RPG-2

RPG-2 Story

There is no doubt that this tank manifested its presence in many of the fierce ground battles of World War II (1939-1945). Faced with this constant threat, war planners on all sides demanded a solution to tank kills, which ended up including all manner of landmines, "sticky bombs," anti-tank rifles (ATRs), and, of course, shoulder-mounted Type rocket launcher.

In the postwar years, perhaps no other country could claim to be as successful in this field as the Soviet Union with the "Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot" - or "RPG" - series of portable shoulder-mounted tanks - which continues to this day the killing solution.

The series has its origins in the largely forgotten "RPG-1" model of World War II. It took a lot of time to build this weapon, but inherent flaws eventually led to the development of its successor, the RPG-2.

Nonetheless, it was the RPG-1 that laid the foundation for the form and function that would later become the RPG-2 and the more popular RPG-7 series.

During World War II, the Soviets must have appreciated the achievements of the American "Bazooka" series of anti-tank missile launchers and the German weapon based on it - the "Panzerschreck". This appreciation led to extensive engineering work in 1944-1948 to develop the RPG-1.

It was selected ahead of the RPG-1 in 1947 as the RPG-2 began to show more promise and corrected the limited RPG-1's deficiencies.

Essentially the pinnacle of the RPG-1, the issues fixed by the RPG-2 focused on long-range armor penetration, general mobility difficulties, and inconsistencies in propellant behavior (which turned out to be susceptible to environmental factors). However, the RPG-2 retains the stable accuracy of the RPG-1 due to the low muzzle velocity of the projectile.

It also features a very portable design and manages to increase attack range and armor penetration.

The new gun weighs just 6.25 lbs when unloaded and 10.3 lbs when ready to fire while maintaining a manageable 47.2 inches of length. While two operators are used in the field for best results, the weapon can also be easily operated by one person.

The compactness of the rocket-propelled grenade also means that a single infantryman can carry multiple reloads.

The weapon is made of a basic form of tubular steel with open ends. Mounted on the front end is the forward aiming device, which has a flip design. This is combined with a primary sight near the center of the tube near the shooter's face. The rearmost end of the tube is open to allow propellant gas to be ejected back, away from the gunner. Below the front of the barrel is the combined trigger assembly/pistol grip.

Wooden furniture wraps around the middle part of the tube, which acts as a shoulder rest. The diameter of the launch tube is 40 mm.

The rocket-propelled grenade, designated "PG-2 HEAT" ("High Explosive, Anti-Tank"), is a fin-stabilized ammunition in which a spring-loaded fin comes into play when it leaves the launch tube. This stabilizing effect allows for a range of accuracy when the projectile is fired at the target.

The caliber of the projectile is 82 mm.

A trained crew can fire 3 to 4 rockets per minute at a range of 150 meters. Due to the recoil, the operator must ensure that no one is standing behind the launch tube during the operation, and launching from cover, such as the B. building, is partially restricted.

The RPG-2 reportedly has an absolute range of 200 meters, making the weapon an effective range on the battlefield.

The RPG-2 series entered service with the Soviet Army in 1954. As early as 1957, special optical support was added to allow night operations (via the "RPG-2N" variant).

In practice, this weapon proved so successful that it penetrated many global battlefields during the Cold War (1947-1991), served in the bloody Vietnam War (and related regional conflicts), the Nigerian Civil War It was the Bush War in Rhodesia, the Civil War in El Salvador, the Civil War in Somalia and the Yugoslav War in the 1990s, to name a few. The weapon was widely used by North Vietnamese forces against U.S. and South Vietnamese targets in the Vietnam War because of its ease of acquisition, simplicity of operation and maintenance, and its high impact on non-armored and armored targets. and fortifications.

The range of this weapon is so great that it has appeared in recent conflicts of the new millennium, such as the 2008 Cambodia-Thailand standoff, the 2010-2012 Myanmar border conflict, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Libyan Civil War, The Iraqi Civil War and the ongoing Syrian Civil War.

Few countries are actively using the RPG-2 series on the front lines today, including North Korea (locally produced), Somalia, Syria and Thailand. The Taliban are also known active users of this type.

The list of former users includes (but is not limited to) Cambodia, China, East Germany, Egypt, Hungary, Libya, Mongolia, Myanmar, Poland, Romania, Vietnam, Yugoslavia and Zimbabwe.

When in service with the Chinese army, the RPG-2 was known as the "Type 56", these were eventually replaced by the Type 69 series. The Soviet RPG-2 produced in the former Yugoslavia was designated "M57", while the Vietnamese weapon was designated "B-40".

The corresponding "B-50" received a larger caliber (50 mm) and increased overall dimensions.

Specification

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Changes