RPG weapons 7. Russian grenade launchers

anti-tank grenade launcher RPG-7V with a PGO-7 optical sight installed. Nearby is a PG-7VM grenade ready to be loaded into a grenade launcher (with a starting charge attached)

RPG-7D anti-tank grenade launcher (landing version), disassembled for landing

Anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade PG-7VM, sectional view

Anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade PG-7VL

Anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade PG-7VR with tandem warhead

Thermobaric rocket-propelled grenade TBG-7V (with warhead volumetric explosion)

Fragmentation (anti-personnel) grenade OG-7V

Caliber: 40 mm barrel; 40, 70 - 105mm grenade warhead

Type of: dynamoactive (recoilless) launch + jet booster on a grenade

Length: 650 mm

The weight: 6.3 kg unloaded with telescopic sight

Effective firing range: 200 - 500 m, depending on the type of grenades used

Some Soviet and Russian-made grenades used in the RPG-7V and later versions

The development of a new grenade launcher to replace the RPG-2 was started in 1958. In 1961, a new grenade launcher, designated RPG-7, was adopted by the Soviet army, and is still in service not only Russian army, but also the armies of at least 50 more states. The RPG-7 is or has been manufactured in many countries including Bulgaria, Iraq, China, Romania and others.

Accordingly, the range of ammunition for it is very wide, and includes, in addition to cumulative anti-tank grenades, also high-explosive anti-personnel grenades, thermobaric (volume-detonating), incendiary, training and other types. If the grenade launcher itself has changed very little over the past 40-odd years, then the grenades for it have undergone a significant increase in combat characteristics. So, the very first version of the PG-7V anti-tank grenade had a warhead caliber of 85 mm and armor penetration of about 260 mm of steel armor. Adopted in 1977, the PG-7VL grenade had a warhead caliber of 93 mm and a charge of a more powerful explosive, its armor penetration reached 500 mm.

Created in the late 1980s, the PG-7VR grenade with a 65 / 105mm caliber tandem warhead is capable of hitting more than 600mm of steel armor, additionally covered with dynamic protection or anti-cumulative screens.

It is a smooth-bore single-shot recoilless launcher with an open rear barrel. Shooting is carried out from the shoulder, so the barrel has a special heat-insulating casing in the middle part.

In the rear part of the barrel there is a nozzle for ejection of powder gases, in the front part there is a fire control handle assembly with a trigger mechanism (USM), and a rear grip for holding. USM with an open trigger, non-self-cocking. The grenade launcher is equipped open sight, however, it is usually equipped with a PGO-7 optical sight with a magnification of 2.7X. The sight has a rangefinder scale for a target 2.7m high (tank), as well as scales for distance and side corrections. Specially for airborne troops a variant of the RPG-7D grenade launcher with a split barrel was created. Modern options RPG-7V1 grenade launchers are distinguished by improved sights that have additional scales for firing heavier PG-7VR and TBG-7V grenades, and are also equipped with a lightweight folding bipod.

Anti-tank grenades for RPG-7 have over-caliber warheads of 70-105 mm caliber, depending on the modification. The tail of the grenade has a caliber of 40 mm and, when loaded, is inserted into the grenade launcher barrel from the front. In the middle part of the grenade is a solid-propellant jet engine that accelerates the grenade along the trajectory.

The engine nozzles are located in its front part, radially and at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the grenade, providing additional stabilization in the active phase of flight. The grenade is launched using an expelling dynamo reactive charge located in a burning cardboard sleeve around the tail of the grenade, which is attached before loading.

When fired, part of the propellant gases of the expelling charge expires from the nozzle of the grenade launcher from behind, providing recoil compensation and creating a dangerous zone behind the shooter with a depth of more than 20 meters. launch rocket engine grenades are carried out automatically, at a distance of 10-20 meters from the shooter. Some variants of grenades, such as the OG-7V fragmentation grenade, do not have a rocket engine and use only an expelling charge. Grenade stabilization on the trajectory is carried out with the help of folding stabilizers, as well as due to the rotation of the grenade caused by a special impeller in its tail section and bevels on the stabilizers.

RPG-7 grenade launcher can be effectively used by one person (regular crew - 2 people, a shooter and an ammunition carrier), both against tanks and armored vehicles of the enemy, and against fortifications and firing points (modern grenades are able to break through a meter-long concrete wall and hit the soldiers hiding behind it).

The high effectiveness of the RPG-7 has been proven in many conflicts of recent decades, including Afghanistan, Chechnya and Iraq. Until now, the RPG-7 can deservedly be considered one of the best examples of the "little man's artillery", which is largely due to both the simplicity of the design and use of the grenade launcher itself, and the successful creation of a variety of highly effective ammunition for it.

Combat use of RPG-7

RPG-7 was actively used in almost all modern armed conflicts and local wars, which is primarily due to its simplicity, reliability with significant efficiency.

