The RPG-2 Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher
(Ruchnoi Protivotankovii Granatomet)

 

RPG-2 Technical Data (2)

Designation:

ручной противотанковый гранатомет, рпг-2
(Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher, RPG-2)

Manufacturer:

Tula Arsenal

Year Adopted: (1)

1949

Operational Status:

Russia - Obsolete, no longer in use

People's Republic of China (as Type 56): In reserve service.

Other Known Users - North Vietnam (as B-40), Cambodia, Afghanistan, and others

Ammunition

PG-2 High Explosive Rocket

Method of Operation

Single Stage, Unguided Black Powder Rocket

Selector:

Fire and Safe

Weight
     (Launcher only):
     (Launcher and rocket):


2.86 kilograms (6.3 pounds)
4.48 kilograms (9.9 pounds)

Effective Range:

100 meters (310 feet)

Length
     (launcher only):
     (launcher and PG-2 rocket):

 
95.0 cm (37.4 inches)
120.0 cm (47.2 inches)

Barrel Diameter: 40 mm (1.57 inches)

Sights:
     Sight Range:

Flip up post sights
150 meters (450 feet)

Rate of Fire:

4 to 6 shots per minute

Armor penetration:
(Against homogeneous steel armor at 0 degrees)

  
180 millimeters (7.17 inches)

Maximum Velocity:

84 meters/second (275.6 feet/second)

 .

The RPG-2 in Pictures

History, Development, and Use

Return to Weapons of the Iron Curtain

Ammunition The Designer
 
 

Sources Cited

(1) ручной противотанковый гранатомет рпг-2 и противотанковая граната пг-2, (Rocket Propelled Grenade RPG-2 and Antitank Rocket PG-2) Moscow: USSR Ministry of Defense, 1954. Print.

(2) наставление по стрелковому делу ручной противотанковый гранатомет (рпг-2) (Manual on shooting anti-tank grenade launcher, RPG-2), Moscow: USSR Ministry of Defense, 1960

(3) Hogg, Ian V., Jane's Infantry Weapons 1984-1985, 10th Edition, London: Jane's Information Group, 1984. Print.

(4) Dmitrieff, George. The Poor Man's RPG, El Dorado: Desert Publications, 1996. Print.