The PzF 44 (abbreviation for Panzerfaust 44 mm, formally also Leichte Panzerfaust, meaning "Light tank-fist", also known as ''Panzerfaust Lanze'' (

lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...

) and ''Panzerfaust 2/Panzerfaust II''), was a

West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...

portable recoilless shoulder-fired

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

rocket launcher A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. History The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few i ...

with a barrel-

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...

of . It was the spiritual successor to the

Panzerfaust The (, or , plural: ) 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 anti-tank weapons based on a pre-loaded disposable laun ...

from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and served with the West German Army from the early 1960s to the early 1990s, when it was replaced by the Panzerfaust 3 semi-disposable launcher. The PzF 44 is called "

recoilless A Recoilless rifle (rifled), recoilless launcher (smoothbore), or simply recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated to "rr" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some fo ...

" in the sense that it ejects propellant gas rearwards of the chamber upon firing, so called backblast, and not because it truly lacks

recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, for according to Newton's third law the force requ ...

. Backblast heavily counters recoil but does not fully remove it. The effect of the minimized recoil however is great enough to allow a portable weapon like this to fire large caliber warheads without causing trauma to the user.

History

The anti-tank grenade launcher was originally developed around 1960 and put into service by the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

in 1963. It was developed to provide West German

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

with a modern replacement for the

bazooka The Bazooka () is 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 "stovepipe", th ...

that they had previously used. As such, it was the first German antitank rocket developed after

, a conflict in which German hand-held antitank weapons such as the

played a prominent role during 1944–45. The PzF 44 was a product of a period in which the German army was re-equipped with locally developed arms and equipment and retired the aging U.S. gear that had formed their initial arsenal. The full designation name by the German Army is ''Panzerfaust 44mm DM2 Ausführung 1 Lanze''. Some PzF 44 were used by

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the largest component of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chie ...

during the

Biafran War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from N ...

. Starting in 1992, the PzF 44 was replaced by the Panzerfaust 3.

Specifications

The PzF 44's

high-explosive anti-tank High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity ...

(HEAT) cartridge (Panzerfaustgeschoß DM32) could penetrate of

rolled homogeneous armour Rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) is a type of vehicle armour made of a single steel composition hot-rolled to improve its material characteristics, as opposed to layered or cemented armour. Its first common application was in tanks. After World W ...

and hit moving targets at a range of . The PzF 44 could also fire a multi-purpose warhead.

Variants

*Model 44-1 – Initial version of the PzF 44. *Model 44-1A1 – Later version of the PzE 44–1. *Model 44-2 – Later model of the PzF 44. *Model 44-2A1 – Model 44–2 with different sight mount.

Operators

* *

References

{{reflist

External links

Jane's extract on the PzF 44Leichte Panzerfaust Model 44-2 & 2A1 manual on scribd.comPzF 44-2A1 ordnance scan on valka.cz