Gradually, RPG-7 with old types of rounds (such as PG-7V) lose their effectiveness against modern main battle tanks, which is primarily due to the development of dynamic protection. So, during the first Chechen campaign, to defeat one T-80 tank, 7-8 RPG-7 hits were required; during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, one of British tanks Challenger 2 received 15 hits from anti-tank grenade launchers without breaking through the armor. The re-equipment of even the Russian army with more modern rounds with tandem warheads, such as the PG-7VR, is proceeding rather slowly, in many other countries operating the RPG-7, the outdated PG-7V and PG-7VM remain the only available ammunition for it.

The RPG-7 hand grenade launcher, along with the Kalashnikov assault rifle, is today the most popular weapon in the world. This inexpensive, simple and easy-to-use grenade launcher received a second birth in the hands of partisans. It was developed in the 1960s in the USSR, at the state enterprise "Basalt". The simplicity of the design immediately won the grenade launcher popularity in all the armies of the Warsaw Pact, in China and North Korea. By the end cold war RPG-7s could already be found in the arsenals of more than 40 armies of the world, most of them hostile to the United States.

No one knows how many RPG-7 grenade launchers are scattered around the world's hot spots. There is not even a more or less clear idea of ​​the number of "legal" RPG-7s. Only "Basalt" and its direct licensees produced at least a million pieces.
In the age of night vision devices and smart bombs that are aimed at the target by satellites, the RPG-7 may seem like a primitive weapon, not far removed from the bow and arrow.

The RPG-7 that caused so many troubles to the Americans weighs about 8.5 kg (of which 2 kg is actually a grenade). To shoot, the weapon is taken by two handles, pointed with the help of a simple optical sight and the trigger is pulled. Depending on the type of ammunition, one shot from an RPG-7 can destroy an infantry platoon in an open area, stop a tank from a distance of three football fields, or shoot down a helicopter. In a close combat situation, when the parties pour fire on each other, the RPG-7 has no equal. This became clear even in clashes with the Mujahideen during the war in Afghanistan.

One of the reasons for the long-term success of the RPG-7 was the willingness of Bazalt to invent new warheads for the venerable weapon. Anatoly Obukhov, General Director of the Russian research and production enterprise Bazalt, wrote in the Military Parade magazine that the new ammunition TBG-7V (thermobaric), PG-7VR (with a tandem warhead) and OG-7V (fragmentation) allow the fighter to perform unprecedented the number of different tasks on the battlefield.
The TBG-7V thermobaric charge is comparable in lethal force to a shot from a 120-mm gun. It simultaneously creates a high-temperature cloud and a powerful blast wave, tearing and burning all life within a radius of 10 meters from the point of detonation. When hit in the armor, a gap of 15x45 cm in size appears, through which vehicle heat penetrates, causing the crew to die.

One of the methods of protection against such weapons is active armor, which is actually a "skin" of explosives. When the projectile hits the tank, the active armor explodes, repelling the incoming projectile. This helps to avoid burning through the armor with molten metal. But the PG-7VR ammunition also copes with active armor. It consists of two parts, called a tandem warhead. Such a charge hits the tank twice, at strictly calculated intervals. The first part neutralizes active armor. The second pierces ordinary metal.
The OG-7V fragmentation charge was designed specifically for urban combat, where the targets are usually brick and reinforced concrete buildings. Therefore, it is necessary to get into a relatively small hole from which the enemy shoots. The accuracy of the OG-7V is very close to small arms.

History and description of the design

RPG-7D disassembled

Anti-tank grenade launchers, as a type of hand-held firearms began its development during the Second World War. The combination of a recoilless launcher and a cumulative ammunition in one sample made it possible to create a light anti-tank weapons, which became the tone of the last line of anti-tank defense of infantry units.

In the first generation grenade launchers, shots with active grenades (Panzerfaust, RPG-2, Karl Gustav) or rocket-propelled grenades (M. 18 Bazooka, Offenror, SG-82) were used. Both those and other designs have both advantages and disadvantages. So. an active-type shot allows you to create a grenade launcher system of small mass and dimensions, but at the same time, the firing range from it, as a rule, does not exceed 200 meters. Jet-type shot allows you to increase the range aimed shooting, but at the same time "the length of such a grenade launcher is very significant.

In the mid-1950s in the USSR, after a series of large-scale studies and tests, the requirements for the development of a new, more advanced hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher to replace the RPG-2 were determined. The task for the development of a grenade launcher provided for a significant increase in accuracy and range of aimed fire, while increasing armor penetration and maintaining acceptable weight and size characteristics.

In GSKB-47 (today FSUE "GNPL" Bazalt ") for the first time for a hand grenade launcher, it was proposed to use an active-reactive ballistic shot scheme - the basis of a grenade launcher complex. The author of this proposal was the leading designer of the new GSKB-47 grenade launcher, Valentin Konstantinovich Firulin.

