# How effective is the RPG-7? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649 "2011-03-31T17:25:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bunker\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@Bunker\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bunker_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/21 "2011-06-29T01:35:12Z")
> [@picker](#): > > 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. They go for a lot more than that in the USA because of the difficulty… that’s a United Kingdom price, but nobody in the UK dares to try to send them to the USA. Here’s a nice one for auction, US only: [http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=237814018](http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=237814018) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/22 "2011-06-29T02:30:57Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > 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.](http://gizmodo.com/#!5417079/darpas-iron-curtain-detects-explodes-rpgs-from-a-moving-humvee)) Waitasec. Isn’t “Iron Dome” the name of the Israeli short range anti-projectile system that has just been fielded? No cite now, but in the first (successful) battle time use, the tank commander said that he hadn’t even realized a fire exchange had taken place…? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/23 "2011-06-29T02:36:03Z")
Just reread DARPA program name. Sheesh. A)confusing name copy (on purpose, obviously) and (B) “Iron Curtain” seems a perfectly idiotic name, being that it was the symbol of anti-freedom repression, ie not the American Way, even in military naming. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/24 "2011-06-29T04:29:44Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > 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. At those prices you can afford to take a shotgun approach. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/25 "2011-06-29T05:03:39Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > \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. This is what I came in to say. While an RPG-7 is not going to tear a MBT to shreds or kill the crew, it might knock a tread off track, screw up cameras or other external equipment, jam moving parts like the motors that move the main gun, or burst the crew’s eardrums. It won’t kill a tank, but it sure could disrupt one. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/26 "2011-06-29T06:28:45Z")
They are cheap and incredibly inaccurate, but the make up for it in quantity. When I was in Kosovo, someone fired one from a balconey in my building at a the balconey of a Serb family across the parking lot and managed to miss, I think I could have hit that balconey from that distance with a slingshot. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/27 "2011-06-29T07:46:35Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Waitasec. Isn’t “Iron Dome” the name of the Israeli short range anti-projectile system that has just been fielded? No cite now, but in the first (successful) battle time use, the tank commander said that he hadn’t even realized a fire exchange had taken place…? No, that’s the [Trophy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophy_(countermeasure)) (or Windbreaker, the original and cooler name). Iron Dome is an independent system designed to protect large areas (like cities) against rockets like Katyushas and artillery shells. Both systems are operational and have proven themselves in the field. ---
**Author:** ![Godinama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@Godinama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godinama)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/28 "2011-06-29T10:07:40Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > They are cheap and incredibly inaccurate, but the make up for it in quantity. When I was in Kosovo, someone fired one from a balconey in my building at a the balconey of a Serb family across the parking lot and managed to miss, I think I could have hit that balconey from that distance with a slingshot. Wow… What exactly did he hit? The thing had to end up somewhere :eek: ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/29 "2011-06-29T11:03:18Z")
He hit the building to the left of the balconey. It was one of those slab concrete type buildings you see all over Eastern Europe. It put a dent in the concrete about the size of a basketball, but no other damage. I was in my apartment watching Allie McBeal in Albanian with English subtitles at the time and eating corn flakes out of a mixing bowl because I didn’t have any clean dishes when, BOOM. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/30 "2011-06-29T11:09:39Z")
Missed the edit window: Here’s an article on the incident, it says that the rocket was fired from a vacant lot between the two buildings (which puts it even closer to the target), but I remember at the time a British soldier telling me that it was fired from a balconey in my building. > **[Rocket Hits Serb Flats in Pristina, No One Hurt - Serbia](https://reliefweb.int/report/serbia/rocket-hits-serb-flats-pristina-no-one-hurt)** > > News and Press Release in English on Serbia and 1 other country; published on 24 Oct 2000 by Reuters ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/31 "2011-06-29T12:57:28Z")
