The RT-20 is a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, more compact, conce ...

precision rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a por ...

developed by Metallic in Rijeka in the mid-1990s and marketed by RH-Alan. It was developed to shoot the thermal sights on Serbian

M-84 The M-84 is a Yugoslav main battle tank, a variant of the Soviet T-72. The M-84 is still in service in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kuwait. Development and production Development The M-84 is based on the Soviet T-72M (expo ...

and T-72 tanks. The name itself is actually an acronym of the Croatian word Ručni Top 20, or "Hand Cannon 20mm". Operating with a bolt action, it houses a single 20mm round and must be reloaded after each shot. Given its large caliber, it is one of the most powerful anti-materiel rifles currently in use by any country and is comparable to the South African

Denel NTW-20 The NTW-20 is a South African anti-materiel rifle, developed by Denel Mechem in the 1990s. It is intended for deployment against targets including parked aircraft, telecommunication masts, power lines, missile sites, radar installations, refin ...

and the Indian

Vidhwansak Vidhwansak ( Sanskrit: "The Destroyer") is an Indian multi-caliber anti-materiel rifle (AMR) or large-caliber sniper rifle manufactured by Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli. It can be used in the anti-materiel role for destroying enemy bunkers, lig ...

, with the difference being that the RT-20 is recoilless.

Specifications

A unique feature of the weapon is the counter-recoil reactive tube above the barrel. This

venturi tube The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section (or choke) of a pipe. The Venturi effect is named after its discoverer, the 18th century Italian physicist, Giovanni Battista ...

funnels gasses from the propellant rearwards and over the shooter's shoulder, similar to that of a

recoilless rifle A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...

. This method of recoil reduction is seldom used in small arms due to the dangerous and highly visible

backblast area The backblast area is a cone-shaped area behind a rocket launcher, rocket-assisted takeoff unit or recoilless rifle, where hot gases are expelled when the rocket or rifle is discharged. The backblast area is dangerous to ground personnel, who may ...

it generates, the RT-20 is no exception. An additional feature that differentiates RT-20 from other

anti-armor Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...

and

anti-material An anti-materiel rifle (AMR) is a rifle designed for use against military equipment, structures, and other hardware ( materiel). Anti-materiel rifles are chambered in significantly larger calibers than conventional rifles and are employed to elim ...

rifles is the placement of the bolt behind the shooter's head. This dictates that either the user has a teammate, or they must take the rifle off of their shoulder to reload. The former option would usually be preferred, as the latter would be slower and make follow-up shots less precise. Chambering 20x110mm Hispano, the rifle fires a 130

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...

(2,006 grains) projectile at a muzzle velocity of 850 m/s, producing a massive muzzle energy of 46,962.5 J. It is likely that this cartridge was chosen for logistical reasons as it is also fired by the Zastava M55 anti-aircraft autocannon. Such a large amount of energy requires the use of nine lugs on the head of the bolt in an interrupted thread pattern, designed to unlock when turned 60 degrees clockwise. The large cartridge size allows for a wide variety of ammunition to be used including AP, API, APIT, HE, HEI, HEIT, SAPHEI, APSD, HE-M, as well as the potential to easily develop future unique loadings such as airburst or guided munitions.

Users

* - in limited use

References

External links

* http://www.kalashnikov.ru/upload/medialibrary/754/038_042.pdf {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 20mm sniper rifles Firearms of Croatia Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1993 Anti-materiel rifles Bullpup rifles Recoilless rifles Single-shot bolt-action rifles

Specifications

Users

See also

References

External links