Information AboutRpg-7 |
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| cold war anti-tank rockets of the soviet union | |
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The RPG-7 is a widely-produced and used rocket propelled grenade launcher designed by the Soviet Union . DEVELOPMENT The RPG-7 (''Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy [Anti-Tank Granatomet Launcher ''-7) 6G3 , and its predecessor the RPG-2 , are man-portable, shoulder-launched Rocket Propelled Grenade weapons. Its robustness, simplicity, low cost and effectiveness have made it the most widely used RPG in the world. Currently around forty countries use the weapon and it is manufacturered in a number of variants by nine countries. It is also popular with Irregular and Guerrilla forces, including terrorist organizations. Numerous recent conflicts with such forces have seen extensive use of the RPG-7, including Somalia , Iraq , and Afghanistan . The RPG-7 was first delivered to the Soviet Army in 1961 and deployed at a squad level. It replaced the RPG-3, having clearly out-performed the intermediate '''RPG-4''' design during testing. Its original design concept originated with Bazooka and the German WWII Panzerfaust . The current model produced by Russia is the '''RPG-7V1''', capable of firing standard, dual, and Thermobaric warheads. DESCRIPTION The launcher is based around a simple milled Steel tube, 40 mm in diameter, 95.3 cm long, and weighing just 7 kg. The middle is wood wrapped to protect the user from heat and the end is flared to assist in blast shielding and recoil reduction. Sighting is usually optical, but both passive Infra-red and Night-sight s are available and an iron sight is always fitted. As with similar weapons the grenade is over-sized (70 - 85 mm), protruding ahead of the launch tube, and weighing between 2.5 and 4.5 kg. Launch is by a Gunpowder booster charge at 115 m/s, which creates a typical tell-tale cloud of light grey/blue smoke. The Rocket motor ignites after 10 meters and sustains flight out to 500 meters at a maximum velocity of 295 m/s. The grenade is stabilized by two sets of fins that deploy in-flight - one large set on the stablizer pipe to maintain direction and a smaller front set to induce rotation. Maximum range is between 900 and 1100 meters, the Fuze sets the maximum range, usually 920 m. The timed detonation has been used to create rough proximity airbursts against helicopters once they have passed the preferred 100 m head-on attack zone. Accurate firing is difficult over 300 m and with the RPG-7 the phrase "the closer the better" is always true. During the Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan the Mujahideen tended to use the weapon at ranges of less than 80 m. AMMUNITION The RPG-7 can fire a variety of warheads for anti-armor ( HEAT , PG-) or anti-personnel ( HE , OG-) purposes, usually fitting with an impact (PIBD) and a 4.5 second fuze. Armor penetration is warhead dependent and ranges from 30 to 60 cm of Homogenous Steel ; two warhead types (PG-7BR and VR) are 'tandem' devices, used to defeat Reactive Armor with a single shot. Current production ammunition for the RPG-7V1 consists of three types:
SPECIFICATIONS ]] Manufacturer specifications for the RPG-7V1 provided by Rosoboronexport and Globalsecurity .
, Iraq by the US Marine Corps in 2004]] SEE ALSO
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