On my blog, I have already managed to compose respective articles on the disastrous situation in the armored infantry. I've already discussed burners, jet-free guns and cap grenades, but I want to do a small reboot on this. I'll effort to be little likely, and I'll focus more on dry data. The first fire is so the celebrated issue of modern ammunition for RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers. As you may well know, the presently utilized PG-7 / PG-7W anti-tank grenades are a terrible, even tragic weapon to combat. And this is for 2 reasons. First, the PG-7 is characterized by mediocre armor penetration, at 260 to 330 mm RHA. The effect is that a targeted rgppanc. There is no chance of effective paralysis of the modern tank (even as old as T-72M) excluding weakened zones. Secondly, ammunition utilized in grenade launchers is expired, which makes it possibly dangerous for both the user and the logistics liable for transporting ammunition.
However, it should be noted that since the implementation of Soviet-Soviet grenade launchers with a calibre of 40 mm with supercalibre ammunition (RPG-2; 1949) the usage of rgppanc. He's changed a lot. At that time, RPGs served as the primary anti-tank agent of infantry, which supplemented classical anti-tank cannons at close distances. At present, it is virtually impossible to approach the enemy vehicle little than 300 metres in non-urban conditions (in built-up space). For this reason, anti-tank grenade launchers have become more comprehensive means of supporting infantry and, moreover, the fight against armored vehicles, especially in defence, has become a marginal task for specified weapons. But it is besides worth having a good anti-tank grenade. Initially, it was planned to acquisition Swedish anti-tank grenade launchers Carl Gustaf M3 (in 1997 even 38 pieces of this weapon were purchased), however, the military repelled the advanced price of this strategy and a greater complexity compared to RPG-7. It was so considered more profitable to make fresh ammunition for these grenade launchers. Bulgarian proposal Due to this pressing problem in 2003, DEZAMET S.A. metallic Plants have established cooperation with Bulgarian Arsenal on the improvement of fresh ammunition for RPG-7 grenade launchers. due to the fact that then (as well as now) soldiers had mostly PG-7W and PG-7WM anti-tank grenades at their disposal, and not everyone was fortunate to have a "creature" (as is commonly called OG-7), it was decided to make as many as six types of combat ammunition.
From the top - grenades PG-7MT, OG-7ME, PG-7KO and PG-7TB
These were: - anti-tank cartridge with tandem cumulative head (designated as PG-7MT) - an anti-tank cartridge with a single cumulative head (PG-7M) - I'm sorry. HEDP-head anti-tank chip cartridge (PG-7KO) - PG-7OD cartridge - shard cartridge with electronic time and impact detonator (OG-7ME) - thermobaric cartridge (PG-7TB) After the developed above ammunition, it was time for tests, which took place on April 22, 2004. The effectiveness of the thermobaric grenade was tested on a fire station built on a wooden skeleton reinforced with sandbags, while shrapnel and anti-tank-split grenades were tested to scope maximum scope at the intermediate shot. If PG-7MT grenades were used, the penetration of RHA 500 mm per ERA was achieved at a level of just over 300 mm. In my opinion, the number of designed types of ammunition was besides large, but on the another hand, cooperation with the Bulgarians would most likely bring us large benefits not only by producing better grenades for RPG-7, but besides by producing another modern anti-tank ammunition for the east provenance (e.g. SPG-9 or Contests). Unfortunately, the Bulgarians were pushing very hard to make a joint venture with Desamet, and what is more, talks with us over time have lost their importance. Polish-German proposal Unfortunately, due to the failure of interest from the Arsenal DEZAMET he was forced to make his own ammunition for RPG-7. The focus was so on the 2 most prospective types of ammunition, i.e. the existing PG-7MT and PG-7KO. Additionally, the plant from Nowa Dęby decided to make a smoke cartridge for the grenade launcher. While the anti-tank shrapnel missile, as well as smokes, was developed by the Polish industry, the German Dynamite Nobel Defence came to us in the substance of tandem rocket with a helping hand.
