The
RPG-7 (
Russian:
РПГ-7) is a portable, unguided,
shoulder-launched,
anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 (Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт –
Ruchnoy Protivotankovyy Granatomyot,
Hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher) and its predecessor, the
RPG-2, was designed by the
Soviet Union; it is now manufactured by the Russian company
Bazalt. The weapon has the
GRAU index
6G3. The English-language term "rocket-propelled grenade", though frequently encountered and reasonably descriptive, is a
backronym for "RPG" and not based on a literal translation.
The ruggedness, simplicity, low cost, and effectiveness of the RPG-7
has made it the most widely used anti-armor weapon in the world.
Currently around 40 countries use the weapon, and it is manufactured in a
number of variants by nine countries. It is also popular with
irregular and
guerrilla forces. The RPG has been used in almost all conflicts across all continents since the mid-1960s from the
Vietnam War to the early 2010s
War in Afghanistan.
Widely-produced, the most commonly seen major variations are the
RPG-7D paratrooper model (able to be broken into two parts for easier carrying), and the lighter Chinese
Type 69 RPG.
DIO of Iran manufactures RPG-7s with olive green handguards,
H&K pistol grips, and a Commando variant.
The RPG-7 was first delivered to the Soviet Army in 1961 and deployed
at a squad level. It replaced the RPG-2, having clearly out-performed
the intermediate
RPG-4 design during testing. The current model produced by
Russia is the
RPG-7V2, capable of firing standard and dual
high explosive anti-tank (HEAT)
rounds,
high explosive/
fragmentation, and
thermobaric warheads (see below), with a UP-7V sighting device fitted (used in tandem with the standard 2.7x PGO-7
optical sight) to allow the use of extended range ammunition. The
RPG-7D3 is the equivalent paratrooper model. Both the RPG-7V2 and RPG-7D3 were adopted by the
Russian Ground Forces in 2001.
Description
The launcher is reloadable and based around a steel tube,
40 millimeters in diameter, 95.3 centimeters long, and weighing
7 kilograms. The middle of the tube 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 with a back-up
iron sight, and passive
infra-red and
night sights are also available.
As with similar weapons, the grenade protrudes from the launch tubes.
It is 40–105 millimeters in diameter and weighs between 2.0
[2][3][4] and 4.5 kilograms. It is launched by a
gunpowder
booster charge, giving it an initial speed of 115 meters per second,
and creating a cloud of light grey-blue smoke that can give away the
position of the shooter.
[5] The
rocket motor
[6]
ignites after 10 meters and sustains flight out to 500 meters at a
maximum velocity of 295 meters per second. The grenade is stabilized by
two sets of fins that deploy in-flight: one large set on the stabilizer
pipe to maintain direction and a smaller front set to induce rotation.
The grenade can fly up to 1,100 meters; the
fuze sets the maximum range, usually 920 meters.
[7]
Propulsion system
According to the
United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Bulletin 3u (1977)
Soviet RPG-7 Antitank Grenade Launcher—Capabilities and Countermeasures,
the RPG-7 munition has two sections: a "booster" section and a "warhead
and sustainer motor" section. These must be assembled into the
ready-to-use grenade. The booster consists of a "small strip powder
charge" that serves to propel the grenade out of the launcher; the
sustainer motor then ignites and propels the grenade for the next few
seconds, giving it a top speed of 294 meters per second. The TRADOC
bulletin provides anecdotal commentary that the RPG-7 has been fired
from within buildings, which agrees with the two-stage design. It is
stated that only a 2-meter standoff to a rear obstruction is needed for
use inside rooms or fortifications. The fins not only provide drag
stabilization, but are designed to impart a slow rotation to the
grenade.
Due to the configuration of the RPG-7 sustainer/warhead section, it
responds counter-intuitively to crosswinds. A crosswind will tend to
exert pressure on the stabilizing fins, causing the projectile to turn
into the wind. While the rocket motor is still burning, this will cause
the flight path to curve into the wind. The TRADOC bulletin explains
aiming difficulties for more distant moving targets in crosswinds at
some length. The RPG-7 has no noticeable recoil, the only effect during
firing being that of the sudden lightness of the launcher as the rocket
leaves the tube.
Ammunition
Inside of an RPG's three sections. The head contains the (1) trigger,
(2) conductive cone, (3) aerodynamic fairing, (4) conical liner, (5)
body, (6) explosive, (7) conductor and (8) detonator. The rocket motor
consists of a (9) nozzle block, (10) nozzle and (11) motor body with
(12) propellant in front of (13) the motor rear and (14) ignition
primer. The booster charge includes the (15) fin, (16) cartridge, (17)
charge, (18) turbine, (19) tracer and (20) foam wad.
The RPG-7 can fire a variety of warheads for anti-armor (
HEAT, PG-Protivotankovaya Granata) or anti-personnel (
HE, OG-Oskolochnaya Granata) purposes, usually fitting with an impact (PIBD) and a 4.5 second
fuze. Armor penetration is warhead dependent and ranges from 30 to 60 centimeters of
RHA; one warhead, the
PG-7VR, is a 'tandem charge' device, used to defeat
reactive armor with a single shot.