The essence of the design of an active-reactive shot is as follows. The starting powder charge, burning in the barrel of the grenade launcher, ensures that the grenade leaves the barrel at the required initial speed. Then, after the grenade is removed from the grenade launcher to a safe distance (15-20m), the sustainer jet engine is turned on, which significantly increases the speed of the grenade, thereby increasing the firing range. Such a constructive solution made it possible to create a relatively light and reliable starting device - the actual grenade launcher. It should be noted that in the most advanced foreign "grenade launching powers" - Germany and Sweden, active-rocket shots were used much later.

In addition to the active-reactive shot, a number of other innovations were also applied in the new grenade launcher system. So, to increase the accuracy of fire, the rotation of the grenade was used, which began even in the barrel and continued on the trajectory. It occurred due to the influence of powder gases of the propellant charge and jet engine on a special device - a turbine. and in flight and from the oncoming air flow on the bevels of the stabilizer blades. To ensure reliable detonation of the warhead, a head-bottom piezoelectric fuse was introduced into the design of the grenade. Increasing the firing range to 500 m required the introduction of optical, and later electro-optical sights into the complex.

The grenade launcher itself was developed at OKB-575 (Kovrov), and the optical sight for it at the Tochpribor Central Design Bureau (Novosibirsk). Serial production of the entire range of shots for the RPG-7 was carried out at the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Chemical Plant" Plant "(Nizhny Tagil).

RPG-7 grenade launcher is an active-reactive type weapon. The grenade launcher is loaded from the muzzle. When fired, the combustion products of the propellant charge flowing back through the nozzle create a pressure impulse directly opposite to the recoil, which ensures the recoillessness of the grenade launcher. Structurally, the grenade launcher consists of a barrel with a bell fixed on it, a trigger and a firing mechanism. A handle for holding a weapon, a mechanical sight and a bracket for an optical or electron-optical sight are fixed on the barrel. To prevent burns, a removable handguard is attached to the barrel. The trigger and firing mechanisms were entirely borrowed from the RPG-2 grenade launcher. The RPG-7 grenade launcher and its modifications are extremely simple in design and very reliable.

The RPG-7 grenade launcher with the PG-7V active-rocket shot was put into service Soviet army in 1961. Its modification RPG-7D (D - landing) was developed at TsKIB SOO (now a branch of KBP, Tula). The lead designer for this grenade launcher was V. F. Fundaev. RPG-7D has a split barrel, which ensures safe parachute landing. It was put into service in 1963.

In addition to GNPP Bazalt, about ten specialized research institutes, design bureaus and industry plants took part in the creation of the RPG-7 grenade launcher complex through cooperation. It was the unification of the efforts of specialists from various fields of industry that made it possible at that time to create a weapon that, along with the Kalashnikov assault rifle and the T-34 tank, became one of the symbols of reliable and effective weapon from the USSR, the subject of copying and imitation in many countries of the world.

Further improvement of the grenade launcher complex was carried out by upgrading and creating new shots for various purposes, with a slight modernization of the sight. This provided long life and the high efficiency of the use of RPG-7V not only in the USSR and Russia, but also in more than 60 countries of the world.

The performance characteristics of the RPG-7D

The RPG-7 grenade launcher is designed to fight tanks, self-propelled artillery mounts and other enemy armored vehicles. It can also be used to destroy enemy manpower located in light field shelters and in urban-type structures.

The development of a new grenade launcher to replace the RPG-2 was launched in 1958 at the Bazalt state enterprise.

In 1961, a new grenade launcher, designated RPG-7, was adopted by the Soviet army.

Its design turned out to be so successful that after being put into service, it almost never underwent any significant modifications.
The grenade launcher consists of the following parts and mechanisms:
- a barrel with a mechanical (open) sight;
- trigger mechanism with a fuse;
- striker mechanism;
- optical sight.

RPG-7 parts and mechanisms

The barrel of a grenade launcher, designed to direct the flight of a grenade and remove powder gases when fired, is a smooth pipe, in the middle part of which an expansion chamber is located. The barrel and branch pipe are connected by thread. The branch pipe in the front part has a nozzle made in the form of two converging cones, in the rear part there is a bell with a safety plate that protects the breech breech from contamination. The barrel has a front cutout for a grenade retainer, a folding front sight and a sight on special bases on top, a trigger mechanism assembled in a pistol grip fire control is attached to the bottom, which makes it easier to hold the grenade launcher when firing. On the barrel on the left there is a bar for mounting an optical sight bracket. On the right are mounted swivels for attaching a belt with covers and a shoulder strap. On the barrel of the grenade launcher, two symmetrical birch veneer linings are fixed with clamps, protecting the hands of the grenade launcher from burns when firing. The barrel resource ranges from 300 (RPG-7/7V) to 250 (other) shots.

The trigger mechanism has an open trigger, a helical mainspring, a trigger, a push-button safety. To put the grenade launcher on the fuse, the button must be pressed to the right. The trigger is cocked by the needle thumb arms.

