RL-83 Blindicide
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The RL-83 Blindicide is mainly an
anti-tank warfare 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, but other types of rounds can be fired. It was produced by Mecar SA of
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
and was an improved derivative of the M20A1
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 ...
. Its name roughly means "tank killer", derived from the French "véhicule blindé" (''
armoured vehicle Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fightin ...
'') and the suffix ''-cide''.


Versions

The 83 mm version fired a projectile with a warhead, while the 100 mm version fired a projectile. The rate of fire was six rounds per minute and the range for both versions. This rate of fire was considerably in excess of the M20A1
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 ...
since Blindicide used a mechanical firing pin hitting a percussion cap in the tail of the rocket motor rather than a hand grip magneto system that required trailing wires from each rocket to be connected to terminal posts on the launcher as each round was loaded. The muzzle velocity of both versions varied, with the 83 mm version firing at 100 m/s while the 100 mm version fired at 195 m/s. A later round introduced for the RL-83 has a muzzle velocity of 120 m/s and uses a rocket booster to achieve a velocity of 300 m/s. The effective range of this 2.4 kg projectile is 500 meters. The
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) rocket of the RL-83 Blindicide can penetrate 300 millimeters 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 ...
or one meter of concrete. Besides HEAT, the Blindicide can also fire anti-personnel, smoke, incendiary and illumination rounds. The Blindicide was also produced in a 100 mm version (the RL-100). The RL-100 was trialled by Belgian Army but not put into service. The German BGS used the RL-100 as the Panzerabwehrgerät 101mm. A final version of the Blindicide was the RLC-83, a shortened version of the RL-83. The RLC-83 differs from the RL-83 in having a 1.2 meter launch tube. The RLC-83 is intended to be used only with the rocket-boosted long-range projectiles. Switzerland produced a licence version of the Blindicide, the Raketenrohr 58 (RR 58). The Raketenrohr 80 (RR 80) was an improved version with new aiming system for use by night. The Swiss army had a total of 20,000 RRs in service, all of which have been replaced by the German
Panzerfaust 3 The Panzerfaust 3 ( or 'tank fist') is a modern semi-disposable recoilless anti-tank weapon, which was developed between 1978 and 1985 and first entered service with the Bundeswehr in 1987 (although they did not officially adopt it until 1992). ...
.The World Defence Almanac 2010 page 214 ISSN 0722-3226 replaced by Panzerfaust-3 Apart from the defensive role the Swiss also used the Raketenrohr 80 to cause controlled avalanches, thus reducing the risks to civilians in avalanche prone areas. A training round, practice rocket was available for Blindicide. This used a blank 20 mm cartridge to produce a flash and a bang, but the round fell only a few feet in front of the launcher. A 20 mm
Sub-caliber training Sub-caliber training is used to save wear and expense when training with a larger gun by use of smaller weapons (sometimes, but not always, with very similar ballistic characteristics). The smaller weapons could be inserted into the larger weapo ...
round was also available. This had a rifled barrel and fired either a plastic or copper projectile. Initially this sub-caliber gun had a wooden body, but later an anodised Aluminium body was used.


Operational history

The Blindicide saw service with the Belgian forces during the
Congo crisis The Congo Crisis () was a period of Crisis, political upheaval and war, conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost ...
. The Blindicide was also used by Anti-British guerrillas during the
Aden Emergency The Aden Emergency, also known as the 14 October Revolution () or as the Radfan Uprising, was an armed rebellion by the National Liberation Front (South Yemen), National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South ...
. A complete launcher and the remnants of several projectiles recovered from
Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
are held by the
Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...
. The Guards Museum in London holds a Blindicide Rocket fired at Irish Guards in Aden. The RL-83 version was used by the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
during the
Six-Day war The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
and the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...
; it was also used by the
Lebanese Army The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; ), also known as the Lebanese Army (), is the national military of the Republic of Lebanon. It consists of three branches, the ground forces, the air force, and the navy. The motto of the Lebanese Armed Forces is ...
and by some Christian and Muslim militias during the
Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...
.Kassis, ''Véhicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon'' (2012), p. 16. In recent years it has been reported that the Mexican Army deployed Blindicides against improvised armored vehicles in use by
drug cartel A drug cartel is a criminal organization composed of independent drug lords who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the i ...
s. The Blindicide has also been identified in video clips of the
Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...
operating in
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
.


Users

* – In use. * – Acquired 1,191 launchers. In use as of 2011.


Former users

* – Retired * – Retired in the late 1980s. * – Retired formerly used by Navy. * – Acquired 1000 units, saw action in wars with neighbouring Arab countries – Retired. * – Retired ("on the 4th of January 1973, the Belgian government issued an export license to MECAR for the export of 4 Blindicide 83 mm to the Lebanese army." Source Mecar SA) * – Retired former use by
Netherlands Marine Corps The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps () is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy, one of the four Netherlands Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The marines trace their origins to the establishme ...
. * – Retired * – Retired * – Received via France. * – Retired * – Raketenrohr version Retired * – Retired * – With BGS as larger calibre RL-100 (Panzerabwehrgerät 101mm), retired.


Conflicts

*
Aden Emergency The Aden Emergency, also known as the 14 October Revolution () or as the Radfan Uprising, was an armed rebellion by the National Liberation Front (South Yemen), National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South ...
*
Congo Crisis The Congo Crisis () was a period of Crisis, political upheaval and war, conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost ...
*
Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...
*
Mexican drug war The Mexican drug war is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing Asymmetric warfare, asymmetric armed conflict between the Federal government of Mexico, Mexican government and various Drug cartel#Mexico, drug trafficking syndicates. When the ...
*
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
* Syrian civil war *
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...


Notes


References

* Samer Kassis, ''Véhicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon 1975-1981'', Trebia Publishing, Chyah 2012.


External links

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Bangladeshi military page

weapon.at.ua
Anti-tank rockets Weapons of Belgium Infantry weapons of the Cold War Mecar