There are many advantages and one drawback of the dynamically reactive grenade launcher SPG-9

The Soviet army adopted the wearable weapons of destruction of armored vehicles later than the armed forces of other states. The military concept adopted in the USSR provided for the conduct of large-scale actions on the ground-based theater of military operations with the use of powerful artillery weapons, and they were stressed in the fifties. Then the presence of thermonuclear weapons and missile delivery systems and did create the illusion of the impossibility of local conflicts. However, they emerged from time to time, and the need for "compact artillery", which was already used during World War II by the Germans (the "Faustpatron") and its allies (the "bazooka"), became apparent. The first mass-produced sample of this class of weapons was the LNG-9 grenade launcher.

Our bazooka

The development of a convenient and relatively light weapon capable of destroying tanks at long distances was entrusted to the GKSB-47 (design bureau for production, later renamed the Bazalt SNPP). The group of designers (Dubrovin EI , Belukhin GE, Zaitsev VP, etc.) under the leadership of MM Kononayev and VI Baraboshkin by 1962 presented the state commission the result of their work. After testing at the test site in early 1963, the mass production of LNG-9 began and its acceptance in the troops. Soviet soldiers immediately liked the new "hand cannon", it bribed its reliability, ease of use, accuracy of hit and the power of the charge. Training of personnel did not take much time, as well as some special knowledge. The development of a new type of weapons was quite quick.

Design

In its essence, LNG-9 ("Spear") is a dynamo-rocket launcher. If you use non-technical terms in the definition, but simple words, then this weapon is a pipe equipped with devices for starting, loading and aiming, that is, approximately the same as a conventional artillery gun. Supplements the similarity of the carriage, equipped with a rotary-lifting mechanism. In the assault version it is wheeled, in the usual variant it is a tripod, which can be set higher or lower in the range from 39 to 70 cm.

The barrel is attached to the barrel for transportation, the aiming frame with a slide, a thermo-insulating fuse and a mechanism for removing the sleeve. Shutter and starting system with a generator and a fuse are installed on the frame.

You can use a simple or optical (four-shot PGO-9) sights.

Ammunition

The rocket-propelled grenade launcher SPG-9 fires a PG-9 cumulative grenade, consisting of two main parts: a caliber (73 mm) warhead (which, in fact, produces destruction) and a jet engine with a stabilizer of six blades and two tracers.

The projectile is cumulative: as the technique of credible adversaries improves, there is a need to further improve the weapon and increase its penetrative power.

Ten years after the appearance of the LNG-9, a new projectile appeared, the PG-7VS of greater power. He is able to penetrate armor up to 400 mm thick.

Even later, to expand the capabilities of this weapon and give it the ability to destroy, in addition to tanks and combat vehicles, as well as the infantry of the enemy, another fragmentation projectile (OG-9V) was created.

Technique of shooting

To activate the starting charge, you must perform two manipulations, namely:

• Platoon (turn the trigger handle down);
• Pressing the knob.

As a result of these simple actions, the inductor of the generator will generate an electrical voltage that is delivered to the connector of the contact device, a current will flow in the closed circuit of the electric starter and the starting powder charge will ignite.

Then everything happens automatically, the drives of the forcing unit are destroyed under the influence of gas pressure, the projectile starts moving, and about 20 meters from the start point, after gaining the main engine, it accumulates its maximum speed (700 m / s). Aerodynamic drag makes the feathers open, designed to unroll the grenade around the longitudinal axis, ensuring high accuracy of hit.

LNG-9 is a reusable weapon, it can be fired up to five hundred times, then the barrel wears off. It is charged from the breech.

Do not fire grenade launchers, and soldiers

The grenade launcher, with all its undoubted merits, also has a serious drawback: it is heavy, weighs almost 58 kg. To bring it to the combat state the calculation can be for half a minute, or a little longer, depending on the degree of training. You can shoot it every 10 seconds, provided that the gunner has time to accurately aim. In addition to it, you need an ideal charger, a pod and a commander, but in practice you can get by with fewer people.

Given the availability of various other wearable and compact, more modern and sophisticated grenade launchers, one can not but be surprised by the popularity that the old good (not always and not all of them) LNG-9 uses today in various local conflicts. Photo reporters made in "hot spots" demonstrate its unique adaptability to installation on cars, helicopters and other vehicles. Conceptually successful solutions made it possible even to use it as a constructive basis for the BTP-1 turret. The main advantages - simplicity, high striking ability and accuracy, these are just the qualities that Russian weapons are famous for.