For the RPG-7 grenade launcher, the Tochpribor Central Design Bureau in Novosibirsk developed a 2.7x optical sight PGO-7 of the prismatic type, which became the main sight for this type of weapon. Its reticle includes sight scales, a lateral correction scale, and a rangefinder scale to determine the distance to the target, whose height is 2.7 m (the approximate height of the tank). The price of division of the sight scale is 100 m, the scale of lateral corrections is 0-10 (10 thousandths). The sight is equipped with adjustment screws for height and direction, a handwheel for entering a temperature correction, a reticle illumination device, a rubber forehead and eyecup. A mechanical sight (with a folding front sight and in its entirety) is used as an auxiliary one. Its bar has a movable clamp with a slot and a latch, the divisions of the bar "2", "3", "4", "5" correspond to ranges of 200, 300, 400 and 500 meters. On the RPG-7V, in addition to the main one, a folding additional front sight is also mounted. The main one is used at minus, and the additional one is used at positive air temperature.

The active-reactive 85-mm round PG-7V, created by the designers of the FSUE GNPP Bazalt, consists of a PG-7 over-caliber grenade and a powder (propellant) charge. The PG-7 anti-tank grenade includes: a warhead with a shaped charge, a fairing and a conductive cone (in this case, the head and bottom parts are connected into a single circuit through a fairing and a cone), a powder jet engine with six nozzle holes, a stabilizer with four folding feathers and turbine. A jet engine 250 mm long is attached to the rear of the grenade head. In the engine chamber there is a reactive charge - a checker of nitroglycerin gunpowder (between the diaphragm and the stop), as well as a pyro-retarder with an igniter from smoky gunpowder (DRP). So that the powder gases flowing from the nozzles of a jet engine, having high temperature, did not damage the stabilizer, the nozzle block is located at the front end of the engine housing (almost in the center of gravity), and the nozzles have a slight inclination to the engine axis. To inform the grenade of the initial speed, a starting powder charge is attached to the jet engine during loading, placed in a paper case to protect it from moisture and mechanical damage during storage and transportation. The stabilizer ensures a stable flight of the grenade on the trajectory. Banded nitroglycerin gunpowder is placed around the stabilizer tube, inside it is an igniter made from smoky gunpowder. There is a latch on the stabilizer tube, which, when loaded, enters the cutout on the muzzle of the grenade launcher. In this position, the primer-igniter is located against the hole for the striker. The flexible plumage of the grenade is bent around the stabilizer tube and in this position is secured with a ring. There is a tracer in the turbine to monitor the flight of the grenade.

To fire a shot, you must: put the trigger on the cocking, remove the grenade launcher from the fuse and press the trigger with your index finger. Under the action of the mainspring, the trigger vigorously turns up and hits the striker. The striker moves up, breaking the grenade igniter primer located in the bottom of the jet engine. The beam of fire from the primer-igniter passes through the L-shaped channel, igniting a sample of smoky gunpowder and tape gunpowder. High pressure of the formed gases breaks through the cardboard sleeve, and the gases fill the volume of the grenade launcher's charging chamber. When the pressure in the chamber reaches a certain limit, sufficient to push the foam wad through the nozzle of the grenade launcher, the outflow of gases begins. The purpose of the charging chamber and the wad is to ensure that even before the start of the outflow of gases, the necessary pressure arises, under the influence of which the energy of the powder gases will be more fully used for useful work according to the movement of the grenade. With the onset of the outflow of gases, the grenade begins to move forward along the barrel, as well as its rotation (as a result of the action of gases on the turbine). The maximum pressure of powder gases in the barrel of a grenade launcher does not exceed 900 kg / cm2, which is 3-4 times less than in the barrel of a weapon with a closed bolt. With the start of the movement of the grenade, the primer of the pyro-retarder of the jet engine is pricked, and the retarding composition of the pyro-retarder begins to burn.

When a grenade leaves the barrel, under the action of centrifugal forces and the oncoming air flow, the stabilizer blades open. After the grenade is removed from the shooter at a safe distance of 15-20 m, the igniter of the DRP and the jet engine checker light up from the pyro-retarder. The resulting gases are pushed out of the nozzles by the sealers; the engine starts. The gases flowing from the engine nozzles create a reactive force that gives the grenade additional speed. Engine operation time - 0.4-0.6 s. During this time, the grenade flies 100-120 m (active part of the trajectory). The speed of the grenade from 120 m / s at the time of departure increases at the end of the active section of the trajectory to 300 m / s.

The rotation of the grenade around its longitudinal axis in flight is supported by the impact of the oncoming air flow on the bevels of the stabilizer blades and on the impeller installed in the tail section of the stabilizer, and is several tens of revolutions per second. The stabilized flight of the grenade is provided by its tail unit - four stabilizer blades. The rotation of the grenade around its longitudinal axis is used to increase the accuracy of fire, so when the grenade is rotated, the effect on the dispersion of errors in the symmetry of the stabilizer blades, nozzle block and grenade body, inevitable within tolerances in mass production, is reduced.

