RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). The WW II US bazooka and the German Panzerfaust were the first RPGs, used to give infantrymen the firepower to damage tanks, although only at extremely close range and usually from the back or side. Designing them is difficult. The launcher needs to be a reasonable length to allow the rocket to gain speed, but all the fuel must be spent before it emerges, otherwise it will burn the firer's face. This means their launch speed and hence range is limited—to about 219 yards (200 metres). The Soviet RPG-7, used around the world including the Middle East, Afghanistan, Chechnya, and the former Yugoslavia is a most ingenious design. It has a small charge to throw the grenade well clear of the firer and only then does the rocket motor ignite and drive it to its target. This design permits a relatively large warhead and a light, thin launcher, but at some cost to accuracy. The US LAWS (light anti-tank weapons system) was a single-shot cardboard tube with a smaller warhead. As their value against armour declined (Australian Centurion tanks in Vietnam survived a hail of RPG-7 hits), RPGs retained their usefulness against bunkers. In principle anti-armour guided weapons such as those used to crack Argentine positions in the Falklands war are in the RPG family, but the term is now reserved for lighter weapons.
— Christopher Bellamy
