RPG-6

RPG-6 (РПГ-6)
TypeAnti-tank grenade[1]
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In serviceOctober 1943 –
Used bySoviet Union and Warsaw pact countries
WarsWorld War II
Production history
DesignerM. Z. Polevikov[1]
L. B. Ioffe[1]
N. S. Zhitkikh[1]
Designed1943[1]
Specifications
Mass1.13 kg[1]
Length337 mm
Diameter103 mm

FillingTNT shaped charge
Filling weight0.6 kg[1]
Detonation
mechanism
Impact fuze[1]

The RPG-6 (Russian Ruchnaya Protivotankovaya Granata, "Handheld Anti-Tank Grenade") was a Soviet-era anti-tank hand grenade used during the late World War II and early Cold War period. It was superseded by the RKG-3 anti-tank grenade.

History

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The RPG-6 was designed as a replacement for the RPG-43 after the Battle of Kursk.[1]

It underwent testing in September 1943, and was accepted into service in October 1943.[1] First RPG-6 grenades were used against Axis troops in last week of October 1943.[2]

The weapon was a success and went into mass production in late 1943. During the war, RPG-6 grenades being used alongside the RPG-43.[1]

In the USSR, some grenades were kept in storage even after the end of the World War II.[1]

Design

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It operated on the shaped charge Munroe effect principle, in which a metal-lined cone-shaped explosive charge would generate a very high speed, focused jet of metal that could penetrate armor-plate.[1]

It was a conical casing enclosing a shaped charge and containing 562 grams of trinitrotoluene (TNT), fitted with a percussion fuse and four cloth ribbons to provide stability in flight after throwing. It could penetrate approximately 100 millimeters of armour. The RPG-6 had a fragmentation radius of 20 metres from the point of detonation, and proved useful against infantry and tanks.

The RPG-43 had a large warhead, but was designed to detonate in contact with a tank's armour; it was later found that optimal performance was gained from a high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead if it exploded a short distance from the armour, roughly the same distance as the weapon's diameter. In the RPG-6 this was achieved by adding a hollow pointed nose section with an impact fuse in it, so that when the weapon detonated the warhead was at an optimum distance from the armour.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Семен Федосеев. Против танка // журнал "Оружие", № 2, 2000. стр.59-63
  2. ^ Оружие Победы / колл. авт., отв. ред. В. Н. Новиков. 2-е изд., пер. и доп. М., "Машиностроение", 1987. стр.427