At a distance of 2.5-18 m from the muzzle of the barrel, the fuse is cocked - the electric detonator is included in the electrical circuit. When a grenade meets an obstacle, the drummer, moving forward sharply under the action of inertia, pierces the detonator cap with his sting. The detonator explodes and the grenade explodes. If the grenade does not hit the target, the self-destructor is activated 4-6 seconds after the shot.

The RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher in battle is served by two crew numbers - a grenade launcher and an assistant grenade launcher. However, the design of the RPG-7 is so simple and reliable that it can be operated by one person.

Especially for the airborne troops, a variant of the RPG-7D grenade launcher was created, which has a split barrel.

At RPG-7D - the pipe and the pipe are connected dry, with the help of sectoral protrusions of the pipe, the pipe recesses corresponding to them, and are fixed in the assembled form with a latch. This design allows you to disassemble and fold the grenade launcher in preparation for landing. In addition, at the RPG-7D grenade launcher, a translator with a lever and a spring, an insert and a pin were additionally introduced into the trigger mechanism, and the design of the fuse was also changed, which eliminates the possibility of a shot in the event of an incomplete connection of the barrel tube with the nozzle.

If the RPG-7 grenade launcher itself has changed very little over the years, then the grenades for it have undergone a significant increase in combat characteristics.

The range of ammunition for it is very wide, and includes, in addition to cumulative anti-tank grenades, also high-explosive anti-personnel grenades, thermobaric (volumetric detonating), incendiary, training and other types:

PG-7V (7P1) - cumulative.
Warhead: with a HEAT warhead. Weight: 2.6 kg. Caliber: 70.5 mm. Armor penetration: about 330 mm.
- PG-7VM (7P6) - cumulative (modernized PG-7V), with higher armor penetration, accuracy and wind resistance. The fuse has been upgraded and named VP-7M, its operation has become more stable. The starting powder charge of the shot, which received the name PG-7PM, has undergone changes. In terms of device, action, handling, capping and coloring, it is the same as the PG-7V shot, but the starting powder charges PG-7P and PG-7PM are not interchangeable. Produced until 1976. Leading designer V.I. Medvedev.
- PG-7VS / PG-7VS1 - cumulative, with a more powerful charge of phlegmatized HMX (okfol). In the PG-7VS shot stabilizer, the bevel angles of the blades were reduced, which led to a decrease in the speed of rotation of the grenade and a decrease in the spraying of the cumulative jet under the action of centrifugal forces. Complete with fuse VP-7M and powder charge PG-7PM. In 1972-1976, a PG-7VS1 shot was fired, the warhead of which was equipped with a cheaper explosive. Leading designers V.P. Zaitsev and O.F. Dzyadukh.
- PG-7VL (7P16) "Luch" - cumulative, designed to destroy tanks with composite armor. For the new grenade, a fuse of increased safety and reliability was developed - VP-22 with reduced weight and size characteristics. The name during the development of "Ray". Leading designer V.M. Lenin.
Warhead: with a HEAT warhead. Weight: 2.6 kg. Caliber: 93 mm. Armor penetration: about 500 mm.
- PG-7VR (7P28) "Summary" - cumulative, with a tandem warhead. Designed to destroy armored vehicles with dynamic protection. Warhead The grenade consists of two coaxially and spaced charges: the front part (precharge) of 64 mm caliber with a piezoelectric fuse and the main warhead of 105 mm caliber. Unlike previous shots, due to the large length of the warhead, in the stowed position, the PG-7VR shot is disconnected along the threaded connection of the warhead and the assembly of the jet engine with a propellant (starting) charge. The design of the jet engine and the propellant charge of the PG-7VR shot is similar to the PG-7VL shot, but has some design improvements. For a more reliable opening of the stabilizer blades, given the slower rotation of the grenade by the turbine due to its greater mass, springs were introduced into the design of the stabilizer. Leading designer A.B. Kulakovsky.
Warhead: with tandem warhead. Weight: 4.5 kg. Caliber: 65/105 mm. Armor penetration: 600 mm.
- TBG-7V "Tanin" - a shot with a thermobaric warhead (volumetric explosion ammunition). The grenade is designed to destroy manpower in trenches, bunkers, field-type shelters, and other premises when ammunition gets inside, as well as when the warhead breaks at distances up to 2 m from a window or embrasure. It ensures the defeat of manpower within a radius of up to 10 m. In terms of the power of action, this grenade is comparable to an artillery shell or a mine of 120 mm caliber. In addition to manpower, unarmored or lightly armored vehicles can also be hit with the help of a TBG-7V shot. When meeting with an obstacle, a bottom inertial fuse is triggered, which first detonates the igniter-explosive, and then the main charge of the thermobaric mixture. In the process of interaction with the barrier, due to the programmed deformation of the warhead shell with filling, an annular shaped charge is formed. As a result, a hole with a diameter of 150-170 mm is cut out in a lightly armored combat vehicle with homogeneous steel armor of 15-20 mm, and through it into combat vehicle explosion products are brought in. At the same time, ultra-high pressure is created in the combat vehicle, tearing the hatches off the latches. Max Volume premises in which a reliably damaging pressure is created - up to 300 cubic meters. The mass of TB fire mixture is 1.8 kg. The use of a thermobaric (TB) mixture gives an increase in the rate of expansion of grenade fragments by 1.5 times more than that of traditional fillers. Leading designer A.B. Kulakovsky.
Warhead: thermobaric. Weight: 4.5 kg. Caliber: 105 mm. Damage radius: 200 m.
- OG-7V (7P50) "Splinter" ("Pencil") - fragmentation. Designed to suppress manpower, including those individual means protection (body armor) located in open areas, in field-type shelters and buildings, to destroy unarmored vehicles. Creates about 1000 fragments of optimal mass, the total area of ​​damage is 150 sq.m. Explosive - A-IX-1 (0.4 kg). Distinctive feature is the lack of a jet engine. Lead designer M.M. Konovaev.
Warhead: fragmentation. Weight: 2 kg. Caliber: 40 mm. Damage radius: 700 m.

