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So THIS is what Kyubey had in mind when he was talking about contracts

1st in a series of OAF Magical Girls!

ETA: 2-3 weeks

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The Rocket Launcher Heard Round The World: The RPG-7 - 40mm

The RPG-7, a weapon that has become as infamous as the AK-47. To the NATO soldier, it’s the weapon they loathe. From the sands of the Middle East to the mud of Southeast Asia, it’s one of the most prevalent rocket launchers in the world.

The RPG-7 begins back to the dust and rubble of World War II. In the span of 4-5 years anti-tank weapons went from single shot high caliber rifles to a number of different explosive options. The US had the Bazooka series, the Commonwealth had the PIAT, the Germans had developed the big changer, the Panzerfaust.

This German single-shot anti-tank weapon had managed to become the bain of the Allied Armor Corps. It’s basic idea was a hollow shaped charge that on detonation would become a super-hot ball of plasma that would go through tank armor like butter. And while it didn’t stop the Allied victory, the USSR took it’s basic idea as well as the prototype for the Panzerfaust 250, a reloadable model with them and made the RPG-2.

The RPG-2 was the first, but it had limited armor piercing capabilities and soon faded into second-line use by most of the ComBloc when in 1961 the RPG-7 was made.

The RPG-7 was and is a absurdly simple rocket launcher. The rocket is fired via a hammer mounted on the grip that hits a firing pin that hits the powder charge in the rocket, this launches it out of the launcher before it activates the actual rocket, sending it far into a car, tank or window.

With the launcher came a number of rockets. These include the iconic PG-7V and VM, with a penetration of 280mm of reinforced steel armor, the PG-7VR tandem warhead which ups penetration to 500mm. The offensive OG-7 and TBG-7V for use against troops, though a lot of AT rounds are used for the same purpose. The most recent rocket is the GSh-7VT, a bunker buster round.

Ever since, the RPG-7 has been the most successful rocket launcher ever made. Production has been varied, but almost always at around 9 million launchers and millions more rounds. It’s the standard issue rocket launcher for the former Soviet states, countless Middle Eastern countries, African armies and Asian militaries rely on the RPG as their AT weapon. Russia makes them today with little design change over the original Soviet models. 

Insurgencies have relied on the RPG-7 as their rocket of choice. It’s reasonably lightweight, very cheap and very powerful against tanks and cars. Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon and more have seen the RPG-7 used by insurgent forces. It started all the way in Vietnam by the NVA and VC and has continued to this day.

With manufacturers from Romania to Iran, some modified copies have been made, including the Chinese Type 69 and the Airtonic RPG-7. But neither can supplant the RPG-7 in service. It’s an icon of the 3rd World. The bridge between the irregular and the insurgency. It’s the bane to the NATO standard, and it’s a common sight everywhere.

The RPG-7 and the movie have gone together ever since the 1980′s. While in the early movies such as Back To The Future and Red Dawn used mockups, modern movies have used real steel Soviet RPG-7′s as well as Type 69′s and Airtonic RPG’s. Any movie showing an opposing force almost guarantees that an RPG-7 will show up. The Somalian irregulars of Black Hawk Down, the RUF of Blood Diamond, the MNU of District 9, they all share something in common. They all use an RPG-7.

With a prolific use by the 2nd and 3rd World, the RPG-7 is a common sight in video games. Most games based on modern combat feature it as the standard arm for the opposing force, whether it be a real life terrorist organization, Russian ultra-nationalists, in-general Islamic terrorist style soldiers, and otherwise. Open world games use it as their launcher of choice, given the RPG-7′s prevalence in the illegal arms circuit. Whether it’s Smash Brothers or Battlefield, the RPG’s familiar shape will always be there.

And that is the RPG-7, the most common rocket launcher ever made. It’s an icon from the real world to the virtual world and it hasn’t stopped since 1961. It’s the Soviet’s answer to the M72 LAW, simplicity over technical, mass produced to every Soviet client state and then some. From the IRA to the NVA to the Crips, it’s big, loud and really powerful.

“Some say the devil is dead, the devil is dead, devil is dead. Some say the devil is dead and buried in Kilarney. More say he rose again, more say he rose again, more say he rose again and joined the British Army!”

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Black Madre Atelier

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Field Tested AK-47 | Vulcan

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Everything is better at Färnebofjärden by Tobias Hägg  Instagram 

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