From the top - PG-7MT1, KO-7M and DG-7M grenades
At the turn of the century, this company offered PzF 3 anti-tank grenade launchers to the Polish Army with the anticipation of their licensed production in the country. Unfortunately, then, the grenade launcher's polygon tests went badly for the Germans (which you will partially read here), thus giving up the further offer. However, in 2006 they came up with a sales offer for both the above mentioned PzF 3 and the disposable PzF 90 grenade launchers (known as RGW 90). And it was from these burners that the tandem cumulative head was utilized for the anti-tank grenade, already designated PG-7MT1. quite a few curiosity about the head, however, was that the precursor could be hidden into the right head, making ammunition easier to transport (in this position the bullet was shorter by about 9 centimeters). The second developed projectile was the KO-7M cumulative-shard. Unlike PG-7MT1, KO is designed to combat light armored vehicles and live force. The choice of this projectile most likely best reflects the willingness of constructors to make the smallest scope of projectiles for as many tasks as possible. The HEDP rocket is much more effective in combating armored vehicles and somewhat reinforced positions compared to the shrapnel, shrapnel, or thermobaric missiles, while not giving way to the above types of ammunition for the elimination of infantry. For this ammunition, the ground trials were carried out twice: in April 2006 and June 2007. At least 7 grenades of kind PG-7MT1, at least 1 KO-7M kind and at least 1 DG-7M kind were tested at the first time. Results: - in the case of a tandem head, tests have shown that the actual performance is very akin to the declared (i.e. 500 mm RHA per ERA) and this is erstwhile the armor is covered with ERAWA-2. - for the cumulative and shrapnel head the actual performance proved to be much better than the declared (the bullet pierced about 240 mm RHA against the authoritative 200 mm RHA) while simultaneously densely covering the field with over 1500 shrapnels close the mark hit.
Battlehead from PG-7MT1 anti-tank grenade at test station
In later approaches, only KO-7M and DG-7M were tested. In their case, I managed to get more detailed data. For KO-7M, it was determined that it full fulfills its task, allowing the armor with a thickness of up to 120 mm RHA to pierce at the same time with shrapnel. In addition, the distance at which fire can be carried with these grenades has been determined - the bullet is armed after a journey of 15 meters, and the maximum distance to which the bullet reaches is ~1488 meters. However, due to the presence of a self-destructor in the fuse set for 14 seconds, the missile's importance was reduced to about 1,400 metres. As far as DG-7M is concerned, it comes from a much older period, erstwhile the first proposals for national RPG-7 ammunition were made. The grenade had a calibre of 80 mm and a weight of about 3 kg, and its main component were 2 smoke-forming charges, which provided smoke in 2 to 4 minutes in both visible and infrared bands. For the first band, the grenade guaranteed the setting of a smokescreen with minimum dimensions of 80 x 10 x 3 m, and for the infrared (8 - 14 um) the curtain could be at least 15 x 8 x 2.5 m, so that the vehicle could be effectively hidden with a single grenade, and the weakening of laser radiation exceeded 75%. Ignition ammunition for RPG-7 I would besides like to mention, in the words of the digression, an earlier task related to the ammunition for the rgppanc-7. Due to the accident that happened in 1996 as a consequence of the operation of the backpack flame thrower LPo-50, The Polish Army decided to retreat them from the line service. It was the only kind of incendiary weapon that the bomb squads had at the time, and for this reason WITU decided to make grenades incendiary to the popular anti-tank grenade launcher, which would be a complement to the OG-7M and DG-7 grenades developed then. These grenades were developed very quickly, as at the latest in 1998 their polygon tests were confirmed. They bore ZG-7 and ZG-7P markings.
Inflammatory grenades ZG-7 (top) and ZG-7P (bottom)
Both types of grenades were akin in plan and utilized the same incendiary mixture (marked SM-1). The difference between these grenades was that ZG-7 had only an incendiary head, and ZG-7P outside the incendiary head besides had a cumulative head - thus it was much more effective in combating the surviving force hidden behind the armor. The requirements that were placed in front of the grenades afraid the protection against leaks and the behaviour of parameters at temperatures from -55 to +55° C, with single mechanical strokes and in the event of a fall on a hard substrate from a tallness of 2 metres (in the box) or 70 cm (without protection). The grenades were besides intended to supply the anticipation to induce a stream of burning mixture within a radius of up to 7 metres at a distance of 10 to 1000 metres, even after breaking a 3-millimeter steel layer and a 50-millimeter wood layer. In the case of ZG-7P the requirements were extended to self-destruction of the fuse (WP-7M) for a maximum