RPG-18

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The RPG-18 Mukha (Russian: Муха, romanized: Fly) is a Soviet short-range, disposable light anti-tank rocket launcher designed in 1972. It was based on the M72 LAW.^[2]

RPG-18
RPG-18 rocket launcher with PG-18 rocket
Type	Rocket-propelled grenade
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1972–present
Wars	Vietnam War Cambodian Civil War Laotian Civil War Sino-Vietnamese War Cambodian–Vietnamese War Third Indochina War Soviet–Afghan War^[1] Salvadoran Civil War Gulf War First Nagorno-Karabakh War Tajikistani Civil War First Chechen War Congo Civil War Second Chechen War War in Afghanistan Iraq War Russo-Georgian War Kivu conflict Syrian civil war Russo-Ukrainian War
Specifications
Mass	1.4 kg (projectile) 2.6 kg (loaded)
Length	705 mm (unarmed) 1,050 mm (ready to fire)
Crew	1

Shell	HEAT
Caliber	64 mm
Action	300 mm: RHA 500 mm: Reinforced concrete 1000 mm: Brickwork
Muzzle velocity	115 m/s
Effective firing range	200 m

History

RPG-18 (bottom) with comparable Soviet/Russian rocket launchers

Airbased modification

The RPG-18 is very similar to the US M72-series LAW anti-tank rocket launcher, with captured examples during the Vietnam War likely being sent to the Soviet Union.^[3]^[4] The RPG-18 has been succeeded by the RPG-22, a very similar design with a larger warhead.

Description

The RPG-18 fires a 64 mm PG-18 high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead mounted on a small rocket able to engage targets within 200 meters. The warhead self-destructs six seconds after launch, placing a limit on range even if a sight was used that was effective with targets beyond 200 meters. The RPG-18 can penetrate up to 300 mm of conventional armor. However, performance is significantly lessened when the RPG-18 is used against targets protected by HEAT-resistant explosive reactive armour (ERA) or composite armor.

Unlike better known weapons, the RPG-18 requires only one operator because it is not reloadable. Assistant grenadiers are used to help reload the RPG-2, RPG-7 and RPG-16 systems.

Users

Afghanistan^[5]
Armenia^{[citation needed]}
Azerbaijan^{[citation needed]}
Belarus^{[citation needed]}
Chad^[6]
Congo^[7]
Georgia^[8]
Greece^[9]
Hamas^{[citation needed]}
Iraqi insurgents^[10]
Islamic State^[11]
Kazakhstan^{[citation needed]}
Kyrgyzstan^{[citation needed]}
Moldova^{[citation needed]}
- Transnistria^[12]
Panama^[13]
Russia
Syria^{[citation needed]}
- Free Syrian Army^{[citation needed]}
Tajikistan^{[citation needed]}
Turkmenistan^{[citation needed]}
Ukraine^[14]
Uzbekistan^{[citation needed]}

Former users

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria^[15]
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda^[6]
Donetsk People's Republic:^[16] Used by DPR forces during the War in Donbas and the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine before their annexation by Russia in November 2022.
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN)^[13]
East Germany
Nicaragua: Sandinista Popular Army^[13]
Soviet Union: Passed on to successor states.
Real Irish Republican Army^[17]

See also

RPG-76 Komar – (Polish People's Republic, Poland)
M80 Zolja – (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

References

^ Campbell, David (30 Nov 2017). Soviet Paratrooper vs Mujahideen Fighter: Afghanistan 1979–89. Combat 29. Osprey Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 9781472817648.
^ "RPG-18 Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher | MilitaryToday.com". www.militarytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
^ Rottman, Gordon L. (2011-03-15). The Rocket Propelled Grenade. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781849081542.
^ "RPG-18 Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher | MilitaryToday.com". www.militarytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
^ Bhatia, Michael Vinai; Sedra, Mark (May 2008). Small Arms Survey (ed.). Afghanistan, Arms and Conflict: Armed Groups, Disarmament and Security in a Post-War Society. Routledge. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-415-45308-0.
^ ^a ^b Small Arms Survey (2015). "Waning Cohesion: The Rise and Fall of the FDLR–FOCA" (PDF). Small Arms Survey 2015: weapons and the world (PDF). Cambridge University Press. p. 203. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 1, 2015.
^ Small Arms Survey (2003). "Making the Difference?: Weapon Collection and Small Arms Availability in the Republic of Congo". Small Arms Survey 2003: Development Denied. Oxford University Press. p. 267. ISBN 0199251754. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2010.
^ Small Arms Survey (1998). Politics From The Barrel of a Gun (PDF). Cambridge University Press. p. 40. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2011.
^ "Α-Τ RPG-18". army.gr.
^ Small Arms Survey (2012). "Surveying the Battlefield: Illicit Arms In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia". Small Arms Survey 2012: Moving Targets. Cambridge University Press. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-521-19714-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 30, 2012.
^ Weapons of the Islamic State (PDF). London: Conflict Armament Research. 2017. p. 184. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
^ "Маленькая и малобоеспособная | Еженедельник «Военно-промышленный курьер»". vpk-news.ru. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
^ ^a ^b ^c Montes, Julio A. (8 May 2015). "Portable Anti-Tank Weapons in Mexico & the Northern Central American Triangle". Small Arms Defense Journal. Vol. 7, no. 1. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019.
^ "Special Operations Forces Soldiers hit enemy BMP-2 with RPG". Militarnyi. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
^ Babchenko, Arkady (2006). One Soldier's War. New York, NY: Publishers Group West. pp. 9, 101, 157. ISBN 978-0-8021-4403-4. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
^ Ferguson, Jonathan; Jenzen-Jones, N.R. (November 2014). Raising Red Flags: An Examination of Arms & Munitions in the Ongoing Conflict in Ukraine, 2014 (PDF). Research Report 3. Armament Research Services. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-9924624-3-7.
^ "Real IRA arms purchasing in Croatia indicates a change of tactics - Jane's Security News". 2006-06-24. Archived from the original on 2006-06-24. Retrieved 2024-06-24.

General

Jones, Richard. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2005–06. Coulsdon: Jane's, 2005. ISBN 0-7106-2694-0.

External links

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