RED DIAMOND: RPGs and Recoilless Rifles

While the best known direct-fire weapon of our adversaries of the last two decades may be the AK-47, their biggest punch (aside from IEDs) is likely the Rocket-Propelled Grenade. But while IEDs are more devastating, RPGs are far more portable, flexible and logistically untethered. In a LSCO war, RPGs, rocket launchers and recoilless rifles are far more likely to influence the battlefield.

So what will the opposition carry? And how does it compare to our arsenal? Below we outline some Russian and Chinese leading systems from the WEG. But, a few important points: There are many more systems out there (though with similar features). And, many of them are quite new --

developed in the last 10-15 years (compared to the 60-year-old basic M16-series design or 75-year-old AK-47 mechanics). Lastly, note the interesting details of the thermobaric weapon.

Warfare is changing. Are you?

To take a deeper dive on weapons doctrine, check out the WEG here. To learn more about the DDOD Red Diamond Academy, scroll down of click here.

Weapon		HEAT Range	Max Range	Caliber	Armor Piercing
M3-E1 Carl Gustaf (RR)		500m	2000m	84mm	500mm
AT-4		300-500m	2100m	84mm	420mm
Type 98 RR (China)		800m	1800m	120mm	800mm (HEAT) 400mm (HEI)
RPG-32 NASHAB (Russia)		700m	700m	105mm	650mm (ERA+RHA)
PDMA SHMEL-M (Russia)		600m (Not AT)	1700m	90mm	N/A (Thermobaric/ Flame thrower)
RPG7D3 (Russia)		300m (Not AT)	700m	40mm (85mm Round)	300-600cm PG7-VR defeats reactive armor

About The DDOD's Red Diamond Academy:

Threat capabilities: It’s something we don’t look at enough in the Army, and especially in the reserve components. We first noticed this gap at Maneuver Captain’s Career Course. The MCCC entrance exam puts a lot of emphasis on threat weapons. But, students quickly find just how little exposure they get to these concepts on drill weekends. In fact, that knowledge gap created the first kernel of an idea that became the DDOD.

Our analysis focuses on the key battlefield characteristics, such as Range, rate of fire, and ammunition. Much more than that is a lot to remember in an "over lunch read" that the DDOD is set-up for. Also, we're limiting our comments to what matters on the battlefield. That your opponent has a folding stock is less important than the effective range.

We’re using data pulled from the WEG – The World Wide Equipment Guide. That resource is hosted by TRADOC, thus falls generally into the concept of doctrine. Per our policy, it is not CAC restricted, and is available to the public.

We call this, the Red Diamond Academy (see FM 1-02.2 if you don’t know why). US equivalent weapons are in blue, threat weapons, appropriately, are in red. As always, italics added for our emphasis, and […] indicates we cut out stuff we thought was fluff. And, as always: you’re smarter reading the pub (or web site, in this case) yourself to be exactly sure.