Not to hijack this thread but I have to wonder: How do these weapons and the ammo come to be so common in war torn countries? Are they so easy to make that people put them together in their basement or are they manufactured in some large facility (say in a first world country) and then shipped in? This flow of arms has always been curious to me. I can’t get an RPG here in the USA yet some dirt poor rebels in a starving country in the middle of civil war have RPGs to fire. Somebody is giving them out for free. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/32 "2011-06-29T12:58:57Z")
How are they against modern armored personnel carriers? Wikipedia says they can penetrate from 260-500mm of RHA. Can that take out an APC? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/33 "2011-06-29T13:14:02Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Not to hijack this thread but I have to wonder: How do these weapons and the ammo come to be so common in war torn countries? Are they so easy to make that people put them together in their basement or are they manufactured in some large facility (say in a first world country) and then shipped in? This flow of arms has always been curious to me. I can’t get an RPG here in the USA yet some dirt poor rebels in a starving country in the middle of civil war have RPGs to fire. Somebody is giving them out for free. When communist bloc countries fell, a lot of depots were looted. Prior to the Kosovo fighting in the late 90s, neighboring Albania had seen a period of social upheaval which resulted in military stores being looted, undoubtedly some of those weapons ended up in the hands of the KLA. I don’t know about the RPG, but AK47 knockoffs are pretty easy to make and small factories can churn them out pretty easily. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/34 "2011-06-29T13:22:20Z")
The third world was where the Soviet Union expected to beat the west. So the Soviets gave a LOT of arms to various groups to continue the revolution/put down western-supplied rebels. The USSR gave out other forms of economic aid, too, but AKs and RPGs were invariably some of the most popular exports to the third world. And they are built tough, so launchers and ammo can be stockpiled a long time. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/35 "2011-06-29T13:58:30Z")
That’s true, and also when the US gives out munitions, it often gives out Soviet bloc weapons. Most of the weapons we armed the Afghans fighting the Soviets with were Soviet design and we also supported the Kosovars with weapons. As you said, the weapons are easy to use, rugged, and there are plenty of spare parts. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/36 "2011-06-29T14:37:44Z")
The Fourth of July is coming up; you can probably find them at any number of roadside stands at beach towns in the South. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/37 "2011-06-29T14:49:36Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The Fourth of July is coming up; you can probably find them at any number of roadside stands at beach towns in the South. 🆒 That’s the thing. All I can find is little fountains and those things you throw on the ground to make a pop. If I lived in a poverty stricken country I would apparently be able to get all kinds of explosives for little or no cost. Food and shelter might be a problem, so it’s a trade-off. ---
**Author:** ![BowlOfDucks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BowlOfDucks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BowlOfDucks)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/38 "2011-06-29T18:26:01Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > How are they against modern armored personnel carriers? > > Wikipedia says they can penetrate from 260-500mm of RHA. Can that take out an APC? Depends on the APC, which can vary from 8mm RHA, to really think stuff with weird alloys, composites, reactive blocks and active defence systems. But yes, an RPG will usually be a threat to an APC and IFVs. Though people should really remember that there isn’t just one RPG-7. It’s a system that has variants and upgrades spread over decades. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/39 "2011-06-29T19:13:29Z")
> [@BowlOfDucks](#): > > Though people should really remember that there isn’t just one RPG-7. QTF. When it drops in the pot, those suckers seem to fly in from _everywhere_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649/40 "2011-06-29T22:41:39Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > They are cheap and incredibly inaccurate Ha, speaking of which, story time ! Now, this is a grunt yarn so take it with the appropriate amount of salt (a truckful would be my choice) but according to a vet I spoke with, CIA mooks in Iraq managed to spread the rumour among insurgents that the reason RPG-7s often corkscrew way away from where you aim them at is because of… X (don’t remember what the X was) and the way to fix it is to wrap some duct tape around the warhead. If it still corkscrews, you didn’t add enough tape. Of course, what the duct tape does is throw the rocket’s balance completely out of whack and quasi-guarantee it’s going to fly funny 😃 I reiterate that I have no idea whether this is true or not - my own guess is that it’s about as true as the notion that “they put saltpeter in the food so grunts don’t get horny”. But it’s funny enough to share. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-effective-is-the-rpg-7/576649.md?page=3)