The 8.8 cm Raketenwerfer 43 Puppchen was an 88 mm

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...

reusable anti-tank rocket launcher developed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. ''Raketenwerfer 43'' was given to

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

to bolster their anti-tank capability. The weapon was fired from a small two-wheeled gun carriage which fired a percussion-primed, rocket-propelled, fin-stabilized grenade RPzB. Gr. 4312 with a

shaped charge A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to form an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, ini ...

warhead A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: * Explosiv ...

. The grenade had a shorter tailboom of compared to the tailboom for the electrically-primed grenade RPzB. Gr. 4322 for the ''

Panzerschreck ''Panzerschreck'' (lit. "tank fright", "tank's fright" or "tank's bane") was the popular name for the ''Raketenpanzerbüchse'' 54 ("Rocket Anti-armor Rifle Model 54", abbreviated to RPzB 54), an 88 mm reusable anti-tank rocket launcher dev ...

''. Both grenades used identical warhead and fuzing. Approximately 3,000 units were completed from 1943 to 1945. It was made in much smaller numbers than either the ''Panzerschreck'', which was based on the American

Bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the ...

rocket launcher, or the ''

Panzerfaust The ''Panzerfaust'' (, "armour fist" or "tank fist", plural: ''Panzerfäuste'') was a development family of single-shot man-portable anti-tank systems developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapons were the first single-use light an ...

'', which was a disposable anti tank recoilless rifle. This is partly because it was realized that a simple hollow tube with an ignition device was all that was needed to launch the 88 mm rocket, rather than an elaborate miniature artillery piece with carriage and breech. Due to the carriage and better sights, the accuracy was better, and the range more than double that of the ''Panzerschreck''. However, ''Raketenwerfer 43'' was more expensive, heavier and had longer production time than ''Panzerschreck'' or '' Panzerfaust''.

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* http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/rocket/index.html

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raketen-Panzerbuchse 43 Anti-tank rockets World War II infantry weapons of Germany Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1943

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