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The M72 LAW is an American rocket launcher created to replace the M31 HEAT and the M20 Super Bazooka in the United States Military.

History[]

US Army started its search for an inexpensive, simple and effective one-man lightweight antitank weapon (LAW) in the middle 1950s. By the 1961, the Hesse Eastern Co developed a shoulder fired, disposable rocket launcher with HEAT warhead, which has been adopted by US armed forces as the M72 LAW. Based on the idea, first brought up by Germans during the WW2, the LAW provided individual infantrymen with lightweight, recoilless, disposable weapon, which was extremely simple to operate, and effective against armored vehicles and many types of field entrenchments and light fortifications. Widely used in

M72law-1

M72 LAW rocket launcher in extended (ready to fire) position and the M72 HEAT rocket / grenade in in-flight configuration, with tail fins extended

Vietnam and in other smaller wars, M72 LAW provided soldiers with additional firepower. Adopted by several other countries, the M72 LAW is now being offered in the 'Improved LAW' versions by the Talley Defense Systems Co (USA), which offer longer effective range and better effectiveness against modern treats.

All weapons in the M72 family are of same basic design, and differ mostly in projectile and rocket engine types, as well as in safety measures. The M72 is a disposable, single shot rocket launcher pre-loaded with fin-stabilized rocket. The smoothbore barrel / container is made from two parts, aluminum inner tube and fiberglass outer tube. The inner tube is telescoped into the outer tube in storage / transport position, and is pulled out and to the rear prior to firing. The rocket is contained in the inner tube, and its solid-fuel motor burns out completely within the barrel. Because the barrel is open at the rear to avoid recoil, there is a dangerous backblast area behind the firing weapon, at least 15 meters (45 ft) long. In transport/storage mode both ends of the barrel are closed by the front and rear covers, which are opened automatically when inner tube is pulled out. This movement (opening of the launcher tube) also automatically cocks the firing mechanist and extends the open sights. The 'Improved LAW' series weapons have longer barrel tubes to accommodate longer warheads and more powerful rockets. The M72A4 and M72A5 warheads are optimized for greater armor penetration and are better suited for use against the tanks, while M72A6 and A7 warheads are optimized against targets such as APC / MICW vehicles, with lesser penetration but more significant behind the armor blast / kill effect.

Operators[]

  • M72-law

    An U.S. Army soldier aiming the M72 LAW

    Australia: M72A6 variant.
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Canada
  • Chile: M72A3 variant.
  • El Salvador
  • Finland
  • Luxembourg
  • Morocco
  • Netherlands
  • 231167-3-4-Afghanistan

    M72 in use in Afghanistan with U.S. Marines, 8 December 2009.

    New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Philippines
  • Portugal
  • South Korea
  • Spain: M72A3 variant.
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • Turkey
  • United Kingdom: Used by the British Army from the 1970s to the early 1990s.
  • United States
  • Yemen

Specifications[]

M72A4 through M72A3
Caliber 66 mm
Type rocket launcher
Weight 2.5 kg
Overall length (launcher open / closed) 899 / 665 mm
Effective range up to 150–170 meters
Armour penetration up to 300 mm for M72A3

See also[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at M72 LAW and the edit history here.

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