Soviet Anti-Tank Grenades

[MPK]

Hey all,

Just re-read V.I Chuikov's "The

Beginning Of The Road" and was

intrigued by this statement:

"Our men treated grenades with

great respect and gave them pet names:

they called the 'F-1' grenade 'Fanyusha'

and the anti-tank grenade 'Tanyusha'."

What is the AT grenade referred to?

Not the RPG-2 which CMBB introduces in 1943,

I guess...

Would Tank Hunter teams armed with explosives

(grenade bundle)be any kind of realistic substitute for this weapon?

Thanks in advance for any info,

Matt

[JasonC]

The RPG depicted in the game is an improved version - they had AT grenades from the start of the war. The had the same pattern, but used 1-2 pounds of ordinary explosive in the bell shaped, oversized grenade. The innovation in 1943 was that they acquired the shaped charge. Before then they were effectively grenade bundles, much like the ones the Germans get in CM. That the Russian ones are not shown in CM, and that are saddled with molotovs instead, and then those molotovs are made worse than useless - is just another chapter in the "German physics" story in CM.

[JasonC]

This is a description of the weapon depicted in CM, the RPG-43 HEAT anti tank grenade.

http://www.inert-ord.net/russ02i/rpg43/index.html

Its predecessor, the RPG-40, is mentioned on the same page, described as an ordinary stick grenade with an oversized warhead. Oversized as in a pound of more of explosive, as in a German grenade bundle "flower". It was meant to be used on an engine deck or in the tracks and expected to immobilize the vehicle.

[JasonC]

Here are some of the other types.

http://members.shaw.ca/dwlynn/russian/russianid.htm

The RPG-40 stick had 600 grams of explosive, while the RG-42 stick had a full kg charge. Both as ordinary explosive, not shaped charge. For comparison, the German "flower" had 7 grenade charges total with each containing 165 grams. So the RG-42 is in all essentials a German grenade bundle, while the earlier 1940 model was underpowered by comparison.

[JasonC]

Also incidentally, the in game weapon is not a RPG-2, as you initially stated. The RPG-2 is a post war bazooka like weapon (or last model of panzerfaust), the ancestor of the prevalent RPG-7 etc launchers still in use today. The WW II weapon was the RPG-43, for the year of the model. RPG means anti-tank grenade in Russian, with grenade launcher or grenade both having the same acronym. ("Rocket propelled" is a post hoc anglo-ization of the existing acronym).

[MPK]

Thanks, Jason...great info.

I discovered quite by chance that

one can equip Soviet Tank Hunter

teams with grenade bundles in the

Editor...but I'm sure this is common

knowledge...

"Rocket propelled" is a post hoc anglo-ization of the existing acronym"

.....what is the 'R' part? the PG is

something like 'pekhota grenata' ?

BTW, I'm in battle #3 of your Hunt Vasilli

Op...and finding out why it's called that...

[MPK]

Aaahhh....got it.

"Ruchnaya Protivotankovaya Granata"

= Hand Anti-Tank Grenade

[Guest Mike]

IIRC teh designation RPG-1 was used for captured Pz-fausts?