight: 6.3 kg unloaded, with PGO-7 telescope sight
Effective range: 200-500 meters, depending on the grenade type

Adopted in 1961, the RPG-7 is still widely in service with the Russian forces and no less then fifty other countries around the world. This particular RPG has had many different kinds of warheads developed for it.
RPG-7V antitank grenade launcher with PGO-7 telescope sight and a PG-7V grenade in ready to load condition (with launch charge attached) was the first one developed. Later a version of it for the airborne (VDV) was made called the RPG-7D, which can be disassembled in order to become more compact.

Here are the different kinds of warheads for the RPG-7:
*PG-7V*(HEAT grenade)
The very first model developed (1961). It is an 85mm warhead. Weights 2.2kg, has an effective range of 500m, and can knock through 260mm of RHA.
*PG-7VL*(HEAT grenade)
A further upgrade made in 1977. This is a 93mm warhead that weights 2.6kg. The range is 500m. It can penetrate 500mm of RHA or 1.5m of brick wall.
*PG-7VR*(Tandem HEAT grenade)
Developed in 1988. Has 64/105mm dual-warhead that weights 4.5kg. The design was intended against most modern tanks. While the effective range is 200m, the warhead can blast through ERA+600-700mm of armor.
*TBG-7V*(Thermobaric (FAE) grenade)
Also developed in 1988, this is a 4.5kg, 105mm warhead. Like with the PG-7VR, the weight of this warhead decreases it's range to 200m. This weapon doesn't have any armor penetrating capabilities since it is an FAE (Fuel Air Explosive), and is designed against infantry.
*OG-7V*(HE-FRAG grenade)
Developed in Russia in 1999. 40mm warhead, 2kg. This is a fragmentation antipersonnel grenade with a range of 350m.

RPG-16
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Caliber: 58 mm warhead (same as barrel)
Type: recoilless launch + rocket booster
Overall length: 1104 mm ready to fire; 645 mm disassembled for carry / airdrop
Weight: 10.3 kg unloaded, with optical sight and bipod; 12.4 kg loaded and ready to fire
Effective range: up to 800 m
Armour penetration: 300 mm

Designed for the Soviet airborne in late 1960s and adopted in 1970. The purpose of this RPG is to knock out fortified positions (buildings/bunkers) from long range. The RPG-16 fires a PG-16 HEAT. Unlike the PG-2 and PG-7 grenades, the PG-16 warhead has the same caliber as the barrel allowing it to fit entirely inside the launcher and thus increasing accuracy.
RPG-16 has an integral iron sights, but usually is issued with 2.7X magnification telescope sight, designated PGO-16. The standard crew for RPG-16 is two men: the grenadier, who carries the launcher and two rounds, and assistant, who carries three more rounds. The RPG-16 is still in use with the Russian airborne today.

RPG-18
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Caliber: 64mm
Weight: 1.4 kg unarmed, 2.6 kg ready to fire
Range: 200m
Armour penetration: 375mm RHA
Fires a PG-18 HEAT grenade. This weapon is very similar in appearances and functionality to the United States' LAW. Performance becomes significantly diminished when the RPG-18 is employed against targets protected by ERA. It is a disposable RPG, and is widely in use amongst the mechanized troops in the Russian military.

RPG-29
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Caliber: 105 mm barrel; 65/105mm warheads
Type: rocket booster
Overall length: 1850 mm ready to fire; 1000 mm disassembled for transportation
Weight: 12.1 kg unloaded, with optical sight; 18.8 kg loaded and ready to fire
Effective range: up to 500 m
Armour penetration: ERA + more than 600 mm RHA

RPG-29 grenade launcher has been adopted by Soviet army in 1989, and it is intended to defeat most modern tanks, fitted with ERA protection. Unlike previous RPG-series launchers, the RPG-29 is a breech-loading weapon, with large caliber barrel, made from two quick-detachable parts, front and rear. When used against buildings or entrenchments, the PG-29V can penetrate more than 1,5 meter (5ft) of concrete or brick wall and then cause significant damage to troops beyond the wall. Unlike previous designs, PG-29 grenade has no separate RCL-type launch charge. The rocket engine starts immediately as the trigger is pressed, and burns out completely before the grenade leaves the launcher. The rest of the flight is made under inertia. The warhead is similar in design to the PG-7VR warhead, developed for RPG-7V grenade launcher, but, thanks to the much more powerful rocket engine, the RPG-29/PG-29 combination has effective range about two times longer, than the RPG-7V/PG-7VR combination. The cost of this significant increase in combat performance is much bigger weight and bulk of both RPG-29 launcher and PG-29 grenade.