The RPG-7 can deservedly be considered one of the best examples of the "little man's artillery", which is largely due to both the simplicity of the design and use of the grenade launcher itself, and the successful creation of a variety of highly effective ammunition for it.

The high effectiveness of the RPG-7 has been proven in many conflicts, including Afghanistan, Chechnya and Iraq.
Its wide geography combat use in the Middle East, the African continent, in Southeast Asia, Latin America indicates the reliability of this grenade launcher in any geographical area. It is trouble-free in the jungle, alpine, mountain-desert and desert areas - in conditions of significant influence of adverse environmental factors.

RPG-7 grenade launcher long time was in service not only with the Russian army, but also with the armies of at least 50 other states, while becoming the most famous and one of the best grenade launchers in the world.

RPG-7 production has been established in many countries, including Bulgaria, Iraq, China, Romania and others.

• Weapons » Grenade launchers » Russia / USSR
• Mercenary 34404 1

DATA FOR 2012 (standard replenishment)

Manual anti-tank grenade launcher(RPG). Developed by the Krasnoarmeisky division of GSKB-47 (now - GNPP "Basalt"), chief designer- V.K.Firulin. The development began in 1958. The Tula TsKIB SOO, the Kovrov Mechanical Plant (directly working on the grenade launcher in the Kovrov OKB-575 was carried out by V.V. Degtyarev), the Vysokogorsk Mechanical Plant, the Nizhny Tagil plant "Planta" and others took part in the creation of the grenade launcher. , chief designer of OKB-575 A. Nikiforenko, chief engineer of OKB-575 I. Potapov, head of the 5th department of OKB-575 A. Sorokin, as well as leading designer of RPG-7 V. Degtyarev, designers A. Alymov, M. Gorbunov , A.Ivashutich, A.Sevastyanova and others. The PG-7V shot for the RPG-7 grenade launcher was designed by V.K.Firulin (State Prize 1964). Factory tests were carried out from February 25 to June 11, 1960. The tests were successful. In a series of grenade launchers intended for range and military tests, improvements were made to the lining to protect the shooter from burns, an open sight and a strap for mounting an optical sight, as well as bags for carrying grenades and spare parts. The RPG-7 was put into service on June 16, 1961. Serial production of the RPG-7 began in 1961 at the Kovrov Mechanical Plant.

RPG-7 grenade launchers with PG-7VR "Resume" rounds at the parade in honor of the 100th anniversary of Kim Il Sung, Pyongyang, DPRK, 04/15/2012 (http://www.militaryphotos.net).

A shot from an RPG-7V grenade launcher with a PG-7VL grenade (http://picasaweb.google.com/104843019099162807351).

RPG-7V grenade launcher with an optical sight and with a PG-7VL shot ().

GARNI-LEP installations at the military parade rehearsal in Yerevan, September 19, 2011 (http://alkhimik.livejournal.com).

Calculation- 2 people (grenade launcher shooter - a pack of 1 grenade launcher and a bag for 2 shots and spare parts and accessories weighing 6.7 / 7.1 kg, an assistant grenade launcher shooter - a bag for 3 shots weighing 8.7 / 9.3 kg). The mass of bags is given with PG-7V / PG-7VM (PG-7VS) shots, airborne forces use bags for 2 shots.

guidance- frame / mechanical open and optical sight PGO-7 / 1OP16 (development of the Novosibirsk Central Design Bureau "Tochpribor" and production of the Novosibirsk Instrument-Making Plant). Optical sights are equipped with all RPG-7 models in service with the Russian Armed Forces. A night sight (RPG-7N grenade launcher) - PGN-1 / 1PN24 can be used. The stabilization of the ammunition in flight is carried out by rotation, due to the stabilizers.
Multiplicity of increase - 2.7 x (PGO-7)
Sighting range - 500 m (PGO-7)

After the appearance in 1977 of the PG-7VL shot with a heavy grenade for grenade launchers, the modernized PGO-7V1 sight was adopted, and for the old PGO-7V sights, firing tables for new grenades were introduced.