of 15 seconds and the anticipation of ignition of the mixture even after the armor plate has been pierced. Most of the required requirements were met during the tests (only the arming distance of the head was 13 and not 10 metres). Both grenades had a calibre of 71.5 mm (they were the smallest after OG-7 grenades to RPG-7), a mass of 3.86 to 4.28 kg (ZG-7) or 3.83 to 4.44 kg (ZG-7P) and the rocket was 1240 m (ZG-7) or ~1100 m (ZG-7P). In addition, the penetration of the ZG-7P was 65 mm RHA, while the grenade retained its inflammatory properties after cutting the 10-millimeter armor plate. No further information on these grenades indicates that the work on them was completed after the polygon tests. Unfortunately, it is simply a pity, due to the fact that otherwise the bombarders would receive a fire-fighting weapon for equipment, and the know-how for working on grenades would go both ways. On the 1 hand, the constructors assumed the anticipation of creating a lighter incendiary mixture, thanks to which the mass of grenades would decrease by 800 g, thus expanding the propellity of missiles, and on the another hand a caliber of heads would let the creation of akin missiles intended for SPG-9 and 2A28. Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that the manufacture wanted to make a fresh anti-tank grenade based on a cumulative cartridge from the 1990s developed anti-tank mortar projectile (PPM) Rad-1 (overpassing 400 mm RHA), as well as could have planned to make its own tandem warhead on the same base. Technical data (only ammunition developed in PL)
Times change, but PG-7W is always on the ground. It was officially planned to launch the production of missiles in Nowa Deba for 2008. But Germany refused to accept the production of heads in Poland, which would mean that the key component PG-7MT1 would should be imported. This situation may have been due to the usage of a modern accumulation head from the newer PzF 3-IT600 variety, which was characterized by a higher cumulative stream velocity (more than 10 km/s) and thus better efficiency in penetrating armor covered with ERA. On the another hand, it cannot be ruled out that if DEZAMET or MON decided to negociate with the DND, the PG-7MT1 would yet be affected by the variation of the older variant of the head to the PzF 3, which was tested in the country in 2000. This head would most likely be produced in the country, but would be little effective in combating better ERAs (such as ERAWA). But it was not decided to produce fresh grenades for RPG-7, and the remainder became an alternate story. Unfortunately, after 10 years, the problem became even more serious, due to the fact that the end of the "rg-rur" and the sale of the last 25,000 disposable RPG-76 will yet force MON to buy fresh anti-tank grenade launchers. In addition, this decision can confirm the fact that to the present ngppanc. That ammunition won't be bought. However, in the 1990s as well as in the early 21st century, the Polish manufacture tried to make a universal means of supporting infantry at squad or platoon level, which was intended to guarantee the effective demolition of a wide scope of targets. This meant that the grenade launcher would become a competition on the marketplace for equally versatile Swedish grenade launcher Carl Gustaf. Unfortunately, both the deficiency of resources and the incomprehensible reluctance to make a basic component of this strategy - i.e. the own copy of the multi-use grenade launcher by the Polish defence manufacture - made this beautiful good marketing thought abandoned.
As far as the future is concerned, I do not want to personally favour any of the reusable anti-tank grenade launchers offered to us. However, erstwhile choosing the PSRL-1 or Mk 777 (non-licensive copies of RPG-7) offered by Airtronic USA via Katowice Works 11 it is to be suspected that they would initially usage PG-7W and PG-7W kind armor grenades for training, as they could inactive be buried in ammunition retention thousands of grenades of this type. Unfortunately, specified charms (effects) of the licensed manufacture of ammunition during the times of the Polish People's Republic...
Bibliography - Andrzej Kiński, New ammunition for RPG-7 from DEZAMET, fresh Military method 10/2004, pp. 12-13 - Andrzej Kiński, New Life RPG-7, fresh Military method 05/2006, pp. 23-27 - Andrzej Kiński, Acute Desamet shooting, fresh Military method 08/2007, pp. 30-31 - Bogdan Friday, Grzegorz Kowalik, Analysis of KO-7M rocket firing test results, Armoured method Problems R. 36 of. 102, pp. 105-114 - Adam Wiśniewski, Krzysztof Majewski, Zbigniew Weretejuk, Arkadiusz Mazierski, ZG-7 incendiary cartridges for hand grenade launcher RPG-7, Problems of Weapons and Radiolocation method R.28 of 70, pp. 77-90 - Adam Wiśniewski, Krzysztof Majewski, Zbigniew Weretejuk, Arkadiusz Mazierski, Bulk-inflamming cartridges ZG-7P for hand grenade launcher RPG-7, Armed and Radiolocation Technology Problems R.28 of 70, pp. 91-104 - Ewa Daniluk, Adam Wiśniewski, Grzegorz Nyszko, New generation of DG-7M smoke cartridges for hand-held anti-tank RPG-7 grenade launcher, Problems of Weapons and Radiolocation method R. 28, 71, pp. 89-101