Current production ammunition for the RPG-7V2 consists of four types:
- PG-7VL [c.1977] Improved 93 mm HEAT warhead effective against most vehicles and fortified targets. Replaces the earlier 85mm[2][3][4] PG-7V HEAT warhead [c.1961].
- PG-7VR [c.1988] Dual 64mm/105mm HEAT warhead for defeating
modern armored vehicles equipped with reactive armor blocks. The first
warhead (64mm HEAT) detonates the reactive armor block prematurely and
the second warhead (105mm HEAT) passes through the gap to hit the
exposed armor underneath.
- TBG-7V [c.1988] 105 mm Thermobaric warhead for anti-personnel and urban warfare.
- OG-7V [c.1999] 40mm fragmentation warhead for anti-personnel
warfare (warhead is within caliber due to limitations of international
treaties).[citation needed]
- GSh-7VT [c.2013] Anti-bunker warhead with cylindrical follow-through blast-fragmentation munition followed by explosively formed penetrator.[8]
Specifications
Manufacturer specifications for the RPG-7V1.
[9][10]
| Name |
Type |
Image |
Weight |
Explosive Weight[11][12][13] |
Diameter |
Penetration |
Lethal radius |
| PG-7V & VM |
Single-stage HEAT |
|
2.2 kg (4.85 lb) |
|
85 mm (3.35 in) |
> 260 mm RHA (10.24 in) |
|
| PG-7VL |
Single-stage HEAT |
 |
2.6 kg (5.7 lb) |
730 g окфол (95% HMX + 5% wax) |
93 mm (3.65 in) |
> 500 mm RHA (19.5 in) |
|
| PG-7VR |
Tandem HEAT |
 |
4.5 kg (9.9 lb) |
?/1.43 kg окфол (95% HMX + 5% wax) |
64 mm/105 mm (2.52 in/4.13 in) |
600 mm RHA
(with reactive armor)
750 mm RHA
(without reactive armor)
|
|
| OG-7V |
Fragmentation |
 |
2 kg (4 lb) |
210 g (0.46 lb) A-IX-1 |
40 mm (1.6 in) |
|
7 m (23 ft)
(vs. body armor) |
| TBG-7V |
Thermobaric |
 |
4.5 kg (9.9 lb) |
1.9 kg ОМ 100МИ-3Л + 0.25 kg A-IX-1(as thermobaric explosive booster) |
105 mm (4.1 in) |
|
10 m (33 ft) |
Hit probabilities
A U.S. Army evaluation of the weapon gave the hit probabilities on a
5 meter wide (15 ft), 2.5 meter tall (7.5 ft) panel moving sideways at
4 meters per second (9 miles per hour).
[14]
This probability decreases when firing in a crosswind due to the
unusual behaviour of the round; in a 7-mile (11 km) per hour wind, the
gunner can not expect to get a first-round hit more than 50% of the time
beyond 180m.
[15]
| Range |
Percent |
| 50 m |
100% |
| 100 m |
96% |
| 200 m |
51% |
| 300 m |
22% |
| 400 m |
9% |
| 500 m |
4% |
History of use
Accurate firing is difficult at ranges over 300 meters; the phrase "the closer the better" has always been true. During the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the
mujahideen
tended to use the weapon at ranges of less than 80 meters. The RPG-7's
predecessor, the RPG-2, was the main anti-tank weapon of NLF forces in
the early stage of the
Vietnam war, mainly used to counter the lightly armored
M113 and other armored vehicles. This was, in turn, countered by mounting barbed wire bundles or sections of
chain link fence, supported by 2 or 3 "U" shaped engineer stakes, in front of the vehicle as a portable
stand-off defence.
[16]
The RPG-7 was used by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army in
Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2005, most notably in
Lurgan,
County Armagh, where it was used against British Army
observation posts and the towering military base at Kitchen Hill in the town.
[17]
The IRA also used them in Catholic areas of West Belfast against
British Army armoured personnel carriers and Army forward operating
bases (FOB). Beechmount Avenue was renamed "RPG Avenue" because it was
chosen many times by the IRA as an area from which to mount rocket
attacks.
[18]
In Mogadishu, Somalia, rocket-propelled grenades were used to down
two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters in 1993.
[19][20]
The Taliban (in Afghanistan) have formed armored-vehicle
hunter/killer teams that work together with as many as 15 RPGs to
destroy armoured vehicles, aiming for a mobility kill by firing at the
tracks to stop the tank from moving, then attempting to destroy the main
armour while the tank is disabled.
[21]
Users
U.S. and Bulgarian soldiers training with RPG-7s.
A Bulgarian soldier with an ATGL-L (Bulgarian copy of the RPG-7) equipped with a
red dot reflex sight.
A Romanian soldier with an AG-7 (licensed built RPG-7).
