the recent armed conflict between russia and ukraine has brought the
complex political environment of post-soviet eastern europe to the world in a lurid satire
ironically many of the weapons used by both sides were made during the cold war
the vast empire that has disappeared the soviet union these include the kalashnikov rifle found
on the streets of kersen mordepole and keith and the humble makarov pistol
however another classic weapon of the 20th century still playing an essential role in
the new century is the rpg-7 a shoulder-mounted recoil-less rocket extended range grenade launcher
and with that in this video the u.s military news channel will discuss
how rpg-7 attacks russian main battle tanks watch this video until the end and give your opinion
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during world war ii the soviet army obtained the technical information and valuable experience of
german individual anti-tank rocket launchers the panzerfaust and panzerschreck both proved
their formidable combat effectiveness so the soviet union decided to develop similar weapons
at the end of 1944 soviet engineers combined the likeness of the iron fist with the reusability
of the tank killer equipped with a pg-1 hollow armor-piercing warhead however the performance
of the ignition system of the new type of weapon was disappointing and the armor-piercing power was
not as great as imagined the rpg-1's deficiencies were finally addressed in 1947 and the rpg-2 was
born it fires an 82-millimeter hollow-charged armor-piercing projectile or heat round from a
40 millimeter inner diameter launch tube however since the rpg tube is essentially just a light
recoil is gone it is impossible to increase the range and the muzzle velocity of the projectile
without increasing the weight of the fuel or reducing the importance of the projectile
as a result soviet engineers began work on a new weapon system with a rocket booster engine in 1958
inspired by the german tank killer and the american bazooka
the soviet union successfully developed an 83 millimeter armor-piercing projectile
equipped with a rocket booster engine the rocket engine increased the effective range
but did not change the shape of the projectile so it has a considerable armor-breaking ability
in addition to being equipped with a new type of rocket-propelled grenade the design of the launch
tube had been improved the inner diameter had been enlarged to 45 millimeters and an expansion
chamber had been added at the rear end with a venturi tube and flared nozzle on the tail while
these improvements increased the launcher's weight by 4.5 kilograms they significantly increased the
projectile's flight speed and directly doubled the effective range to 300 meters this new weapon
received the designation rpg-4 and passed military tests with distinction in 1961 however the rpg-4
was not mass-produced or equipped due to the soviet decision to supply a more advanced model
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this new type of weapon received the designation rpg-7 and since the soviet army equipped it in
the 1960s it's become one of the most famous battlefield support fire in the world today
the rpg-7 launcher weighs 6.35 kilograms and has a total length of 926 millimeters
the outside of the expansion chamber is wrapped with wood or other insulating materials
to protect the shooter from the heat the rear sight is a folding mechanical sight with a 200 to
500 meter division there's a rail on the left side of the launcher where the pg07 site can be mounted
this 2.8 time scope has a reticle that can be illuminated and has the functions of arranging
and adjusting wind deflection the design of the rpg-7 launcher is relatively complex
but the ignition system could not be simpler the hammer strikes the striker
which hits the primer ignites the propellant charge and fires the armor-piercing round
the initial velocity of the projectile is about 120 meters per second after flying
about 9 meters the rocket booster engine of the arbor piercing projectile ignites and pushes the
projectile to fly at a speed of 300 meters per second with a maximum range of about 900 meters
since the rocket booster does not fire with launch the shooter is not affected by its tail flame
although the rpg-7 has been equipped with several different types of ammunition
in its first six years of service the pg-7 heat round is the most common model the warhead is 85
millimeters in diameter weighs 2.3 kilograms and can pop up four uniques while flying
the fuse can ensure the absolute safety of the pg-7 armor-piercing projectile when the
projectile is launched it instantly reaches an initial velocity of 150 meters per second from
a static state and only such an acceleration can release the insurance state of the fuse
as an added safety measure the pg-7 is also equipped with a self-destruct device to detonate
the warhead after flying about 900 meters today's modern rpg-7s have the freedom to choose from a
wide variety of ammunition that performs better than those of 60 years ago including more powerful
hollow charge heat rounds tandem charge heat rounds man killing grenades and even thermobaric
bombs which can generate high temperature high pressure blast shock waves effectively killing
enemies inside of buildings currently nine countries are producing the rpg-7 and more than
40 countries are equipped with this weapon since 1961 more than 9 million rpg 7 launchers have been
created making it the most produced anti-armor weapon ever from the grand heights to the royal
palace of hue from the bakara market in mogadishu to the streets of kiev the rpg-7 is one of the
most successful weapons in the history of human warfare comparable to the longbow and trebuchet
this weapon has dramatically changed how contemporary ground combat is conducted
and it is not near the end of its equipment life in fact it's still
fighting in hot spots worldwide although it was initially developed by the soviet union
and planned to destroy nato armed forces on the european plains at this time the ukrainian
army was using them to destroy various tanks and armored vehicles made in the soviet era
perhaps most ironically some of the rpg sevens now in the ukrainian army are american-made
in 2017 ukraine began procuring the us version of the rpg-7 the psrl-1 from texas-based airtronic
although the launcher uses modern materials and is equipped with a picatinny rail it can still
fire all kinds of pg-7 ammunition worldwide therefore the rpg-7 of the ukrainian army
with an american accent from the rpg-7 equipped by the ukrainian army we can see the depth of the
us involvement in ukrainian affairs if you think about the eastward expansion of nato
you will understand that ukrainian mines will explode sooner or later
you