Anti-tank rifle: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the armor of armored fighting vehicles}}{{more citations needed|date=September 2014}}

An '''anti-tank rifle''' is an [[anti-materiel rifle]] designed to penetrate the [[vehicle armor|armor]] of [[armored fighting vehicle]]s, most commonly [[tank]]s, [[armored personnel carrier]]s, and [[infantry fighting vehicle]]s. The term is usually used for weapons that can be carried and used by one person, but is sometimes used for larger weapons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sadefensejournal.com/wp/the-swiss-armys-first-mass-anti-tank-rifle-the-tankbuchse-tb-41-24mm/ |title=The Swiss Army's First Mass Anti-Tank Rifle The Tankbüchse (Tb) 41 24mm|website=Small Arms Defense Journal|date=17 September 2019 |author=Tom Murphy}} A {{convert|74|kg|lb|abbr=on}} "anti-tank rifle" requiring seven men to set it up.</ref> The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in [[World War I]] until the [[Korean War]]. While medium and heavy tank armor became too thick to be penetrated by rigid projectiles from rifles that could be carried by a single soldier, anti-tank rifles continued to be used against other "soft" targets, though [[recoilless rifle]]s and [[rocket-propelled grenade]]s such as the [[bazooka]] were also introduced for infantry close-layer defense against tanks.

 

 

=== World War I ===

The first tanks, beginning with the British [[Mark I (tank)|Mark I]] launched against the German trenches in [[World War I]], were nearly impregnable to ordinary rifle fire. Most [[armoured car (military)|armoured cars]] were similarly protected, but troops rarely faced armoured cars, as they could not navigate the landscape of trench warfare very well. Though tanks and armoured cars were vulnerable to artillery, mortars, and grenades, infantry was at a significant disadvantage when facing [[armoured fighting vehicle]]s since they had no effective [[direct fire]] weapon, with the exception of the ubiquitous trench [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]], improvised on the spot. In the direct fire mode, this weapon was manhandled by German infantry over the front of a trench wall and fired at low angles by eye at approaching enemy vehicles. Though somewhat effective, these actions were obviously very hazardous to any desperate mortar crew as their exposure could attract enemy fire.<ref>"Men Against Tanks" John Weeks, Publisher: David & Charles PLC; 1st Edition. edition (28 Aug 1975) {{ISBN|0-7153-6909-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7153-6909-8}}</ref>

 

Although retaining many of the technical characteristics of the anti-tank rifles, the [[Cold War]] era weapons are only conceptual descendants of anti-tank weapons wielded by the Second World War infantry, and both large-calibre [[sniper rifle]]s and [[anti-materiel rifle]]s owe only some part of their design heritage to them.

 

 

== Selected anti-tank rifles ==

** [[Panzerbüchse|Panzerbüchse 38]]

** [[Panzerbüchse|Panzerbüchse 39]]

* Poland

** [[Anti-tank rifle, model 35]]