Posted on 12/23/2004 6:19:28 AM PST by ChadGore
It is clearly a SMAW. See post above for details. The SMAW is an Israeli-developed weapon used by the Marine Corps. It has a launcher unit (with a built-in spotting rifle and optical sight)and various self-contained projectiles that lock onto the rear of the launcher unit. (That's the AT-4 looking portion of the picture that is causing some confusion).
The Marine Corps has a replacement program for the SMAW (imaginatively called FOTS - Follow On To SMAW) that, if successful, will provide a fire from enclosure (FFE) capability and provide a thermobaric projectile (blast overpressure like FAE).
One neat thing about this weapon system is there is a training mockup (full scale) that is operated just like the real thing, but fires a 9mm tracer that roughly duplicates the trajectory of the actual rocket. Set plenty of range fires with those babies....
Is it reloadable, like an RPG or a self-contained, disposable tube device?
"Are they legal for deer hunting?"
It's a Ronco Deer-0-Matic prototype. Kills, cleans and butchers all in one shot.
Yeah, except I always kept my canteen cover buttoned if I wasn't drinking...;-)
It's a SMAW incase your not convinced yet LOL. Also look at www.fas.org for most all weapons questions, they are very informative, as well as www.globalsecurity.com.
The military is also using the Javelin which is a wicked weapon. I have had experience with the MILES version (laser tag if you will). Very nice and wickedly accurate.
Reloadable, in that the launcher unit (See post 26 below for picture of launcher unit without the rocket tube attached) is retained. The tube that contains the rocket is discarded after firing.
Neat. That thing looks like a real blast to shoot. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end, though.
Way back in the ancient '70s we had the LAW to play with. The Light Anti-Tank Weapon. I recall the missile was a HEAT, High Energy Anti-Tank.
It was a one-time throw-away missile launcher with a cheesy plastic tube and a cheesier sighting system.
But woohoo, great fun to let one rip at old truck bodies on the range!
Even though it is a recoiless weapon, blast is a problem with the SMAW. Due to blast effects during repeated firing (high dB noise, back blast pressures, etc.), instructors for the Assaultman (MOS 0351) course undergo alot of physiological stress during live fire and are limited to the number of days of live fire they can instruct per week and the number of rounds they may be exposed to on each firing day. IIRC the max number per instructor was six per firing day with one or two days of rest in between firing days.
Thats one of the positive side benefits in seeking to develop a fire from enclosure (FFE) version of the SMAW. If your design is going to permit FFE fire, you must very significantly reduce or eliminate back blast altogether. Do that and it will allow you to shoot from inside bunkers and from inside rooms. In addition, FFE will cut down on the physical stress to the gunners and crew (including instructors) from repeated firings of the weapon.
I'm glad to hear that "they" are addressing the problem ... one of my uncles is "disabled" (he can't hear in his left ear) due to having served as a Marine cannoncocker in Viet Nam.
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