Panzerfaust 44
The light bazooka 44 mm (also “Leichte Panzerfaust” or “Lance”) was a recoilless anti-tank hand weapon developed for the Bundeswehr . It was introduced to the Bundeswehr in the 1960s, but lost its effectiveness with the development of battle tanks with composite armor and was subsequently retired.
history
development
The weapon was designed for anti-tank defense. It was based on the Panzerfaust 150 , which had been developed for the Wehrmacht. The Dynamit Nobel AG produced the weapon for the armed forces.
effectiveness
The light bazooka was operated by a rifleman and was effective against tanks up to 200 meters away and against moving tanks up to 150 meters away. The penetration rate was up to 375 mm rolled armor steel. It was part of the standard armament of the infantry .
The industry was commissioned in January 1972 to develop a replacement for the light Panzerfaust 44 mm, which ultimately led to the replacement of the weapon in the Bundeswehr by the Panzerfaust 3 in 1992 .
technology
The weapon consisted of the barrel, firing device , aiming device and the grenade head. She weighed about 10 kg, ready to fire. The Panzerfaust fired hollow charge projectiles on the principle of the recoilless gun. The recoil energy of the projectile was balanced by the energy of a mass or amount of gas moving backwards in opposite directions. The weapon had a bolt lock , so that the shooter first had to insert a propellant charge detonator from the handle, which then ignited the propellant charge of the grenade after the trigger. The bazooka was shot standing, sitting or kneeling, the weapon was placed on the shoulder and held with both hands by the holder and handle.
To fire the Panzerfaust with or without a defective aiming device, a simple, fold-out emergency aiming device could be used. For training purposes it was possible to use a target control mirror .
Two different models were manufactured, of which the later model 44-2A1 differs from the predecessor model 44-2 by a slightly improved version of the emergency sighting device. The types of ammunition used can be seen in the list of Bundeswehr ammunition .
literature
- BMVg : Heeresdienstvorschrift (HDv) 215/32 for the handling of the light bazooka
- BMVg: Central Service Regulation (ZDv) 3/16 "The light bazooka"
- Paperback for military training 19th edition - 1977 Walhalla and Praetoria publishing house
- Johannes Heinen, Legal Foundations of Feldjägerdienst , Walhalla U. Praetoria, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8029-6532-6
- André Deinhardt: Panzergrenadiers - a class of troops in the Cold War: 1960 to 1970 , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag , 2011, ISBN 978-3486704648
- Günter Wollert, Reiner Lidschun, Wilfried Copenhagen : small arms . (1945-1985). In: Illustrated encyclopedia of rifles from around the world . 5th edition. tape 1 + 2 . Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 , weapons, p. 164 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d André Deinhardt: Panzer Grenadiers - a class of troops in the Cold War: 1960 to 1970 , page 130
- ↑ Heinen, page 59, s. Lit.
