RPG-7s Big Brother in Iraq

StrategyPage.com ^ | June 14, 2004

[Cannoneer No. 4]

New Russian weapons are showing up in Iraq, apparently smuggled across the Syrian border. One of the more dangerous has been the RPG-29. This is a larger version of the widely used RPG-7. With a ten pound launcher firing a 14.7 pound 105mm rocket, the RPG-29 warhead is designed to get past some forms of reactive armor (ERA). The larger weapon (3.3 feet long when carried out, six feet long when ready to fire and 65 percent heavier than the 85mm RPG-7) is more difficult to carry around and fire, but some have been captured, and the damage on some American armored vehicles indicate they were hit by an RPG-29 rocket. The RPG-29 has an effective range of 500 meters. The warhead can also penetrate five feet of reinforced concrete.

There is also a one shot version, the RPG-27, which weighs 17 pounds and has an effective range of 200 meters. Some of these have been found in Iraq as well. The RPG-29 and 27 are considered the "third generation" of the RPG family. The "second generation" was a failure, [compared with] which the cheaper, and nearly as capable, RPG-7.

Both RPG-29s and 27s were developed and entered production just before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. They are available through legitimate, or black market, arms dealers and are more expensive than the RPG-7 (which is manufactured by many countries.) RPG-29 launchers cost over $500 each, and the rockets for about $300 each. The RPG-27s cost over $500 each. It’s known that many of Saddam’s higher ranking supporters escaped to Syria with a lot of cash. Apparently some of it is being spent on RPG-27s and 29s.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

RPG-27

RPG-29

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Cannoneer No. 4]

105mm RPG-27 Vampir hand-held single-shot antitank grenade launcher

[leadpenny]

Is one of these the type officials believe have taken out a couple of M1 Tanks?

[Cannoneer No. 4]

The hand antitank grenade launchers RPG-29 and its missile PG-29W

[thackney]

ping

[Vigilantcitizen]

Locator.

[dennisw]

We ruined the USSR with the stinger missiles we sent to Afghanistan. Now Russia is paying us back.

[AppyPappy]

We should never get that close to that weapon. Tanks aren't built for that.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Might be. Or it might be a RPG-7V

[Cannoneer No. 4]

What comes around goes around. What they sell to the jihadis in Iraq may very well show up in Chechnya. They're all in it together.

[Wolf_Lochert]

New Russian weapons are showing up in Iraq, apparently smuggled across the Syrian border.

Or the Saudi border.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

How do you stay 501 meters away from something when you don't know where it is?

[AppyPappy]

You let the infantry clear it first. That's what the Israelis learned in 1973. The tanks support the infantry.

[leadpenny]

Thanks, now I remember that being talked about when it happened.

[dennisw]

These are portable ground to ground missiles.

[Screaming_Gerbil]

So your armor support is 501 meters to your rear?

Just great...

[from occupied ga]

RPG-29

I want one.

[AppyPappy]

I doubt you can hit anything from a 1/2 click away with one of those things. Especially under fire.

[Wolf_Lochert]

What they sell to the jihadis in Iraq may very well show up in Chechnya. They're all in it together.

An excellent reason for the possibility that the improved weapons or enhanced ammunition for existing ones is coming from the Chinese rather than the Russians. Just like the Chinese RPG copies turning up in Chechnya, easily identified by the addition of a bipod on the Chinese versions.