Starting device- the grenade launcher consists of a barrel with a mechanical open sight, a trigger mechanism with a fuse, a firing mechanism and an optical sight. The RPG-7D grenade launcher (landing) is disassembled into a pipe and a pipe, equipped with a locking mechanism. Grenade launchers with a night sight are equipped with a light-blocking mechanism base. A detachable bipod is equipped with RPG-7D grenade launchers and grenade launchers with a night sight. Shots (grenades) - over-caliber (almost all).

For training purposes with RPG-7 grenade launchers, the PUS-7 / PUS-7V target firing device can be used, in which cartridges of 7.62x39 mm arr. 1943 with tracer bullet T-45/57-T-231Sh). The device is a barrel-liner of the appropriate caliber installed in a regular grenade launcher.
Barrel length - 100 mm
Fixture length - 950 mm
Device weight - 2.6 kg
Firing range - 200-300 m

Practice shooting with a PUS-7 target firing device from an RPG-7V grenade launcher. Educational and methodological collection of the Western Military District, 138th Infantry Brigade, Leningrad region. May 2011 (photo - Alexander Pak, http://sashapak.livejournal.com).

Weight of grenade launcher:
- 6.3 kg (RPG-7V, with optical sight)
- 6.7 kg (RPG-7D, with optical sight)
- 7 kg (RPG-7V1, with optical sight)
Sight weight - 0.5 kg

Maximum range - 700 m
Sighting range - up to 500-550 m
Sighting range with night sight NSPU - up to 300 m
Direct shot range / effective - 330 m (PG-7V shot)
Grenade fuse cocking distance - 2.5-18 m from the muzzle
Grenade initial speed - 112-140 m / s
Grenade maximum speed - 300 m / s
Self-liquidator response time - 4-6 s

Rate of fire - 4-6 rds / min
Combat effectiveness coefficient (theoretical number of tanks destroyed before the crew was destroyed, M-60A3 was taken as a unit of tanks):
- when breaking through the enemy's defense - 0.05
- when repulsing counterattacks and in a meeting battle - 0.2
- in defense - 0.3
- in the fight against infantry fighting vehicles - increasing factor - 1.5x
- in the fight against armored personnel carriers - a multiplying factor - 2x

Types of shots / warheads:

Marching engine on nitroglycerin powder in a paper case (length 250 mm), 6 nozzle holes. The propellant charge is smokeless powder.
Shot PG-7VS - by reducing the angle of the bevel of the stabilizer blades, they reduced the speed of rotation of the grenade and, accordingly, the spraying of the cumulative jet due to the action of centrifugal force.

Shots for RPG-7 - from left to right - PG-7VR, PG-7VL, TBG-7V, OG-7V (photo - Alexey Khlopotov, http://otvaga2004.narod.ru).

Types of shots OG-7V, PG-7VL, PG-7VR and TBG-7V at a vehicle show in Venezuela, 2010-2011. (photo from the archive 10V,).

Model of a GSh-7VT shot at one of the exhibitions, 07/01/2010 (photo - Allocer and http://maks.sukhoi.ru).

Split layout of the tandem shot PG-7VR "Summary" made in Vietnam, 2012 (http://ttvnol.com).

A unique "shot" for the RPG-7 with a warhead - a mortar mine of 82 mm caliber. The possibility of practical use of such a solution is not clear. 2010-2011 (photo from the archive 10V,).

Status: USSR / Russia

2011 - is in service.

Export: by the end of the 1980s, the grenade launcher was in service with more than 40 countries of the world.

Abkhazia - in service in 2010

Azerbaijan:

Albania - in service in 2010.

Algeria - in service in 2010.

Angola - supplied from the first half of the 1970s.

RPG-7 in service with MPLA units - "Party of Labor" of Angola, Luanda, November 1975 (The Soviet War Machine. An encyclopedia of Russian military equipment and strategy. NY, Chartwell Books, 1977).

TTX shot TB-1 / TB-1:
Shot weight - 4.4 kg
Mass of explosives - 2 kg
Maximum firing range (at an angle of 25 degrees to the horizon) - 800 m
Median deviation when firing at a distance of 200 m:
- vertical Vv - 2.5
- lateral Wb - 1.0
The radius of the shock wave zone is 3.5 m (determined by sensors with a diaphragm destruction pressure of 0.9-1.0 kg / sq. cm)
Fuse - safety contact reaction-inertial instantaneous ZP-02 / ZP-02

Afghanistan:

- 2011 - is in service.

Belarus - in service in 2010

Benin - in service in 2010

Burkina Faso - in service in 2010.

