The Soviet army adopted the wearable means of destruction of armored vehicles later than the armed forces of other states. The military concept adopted in the USSR provided for large-scale operations at the ground-based theater of operations using powerful artillery weapons, and they were emphasized in the fifties. Then the presence of thermonuclear weapons and missile delivery vehicles created the illusion of the impossibility of local conflicts. However, they did arise from time to time, and the need for "compact artillery", which was already used during the Second World War by the Germans ("Faustpatron") and the Allies ("Bazooka"), became obvious. The first mass-produced model of this class of weapons was the SPG-9 grenade launcher.
Our bazooka
The development of a convenient and relatively light weapon capable of exterminating tanks at long ranges was entrusted to the GKSB-47 (design bureau during production, later renamed the Bazalt State Scientific and Production Enterprise). A group of designers (Dubrovin E.I. , Belukhin G.E., Zaitsev V.P. and others) under the direction of M.M. Konovaev and V.I. Baraboshkin by 1962 presented to the state commission the result of their work. After testing at the training ground in early 1963, the mass production of LNG-9 and its adoption by the troops began. Soviet soldiers immediately liked the new "hand gun", it bribed with its reliability, ease of use, accuracy of hit and the power of the charge. The training of personnel did not require much time, as well as any special knowledge. The development of a new type of weapon was pretty quick.
Design
At its core, the SPG-9 (“Spear”) is a dynamo-rocket-propelled grenade launcher. If we use not simple terms in the definition, but simple words, then this weapon is a pipe equipped with devices for launching, loading and aiming, that is, approximately the same as a conventional artillery gun. The similarity of carriages, equipped with a rotary lifting mechanism, complements. In the landing design, it is wheeled, in the usual version it is a tripod that can be installed higher or lower in the range from 39 to 70 cm.
A handle for transportation, an aiming frame with a slider, a thermally insulating fuse and a sleeve extraction mechanism are mounted on the barrel. The shutter and starting system with generator and fuse are installed on the bed.
You can use simple or optical (four-time PGO-9) sights.
Ammunition
The SPG-9 rocket launcher fires a PG-9 cumulative grenade, which consists of two main parts: a caliber (73 mm) warhead (which, in fact, produces destruction) and a rocket engine with a stabilizer of six blades and two tracers.
The projectile is cumulative: as the technology of potential opponents improves, the need arose to further improve the weapon and increase its breakdown power.
Ten years after the advent of SPG-9, a new shell appeared, the PG-7VS of greater power. He is able to penetrate armor up to 400 mm thick.
Still later, to expand the capabilities of this weapon and give it the ability to destroy, in addition to tanks and military vehicles, also the infantry of the enemy, another fragmentation shell (OG-9V) was created.
Shooting technique
To activate the starting charge, it is necessary to perform two manipulations, namely:
- platoon (turn the trigger handle down);
- pressing the trigger.
As a result of these simple actions, the generator inductor will generate an electric voltage that is supplied to the connector of the contact device, a current will appear in the closed circuit of the electric fuse and the starting powder charge will ignite.
Further, everything happens automatically, the forcing unit disks under the influence of gas pressure are destroyed, the projectile begins to move, and about twenty meters from the start point, he, after activating the main engine, picks up its maximum speed (700 m / s). Aerodynamic drag causes the plumage to open, designed to spin a grenade around its longitudinal axis, ensuring high accuracy.
SPG-9 is a reusable weapon, you can shoot it up to five hundred times, then the barrel comes down. It is charged from the breech.
It’s not soldiers who shoot, but soldiers
For all its undoubted advantages, the grenade launcher has a serious drawback: it is heavy, weighs almost 58 kg. Calculation can bring him into a combat state in half a minute, or a little longer, depending on the degree of training. You can shoot from it every 10 seconds, provided that the gunner has time to precisely aim during this time. In addition to it, ideally, a loader, a carrier and a commander are needed, but in practice, fewer people can be dispensed with.
Given the availability of various other wearable and compact, more modern and advanced grenade launchers, one cannot but surprise the popularity, which is used today in various local conflicts by the good old (not always and not all) SPG-9. Photos of reporters taken in "hot spots" demonstrate its unique adaptability for 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 tower gun. The main advantages are simplicity, high striking ability and accuracy, these are just the qualities that Russian weapons are famous for.