The RPG-27 is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

single shot disposable

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...

(RPG)

shoulder-fired missile Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile or man-portable missile, among other variants, are common slang terms to describe high-caliber shoulder-mounted weapons systems; that is, weapons firing large, heavy projectiles ("missiles"), typi ...

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 ...

. It entered service with the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

in 1989.

History

The RPG-27 ''Tavolga'' ('meadow grass') was developed by the State Research and Production Enterprise,

Bazalt NPO Bazalt () is a weapons manufacturing company in Russia that took over (or continued) the production of weapons such as the RPG-7 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. NPO Bazalt manufactures the RPG-7V2 and the RPG-29. AO NPO Bazalt is ...

, as a modern,

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 ...

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...

with a one-stage

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

, designed to defeat modern and future tanks with advanced reactive and

composite armor Composite armour is a type of vehicle armour consisting of layers of different materials such as metals, plastics, ceramics or air. Most composite armours are lighter than their all-metal equivalent, but instead occupy a larger volume for the s ...

, and fortified

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 ...

. The RPG-27 was developed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

from the RPG-26.

Description

The RPG-27 shares a close resemblance to the prior RPG-26 in that it is a man-portable, disposable anti-tank grenade launcher with a single shot capacity. The RPG-27 has a larger diameter round than the RPG-26, which enables higher armour penetration. The RPG-27 fin stabilised round is a 105 mm

tandem-charge A tandem-charge or dual-charge weapon is an explosive device or projectile that has two or more stages of detonation, assisting it to penetrate either reactive armour on an armoured vehicle or strong structures. Anti-tank Tandem charges are ef ...

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) warhead with a range of . The round has a stated penetration ability in excess of 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 ...

(RHA) (after explosive reactive armour (ERA) and of brick or concrete and of earth.

Variants

RShG-1

The RShG-1 (Реактивная Штурмовая Граната, ''Reaktivnaya Shturmovaya Granata'', Rocket-propelled Assault Grenade) ''Tavolga-1'' (Таволга-1) is a variant of RPG-27 with

thermobaric A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, or a vacuum bomb, is a type of explosive weapon, explosive munition that works by Dust explosion, dispersing an aerosol cloud of gas, liquid or powdered explosive. The fuel is usually a single ...

warhead. It is intended to be used against soft skinned and lightly armored vehicles, buildings, military installations and infantry. The RShG-1 is very similar in operation to the RPG-27. It has a lethal radius of and a larger sighting range of . The warhead contains of thermobaric mixture, with an explosive yield roughly equal to that of of TNT. Officially adopted by the Russian Government in December 2011.

RMG

RMG is a smaller, multipurpose variant of the RShG-1 that is optimized as a

bunker buster A bunker buster is a type of munition that is designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground, such as military bunkers. Armor piercing shells Germany Röchling shells were bunker-busting artillery shells, developed ...

and to defeat light vehicles and infantry in cover. As a result, its penetration performance against tank armor is reduced. The launcher carries a tandem warhead. The precursor HEAT warhead penetrates armour or other obstacles (reinforced concrete, masonry, etc.). The aerosol produced by the main thermobaric warhead enters the target through the opening created by the precursor charge and combusts, producing high-explosive and incendiary effects. The RMG (''Reaktivnaya Mnogotselevaya Granata'' or "rocket-propelled multi-purpose grenade") rocket launcher was developed by Bazalt in the early 2000s. The launcher and round share the same designation, as is standard for disposable rocket launchers. S. Kh. Irtuganov was the lead designer for the project. It was officially adopted by the Russian Government in December 2011.

Operators

Current operators

* * * * * *

Former operators

References

External links

Rosaboronexport Catalogue
Anti-tank rockets Cold War anti-tank rockets of the Soviet Union Rocket-propelled grenade launchers Bazalt products Military equipment introduced in the 1980s {{Weapons-stub