World War II Database

Country of Origin	Russia
Type	Grenade
Diameter	95.000 mm
Weight	1.247 kg
Explosive Charge	0.61kg TNT

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe RPG-43 grenades, named "ruchnaya protivotankovaya granata obraztca 1943 goda" in Russian or "hand-held anti-tank grenade model 1943" in English, were designed by N. P. Belyakov starting in 1942 in response to the thicker armor plating of German Panther and Tiger tanks. When one of these grenades was thrown, a cylindrical metal cone was released from the rear of the grenade and held by fabric strips to stabilize flight, thus increasing the likelihood of a 90-degree hit against the intended target, upon which time the 610 grams of shaped charge would theoretically penetrate about 75 millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor. They entered service in Apr 1943 and they were supplied in large quantities for the remainder of the war, thus providing Soviet forces an inexpensive weapon against German tanks. One shortcoming reported by front line soldiers was that the impact must be forceful enough to trigger the inertial impact fuses, otherwise these weapons would fail to detonate. After WW2, large quantities were given to forces friendly to the Soviet Union. As a result, RPG-43 grenades were used against Israeli forces during the Arab-Israeli conflicts, and against American tanks during the Korean War.

Source: Wikipedia ww2dbase

Last Major Revision: Jul 2021

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