Watching footage today of the fighting in Libya made this question spring to my mind.
The RPG-7, a Soviet designed shoulder fired “rocket propelled grenade” has in many ways revolutionized modern warfare. It is cheap, reliable, and prolific in it’s distribution.
It’s original intended use was as a light anti-armor weapon (I say anti-armor, rather than anti-tank, as the same development period saw the spreading of lightly armored transport vehicles such as the BMP).
Given the state of modern MBT (Main Battle Tanks), I question their use today against the Abrams, the Crusader, etc. etc.
It’s cheap, simple, man-portable and prolific. It might not handle a modern MBT, but it’ll surely do a number on a gun emplacement, C&C vehicle, or hasty fortifications. Easily re-purposed and utilized with new tactics. Still makes things fall down go boom.
"In Iraq an RPG-7 can go for about $220, with the rockets costing just $20 to $30 apiece. "
Seems the main issue with these is the lack of reliable ammo stocks + obsolescence. As said in my previous post, they’re not much use against modern versions of their original target. But I’d still not like to be downrange from them unless I was in a modern armored vehicle or hardened emplacement.
ETA: that’s cheaper than the inert collector versions & replicas you can find on a google, by about $300-400. Goes to show, location is everything.
Yeah, that IS cheap. The act of War is baffling to me…this compounded with things like Mines…which MUCH be inexpensive, based on how many of them are out there.
RPGs took down an Air Force bird on June 8th. They’re (RPGs) are unguided but yeah, they’re cheap and easy to operate so all you need is one to hit a lightly armored helicopter and bam, you’ve taken down a 23+ million dollar helicopter, not even counting the crew you’ve killed.
Against unarmored or lightly armored targets, they’re brilliantly cost-effective. They’re borderline useless against heavily armored threats like current MBTs or battleships (like the idiot pirates who attacked the INS Tabar or the USS Nicholas found out) but that’s to be expected. New technology might make them obsolete against even lightly armored targets, though - like DARPA’s “Iron Curtain” APS system. (Youtube video.)
As stated, RPGs aren’t that hot against main battle tanks. But are very handy for situations where you need a relatively big boom. They’re good as portable direct-fire artillery in a fire-fight. Not as good as a real artillery piece, but they can be carried by one man right into the fire fight and provide immediate support. They can blow stuff up in a pinch. Again, not as well as a main gun on a tank, but pretty good for a single-man weapon. They can do all this without a communications network to call in the arty, tank or airstike. and they’re tough and simple to operate. So the RPG truly is a guerrillas weapon.
Ever try to hit something with one? Because the rocket is firing while the rounds is heading downrange, the rocket tends to fly upwind. (Tail fins go downwind, pointy part goes upwind.) It would be much more accurate if the rocket fired only in the tube (Bazooka, LAW, AT4).
In the beginning of the resistance in Iraq, the RPG was the insurgents’ best weapon. It really wasn’t until they figured out the IED that they really had something that could hurt the Americans.
It’s a bit unfair to expect the RPG-7 to be very effective against modern MBTs; it’s half of a century old. The M72, Carl Gustav, SPG-9 and such aren’t terribly effective either. That it’s still around and this commonly used after all of this time says a lot for it. An RPG-7 rocket isn’t going to be punching a hole in the turret glacis of any remotely modern MBT, but it can still threaten a mobility kill hitting the tracks.
Given the RPG-7’s accuracy issues (hey, give it credit, it was designed to hit big slow armored vehicles), it is also worth mentioning that while one can take down a helicopter like the Black Hawk, one rocket is unlikely to hit the helicopter. Those things can move rather quickly. From what I understand, there were a lot of guys lobbing rockets into the air in Mogadishu.
Also, if the guys in the chopper are paying attention, and if they have guns, they can put a lot of lead down on whoever just fired a rocket at them.
As others have said though, quite a bit of bang for the buck.
I think most helicopters taken down by RPG, have been hit when hovering close to the ground or when landing to drop off/pick up troops. I know Hizballah took out an Israeli CH-53 that way in 2006 - it had landed, unloaded an infantry platoon, and was hit when it started its ascent.
Well, yeah. An RPG is still a dumbfire, one-shot weapon and not a really fast one at that. Kinda hard to hit anything mobile with it, nevermind something as fast as an helicopter zooming about.
IIRC, when the RPG-2 was first being developed it was not rocket powered, but worked similarly to a recoiless rifle. The rocket was added to increase the range. Note: the rocket does not affect the penetration power. It just delivers the warhead to the target whereupon the shaped charge does all the work.