RPG-2

The RPG-2 was a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon designed and mass-produced in the Soviet Union.

History

The RPG-2 (Russian: РПГ-2, Ручной противотанковый гранатомёт, Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot; English: "hand-held antitank grenade launcher"), is a man-portable, shoulder-launched anti-armor weapon. The chief attributes of the RPG-2 were robustness, simplicity, and low cost. However, its short range and inaccuracy led to its eventual replacement by the more effective RPG-7. Widely distributed to allies of the Soviet Union, it was also produced under license by other countries, including China and North Vietnam. Widely used against the U.S. military in the Vietnam War, its Vietnamese variants were called the B-40 (bazooka 40mm) and B-50.

Derived partly from the experimental German Panzerfaust 250 and developed in 1947 and first issued to the Soviet Army in 1949, the RPG-2 was deployed at infantry squad level. Although the RPG-2 could be operated by one man, standard military practice called for a two-man crew: a grenadier carrying the launcher and a purpose-built backpack containing three grenades and an assistant armed with a rifle and carrying another three-grenade backpack.