The menace caused by tanks in warfare has led to many new inventions designed to overpower and stop them. For example, anti-tank guns were used to attack light armored tanks from a stationary position. Bazookas were created to launch shaped charge grenades at high velocity and accuracy at tanks with increased armor thickness.
With the invention of the shaped charge grenades and bazookas, the size of ammunition needed to defeat heavy tanks increased as well. As a result, it was necessary to devise a means to make anti-tank weapons portable enough to be handled by one man.
The shaped charge explosive used by the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) could penetrate steel armor as much as ten times its diameter.
North Vietnamese troops with RPG-2 (B-40), 1968.
An RPG is essentially a launcher which fires a rocket equipped with a warhead. The warhead can be High Explosive or High Explosive Anti-Tank. The launcher is designed so that the rocket is propelled without any exhaust fumes which could be unfriendly to the user.
The tube provides aim for the warhead but not guidance. This means that there is no way of controlling the rocket after it has been fired, but guidance is possible with the help of some guided anti-tank missiles. However, the flight path of the rocket is maintained by fins.
Some RPGs are disposable, allowing the user to fire only a single rocket before disposing of the whole launcher. Other RPGs can be reloaded through the muzzle of the weapon. Some warheads are designed specifically for smoke illumination and tear gas.
RPG-7 with warhead detached. By Michal Maňas CC BY 2.5
In World War II, soldiers discovered that, by applying thin skirt armor or mesh wire around a tank’s hull and turret then triggering the RPG before it comes in contact with the tank, RPGs could be disabled. This method worked so well it was eventually incorporated into the original design of some tanks.
Another advancement in technology is Chobham armor, which is a composite armor containing layers of metals. It is used in armored vehicles to disrupt the action of shaped charges. In response to this new type of armor, the tandem charge warhead was invented. The tandem charge warhead is a combination of two shaped charges, one to activate protective armor and the other to penetrate the vehicle.
An American M1 Abrams of the pre-series, the first main battle tank type to be protected by Chobham armor
A more advanced technology in RPG protection is the Active Protection Systems that is used to defend vehicles from incoming projectiles.
The RPG exists in so many models, the most common being the RPG-7 which is a heavy modification of the original design, the RPG-2. It weighs 7kg and is 950mm long with a wooden middle to protect the user from heat. The launcher is reloadable and its variants include the RPG-7V2, RPG-7D3, and the RPG-7USA.
U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Christine M. Dullnig, right gets ready to fire an RPG-7. By U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. Fifth Fleet CC BY 2.0
This weapon was manufactured primarily by the Russians but is being produced by nine countries in multiple variants. Its first use was in 1961 and since then, it has undergone a lot of changes with over eight million units of it being produced.
An SNA soldier rests on the frontline with his rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher beside him during an advance towards the town of Buur-Hakba on February 24, 2013. By AMISOM Public Information CCO
Anti-tank Rocket-propelled Grenade Launcher RPG-7G. By delta.gov.ge CC BY 4.0
U.S. Army Spc. James Lindermen, with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, fires a rocket-propelled grenade while participating as part of a simulated opposing forces team during a mission rehearsal exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, March 19, 2013
member of the Iraqi Security Force (ISF) Commandos, 2nd Squad (SQD), 1st Platoon (PLT), 1st Company (CO), 9th Battalion (BN), 2nd Brigade (BDE), performs a foot patrol, armed with a rocket propelled grenade
Afghan National Police officer ready to fire an RPG round at a training site.
A mock insurgent prepares to fire a rocket-propelled grenade at a convoy as soldiers from the 95th Chemical Company, 6th Engineer Battalion, conduct battle drills at the Infantry Squad Battle Course
Soviet war in Afghanistan. Seized Mujahideen weaponry: HMG barrels and rocket launchers. By Sergey Novikov CC BY 3.0
An Afghan National Army commando with the 3rd Company, 3rd Special Operations Kandak fires a rocket-propelled grenade launcher from the roof of a compound
Suspected contraband — EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Officials have preferred charges against Maj. Gregory McMillion after an investigation found evidence he allegedly shipped contraband items here from an Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment. The suspected contraband includes rocket-propelled grenade launchers
U.S. Marines inventory a large number of weapons stockpiled by the Muqtada Militia in An Najaf, Iraq, on Sept. 3, 2004.
Soldiers with the Ukrainian national guard’s 3029th Regiment fire an RPG towards a mock target during a platoon live-fire exercise June 6, 2015
August 4, 2006 Hezbollah weaponry found during IDF operations in a village in the Eastern Sector of southern Lebanon. By Israel Defense Forces CC BY 2.0
July 23, 2006 An RPG missile found in Lebanon with a manufacturing symbol of the Iranian Army displayed by the IDF intelligence branch. By Israel Defense Forces CC BY 2.0
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Bow Mattioda demonstrates the proper firing of an RPG-7
Afghan National Army soldiers transport rocket propelled grenades found during an air assault mission in support of Operation Champion Sword in Sabari, Afghanistan, July 31, 2009.
Rebel in northern Central African Republic holding an RPG
An Afghan National Army soldier fires a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) during a live-fire operational training shoot at Joint Sustainment Academy Southwest, Camp Leatherneck, Helmand province.
U.S. Marines with Black Sea Rotational Force 11 got the opportunity to shoot Bulgarian Rocket Propelled Grenade-7 launchers, the most widely-used anti-tank weapon in the world
A Luftwaffe soldier using a Faustpatrone, a forerunner of modern-day RPGs. By Bundesarchiv Bild CC-BY-SA 3.0
Guerilla of the PAIGC resistance movement against Portugal showing his RPG, Guinea-Bissau, 1974. By Roel Coutinho CC BY-SA 4.0
A Mongolian soldier with an RPG launcher. Note that it is not loaded with a rocket/warhead.
Sectioned high explosive anti-tank round with the inner shaped charge visible. By David Monniaux CC BY-SA 3.0
