Recoilless anti-tank hand weapon

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The Russian RPG-7

A recoilless anti-tank hand weapon (often only anti-tank hand weapon or also reactive anti-tank rifle or only anti-tank rifle ) is a portable and hands-free weapon ( hand weapon ) for anti-tank defense , in which part of the combustion gases of the propellant charge is ejected to the rear from the tube that is open at both ends no recoil occurs. HEAT or shaped charge projectiles , which have a high penetration power even at low projectile speeds, are mostly used for fighting tanks . Depending on the model, other projectiles such as fragmentation or smoke grenades can also be fired.

The recoilless anti-tank weapons must be distinguished from the much more complex anti-tank guided weapons .

designation

Although the generic term anti-tank hand weapon also describes other weapons such as rifle grenade launchers and grenade pistols , this term is usually used in an abbreviated form for recoilless anti-tank weapons. The same abbreviation took place with the designation reactive anti-tank rifle .

The alternative designation anti-tank rifle (actually, rifle denotes a rifle with a rifled barrel) for these weapons has its origins in history. The original anti-tank rifles were oversized rifles. The Wehrmacht transferred the name to the rocket armored rifle 54 , a recoilless anti-tank hand weapon with rocket propulsion, as early as the Second World War . Later on, reactive anti-tank rifles, or only anti-tank rifles , were mainly used in the East German NVA . Reactive is meant here in the sense of recoil-free .

Colloquially, Panzerfaust is often used as a synonym (especially for over-caliber models). The English term, which is often used internationally, is rocket-propelled grenade or rocket propelled grenade (rocket-propelled grenade) ( RPG for short ). This is a backronym from the Russian Rutschnoi Protiwotankowy Granatomjot (see RPG (weapon) ). This designation is not entirely correct, however, since not every recoilless anti-tank weapon fires missiles. In addition, there are other descriptions such as shoulder weapon for anti- tank defense or light anti-tank device (LPAG) .

development

The RS-65 anti-tank missile was developed in the Soviet Union as early as 1931 . It was fired from the shoulder and had a protective shield. The caliber was 6.5 cm, the drive was pyroxiline . Production was stopped in 1938. Since the warhead consisted of a conventional explosive charge, and not a shaped charge, as it was later, the weapon was not effective enough.

At the beginning of the Second World War it became clear that the conventional anti-tank rifles in newer tank models soon no longer achieved the required penetration performance. Various warring countries therefore developed light infantry weapons with shaped charge projectiles; Before the end of the war, only Germany and the USA were ready for use.

function

There are two different firing principles for recoilless anti-tank weapons:

US soldiers with the bazooka

The rocket drive is disadvantageous at takeoff because the hot exhaust gases endanger the shooter. Either the burning time is limited so that the entire propellant has burned down as soon as the rocket leaves the launch tube, as with the bazooka, or there must be a protective shield, as with the Panzerschreck . The recoil-free principle is good for the start, but due to the low speed the projectiles have a strong ballistic trajectory and a short range. A large part of the charge is not used to propel the projectile, but escapes from the back of the barrel and creates a counter pulse so that the weapon is practically recoil-free.

Most modern recoilless anti-tank handguns combine the recoilless principle, in order to fire the grenade from a launch tube, and a rocket propellant, which ignites some time after leaving the launch tube. This is a compromise to increase the range of the grenades and to protect the shooter from the jet of fire from the rocket propellant. The Soviet RPG-7 was a very successful weapon based on this principle.

Fire jet from an AT4

People behind the shooter are endangered by the hot gases, and the position of the shooter is revealed by the jet of fire and smoke development. Firing from enclosed spaces is problematic, which is why modern makes (e.g. crossbows ) use countermasses to absorb the reaction impulse.

commitment

Different grenades can be used depending on the purpose. HE shells for fighting infantry targets as well as flares for illuminating the battlefield or incendiary devices can also be fired by some models. In addition to armored vehicles, fortified positions, low-flying helicopters and "soft" targets such as trucks, camps, etc. can be fought from a short distance. Special drill bullets can be used for training purposes.

Recoil-free anti-tank guns are usually shot from the shoulder, in a standing, kneeling or lying position, but some systems can also be equipped with a mount and a ballistic computer to increase their range and accuracy.

The modern armor ( ERA , Chobham ) cannot break through the classic reactive armored weapons. Therefore tandem shaped charges are sometimes used, for example with the RPG-29 .

Some models have built-in ammunition and cannot be reloaded (e.g. M72 ). With reloadable models, a distinction is made between caliber ammunition and over-caliber ammunition. Caliber ammunition has the outside diameter of the launch tube and can be loaded from behind. This has the advantage that the shooter does not need to change cover and shooting position while the loader is reloading the weapon. Over-caliber ammunition sometimes has a larger diameter than the launch tube, protrudes from it and must therefore be loaded from the front.