I have found some interesting stories about the RPG-29 in particular.

RPG-29 against Merkavas


Here's a link to a pick of a Merkava turret after being hit by an RPG-29
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Here's a link describing the latest RShG-1 Russian Thermobaric Grenade
RShG-1



Oh and can anyone confirm this? (from the link above)


*Links to info in the post above*
Link
Link

It really depends who's using the RPG and how they're applying it. As a grenade, it has a good Anti-personnel effect.

Tanks can definitely bounce off the warheads if the person using the RPG doesn't know where to aim or if they miss the right spot. Some tanks have canted armor panels and it's not unheard of for a warhead to bounce off of the armor when it hits at an angle.

In WWII, some Tiger and Panzer tanks had canted armor and were very effective at bouncing off enemy tank rounds and bazooka warheads.

But for a militant group with low resources, an RPG can prove to be the best cheapest alternative to any other Anti-personnel weapon which is probably why they're used so widely all over the world. They're like the AK-47, cheap, durable, easy to get a hold of.

Shattered OUT...

A big part of the reason the reloadable RPGs are so popular with militant groups (RPG-7 in particular) is because this is a weapon designed for regular infantry squads. One or two people can carry plenty of ammo for the launcher. That is far more comfortable and less tiring then having to carry 6 LAWs or something. On the flip side the reloadable RPGs are not the best choice for mechanized infantry cause they take up space. Great thing about being able to reload though is being able to carry a variety of warheads as well.



I totaly agree.

Regards,
Maestro

The lighter side of RPG's

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[edit on 2-4-2008 by Shere Khaan]

RPG's have recoil? I was under the impression they were self-propelled.

Shattered OUT...

Some RPG warheads have rocket boosters. These ignite once the rocket is a safe distance away from the gunner - about 20 meters away. In the RPG-16 the booster ignites while the rocket is still in the tube, and burns out befor the rocket leaves the tube. The rest of the flight is all on inertia. Recoil comes from the back blast. That back blast can reach out to 20 meters from behind the tube. You can imagine you'll feel a bit of "turbulance" from the weapon.

Regards,
Maestro

reply to post by ShatteredSkies

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There are no recoilles weapons. For example APILAS at-rocket doesn't push you back, but firing it feels like someone slapping your face with a shovel..

LAW 66 is pretty easy, but you still feel the blast pretty well, especially if you're standing up.


Chezens (and FARC) have developed a nice way of using RPG-7s as makeshift artillery. They will the hollow in the HEAT warhead with TNT to improve the anti personel effect. Some have even ductaped tnt bags into the warhead. They are really versatile weapons.

And RPG-7 is still effecive if the gunner knows how to use it.

All RPGs have rocket motors, hence the western transcription of RPG is "rocket-propelled grenade". A human would not be able to handle the instantanious recoil if the warheads weighing several kilos were fired like a rifle, with a traditional firearm propellant, within an enclosed launch tube. Rockets spread the huge inertia needed to propel the grenade over several milliseconds which is a long time in physical terms.

Thats also why the tubes don´t explode from an instantaneous pressure buildup. The tubes are either open-ended which requires a large safety zone behind the weapon, or you´re gonna fry; or they have recoil-dampening systems which enables the weapon to be fired from enclosed spaces. An example would be the modern german Panzerfaust 3 which incorporates a lump of plastic granulate to dissolve the rocket backblast. In some war films you can see how the assistant gunner lays his hand on the shoulder of the actual gunner to indicate he´s in a safe-from-backblast position.

The weapon in the 3rd video above is either not meant to be hand-fired at all, or its "hole in the back" is clogged up in some way transferring the rocket backblast momentum to the whole tube.

The "safe-distance" rocket motors you speak of are usually found in guided missiles only; a precharge pushes them from the tube, and THEN the motor ignites - hence they are missiles, not grenade projectiles. Look for videos of MILAN or Javelin ATGMs and watch the launch sequence, you´ll see what I mean.

reply to post by Lonestar24

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RPG-7 has a precharge and the main motor ignites after the rocket has left the launcher, thus it has very small back blast. But it's still enough to throw a chezen from 3rd story window

Here's a sample of the precharge then the motor igniting (this is a javelin)

YouTube Link

[edit on 3-4-2008 by Shere Khaan]