Burundi - in service in 2010.

Bulgaria - in service in 2010, own production.

Venezuela - in service in 2010, incl. with shots OG-7V, PG-7VL, PG-7VR and TBG-7V.

Modifications of the RPG-7 at the display of equipment in Venezuela. In the first photo - loading an RPG with a PG-7VL shot. 2010-2011 (photo from the archive 10V,).

Gambia - in service in 2010.

Ghana - in service in 2010.

Guinea - in service in 2010.

Guinea-Bissau - in service in 2010.

East Germany / Germany
- 1960s - in service
- 1991-1992 - re-export to Turkey of 5000 RPG-7 from the stocks of the former NVA from united Germany.

Georgia - in service in 2010.

Egypt - in service in 2010, own production.

Zambia - in service in 2010.

Zimbabwe - in service in 2010.

Israel - used in parts of the IDF and not only in 2007-2010. and generally since the late 1960s.

Indonesia - in service in 2010.

Jordan - in service in 2010.

Iraq - in service in 2010, own production.

Iran:
- is in service in 2010, two models of the RPG-7 and Commando grenade launchers are produced at DIO enterprises

DIO RPG-7 and DIO Commando grenade launchers, Iran.

Cape Verde - in service in 2010.

Kazakhstan - in service in 2010

Cambodia - In service in 2010, designation B-41.

Cyprus - in service in 2010.

Kyrgyzstan - in service in 2010.

China:
- 1969 - start of production of the Chinese analogue of the RGP-7 grenade launcher - "type 69"
- 2010 - are in service with models of their own production of the "type 69" family.

Grenade launcher "type 69", China.

DR Congo - in service in 2010

North Korea - in service in 2010, produced under license, including PG-7VR rounds.

Kosovo - in service in 2010.

Côte d'Ivoire - in service in 2010.

Cuba - in service in 2010.

Latvia - in service in 2010

Liberia - in service in 2010.

Libya:
- 1970s - in service.
- 2011 - is in service, incl. with PG-7VR "Resume" shots.

Soldiers of the collaborationist forces in Libya with RPG-7 grenade launchers, incl. with a PG-7VR "Resume" shot - the grenade launcher is not equipped with a special sight, August-September 2011 ().

Lithuania - in service in 2010

Mauritania - in service in 2010.

Madagascar - in service in 2010.

Macedonia - in service in 2010.

Maldives - in service in 2010.

Mali - in service in 2010.

Malta - in service in 2010.

Morocco - in service in 2010.

Mexico - in service in 2010.

Myanmar - in service in 2010.

Mozambique - in service in 2010.

Moldova - in service in 2010.

Mongolia - in service in 2010.

Namibia - in service in 2010.

Nepal - in service in 2010.

Niger - in service in 2010.

Nicaragua - in service in 2010.

Pakistan - in service in 2010, Soviet and Chinese variants of RPGs, own production.

Peru - in service in 2010.

Poland - in service in 2010.

Transnistria - in service in 2010

Rwanda - in service in 2010.

Romania - in service in 2010.

Seychelles - in service in 2010.

Syria - in service in 2010.

Sierra Leone - in service in 2010.

Slovakia - in service in 2010.

Slovenia - in service in 2010

Somalia - in service in 2010.

Somaliland - in service in 2010.

Sudan - in service in 2010, with their own model MIC Sinar being produced.

Serbia - in service in 2010

USA - used by the aircraft in 2010. Since 2009, the tuning model Airtronic RPG-7V has been produced.

Airtronic RPG-7V grenade launcher, USA.

Thailand - in service in 2010.

Tanzania - in service in 2010.

Togo - in service in 2010

Turkmenistan - in service in 2010.

Turkey:
- 1991-1992 - 5,000 RPG-7s were received from NVA stocks from united Germany.
- in service in 2010

Uganda - in service in 2010.

Uzbekistan - in service in 2010.

Ukraine - in service in 2010.

Hungary - in service in 2010.

Finland - in service in 2010.

Croatia - in service in 2010.

Chad - in service in 2010.

Czech Republic - in service in 2010.

Montenegro - in service in 2010.

Chile - in service in 2010.

Sri Lanka - in service in 2010.

Equatorial Guinea - in service in 2010.

Eritrea - in service in 2010.

Estonia - in service in 2010

Ethiopia - in service in 2010.

South Africa - used by the Armed Forces in 2010.

South Ossetia - in service in 2010

Sources:

Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia. Site http://ru.wikipedia.org, 2011
Voevodin N. Problems of military export and production in Germany. // foreign Military Review. No. 5 / 1993
Monetchikov S. RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher. Website http://resistance.orgfree.com, 2011
News on REDSTAR. http://www.redstar.ru, 2011
Fedoseev S. Anniversary in combat formation. // Military Industrial Courier. No. 13 / 2011
Shunkov V.N. Missile weapons. Mn., Potpourri, 2003
Russian Arms forum. Website