Today, recoilless anti-tank handguns are increasingly being replaced by anti-tank guided weapons , for example in the 2006 Lebanon War .

Examples

literature

  • Günter Wollert, Reiner Lidschun, Wilfried Copenhagen: Illustrated encyclopedia of rifle weapons from around the world. Volume 1: Rifles Today . Military publishing house of the GDR, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-327-00513-3 .
  • Ilya Shaydurov: Russian close combat equipment: types, technology . 1st edition. Motorbuch, 2017, ISBN 978-3-613-03974-2 .
  • Thomas Stamm-Kuhlmann (Hrsg.), Reinhard Wolf (Hrsg.): Missile armament and international security from 1942 until today. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-515-08282-4 , p. 51.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heavy Panzerfaust 84 mm / Leuchtbüchse 84 mm In: Deutschesheer.de, as of June 13, 2019
  2. ↑ Reiner Lidschun, Günter Wollert: Infantry weapons - Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world , Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1998, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 . P. 41
  3. ↑ Reiner Lidschun, Günter Wollert: Infantry weapons - Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world , Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1998, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 . P. 41
  4. ↑ Wildflecken military training area in: streitkraeftebasis.de, as of October 12, 2016
  5. ^ Gordon L. Rottman : The Rocket Propelled Grenade , Osprey Publishing , 2010, ISBN 9781849081535 , p. 4
  6. ^ André Deinhardt: Panzergrenadiers - a type of troops in the Cold War: 1960 to 1970 , Verlag Walter de Gruyter , 2015, ISBN 9783486853704 p. 130 [1]
  7. ↑ Central Directive A2-226 / 0-0-4710 Combat Service of All Troops (on land) , Bundeswehr , November 2015
  8. ↑ a b c Ullrich Rühmland: NVA: NVA the GDR in brief , Verlag Bonner printing and publishing Company, 1977, p 182 [2]
  9. ^ Fritz Hahn: Weapons and Secret Weapons of the German Army 1933-1945. Volume 1: Infantry weapons, pioneer weapons, artillery weapons, powder, explosives and warfare agents. Bernard U. Graefe Verlag, 1986, ISBN 978-3763758319 , pp. 81, 95
  10. ↑ Reiner Lidschun, Günter Wollert: Infantry weapons - Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world , Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1998, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 . P. 41
  11. ↑ Modern War Technology , Publishing House of the Ministry for National Defense, 1958, p. 88 [3]
  12. ↑ Wilfried Schober: As a border soldier in the middle of Germany: Letters and memories from the years 1969/1970 , Verlag Engelsdorfer Verlag, 2015, ISBN 9783960080299 , p. 276 [4]
  13. ↑ Operation encyclopedia in: bundeswehr.de, as of December 15, 2017
  14. ^ Gordon L. Rottman : The Rocket Propelled Grenade , Osprey Publishing , 2010, ISBN 9781849081535 , p. 6
  15. ↑ a b Heinz Dathan: Waffenlehre für die Bundeswehr (4th revised edition), Mittler & Sohn Verlag , 1980, ISBN 3-87599-040-4 , pp. 82–83
  16. ^ Peter Gosztony : The Red Army. History and structure of the Soviet armed forces since 1917 . Munich 1980, p. 190. There is a photo of the weapon on p. 160.
  17. ↑ Gordon L. Rottman : The Rocket Propelled Grenade , Osprey Publishing , 2010, ISBN 9781849081535 , p. 11 [5]
  18. ↑ Reiner Lidschun, Günter Wollert: Infantry weapons - Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world , Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1998, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 . P. 35
  19. ↑ Model of bazooka 30 and 54 representation of reactive anti-tank rifles on the site of the German Historical Museum, Berlin. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  20. ↑ Exercise bullet for reactive anti-tank rifle RPG 2 Description on the website of the German Digital Library. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  21. ↑ Lidschun, Reiner: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from all over the world , Schwend, Schwäbisch Hall 1990
  22. ↑ Reiner Lidschun, Günter Wollert: Infantry weapons - Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world , Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1998, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 . P. 35 + p. 226ff.
  23. ↑ Reiner Lidschun, Günter Wollert: Infantry weapons - Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world , Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1998, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 . P. 225
  24. ↑ Reiner Lidschun, Günter Wollert: Infantry weapons - Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from around the world , Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, 1998, ISBN 3-89488-057-0 . P. 35, p. 576ff.
  25. ↑ Lidschun, Reiner: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from all over the world , Schwend, Schwäbisch Hall 1990
  26. ↑ Lidschun, Reiner: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from all over the world , Schwend, Schwäbisch Hall 1990
  27. ↑ Lidschun, Reiner: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from all over the world , Schwend, Schwäbisch Hall 1990
  28. ↑ Lidschun, Reiner: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from all over the world , Schwend, Schwäbisch Hall 1990
  29. ↑ Lidschun, Reiner: Illustrated encyclopedia of infantry weapons from all over the world , Schwend, Schwäbisch Hall 1990