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RPG-29
RPG-29 launcher with PG-29V rocket
Type	Rocket-propelled grenade
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1989–present
Used by	See Operators
Wars	War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Iraq War 2006 Lebanon War Syrian Civil War 2014 Gaza War War in Iraq (2013–2017) Israel–Hamas war
Production history
Designer	Bazalt
Designed	late 1980s
Manufacturer	Bazalt
Produced	1989
Specifications
Mass	12.1 kg (27 lb) unloaded (with optical sight) 18.8 kg (41 lb) loaded (ready to fire)
Length	1 m (3 ft 3 in) (dismantled for transport) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) (ready to fire)
Cartridge	PG-29V tandem rocket TBG-29V thermobaric rounds
Caliber	105 mm (4.1 in) barrel 65 and 105 mm (2.6 and 4.1 in) warheads
Rate of fire	2 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity	280 m/s (920 ft/s)
Effective firing range	500 m (1,600 ft) 800 m (2,600 ft) (with tripod and fire control unit)
Sights	Iron, optical, and night sights available with ranges up to 450 m (1,480 ft); automated day and day-night sights with laser rangefinder
Blast yield	750 mm (30 in) RHA 650 mm (26 in) RHA after ERA 1,500 mm (59 in) Reinforced concrete 3,700 mm (150 in) Log and earth fortification

The RPG-29 "Vampir" is a Soviet reusable rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher. Adopted by the Soviet Army in 1989, it was the last RPG to be adopted by the Soviet military before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The RPG-29 has since been supplemented by other rocket-propelled systems, such as the RPG-30 and RPG-32.

Description

The RPG-29 is a shoulder-fired, unguided, tube-style, breech-loading anti-tank rocket system with an effective range of 500 m (1,600 ft). The light weapon is designed to be carried and used by one soldier. Atop the launch tube is a 2.7× 1P38 optical sight.

When launched, the missile deploys eight fins as the rocket leaves the launcher, stabilizing the rocket during flight, up to an effective range of 500 m (1,600 ft).

Three warheads are available for the weapon:

• The TBG-29V thermobaric anti-personnel round.
• The OG-29 high-explosive/fragmentation (HE/FRAG) round for anti-personnel purposes. This is an Iranian round produced by Shahed Weaponry with a time fuze and over 2,000 premade fragments.
• The PG-29V anti-tank/bunker round has a tandem-charge high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead to defeat explosive reactive armor (ERA). This warhead is standardized with that of the PG-7VR round fired by the RPG-7V rocket launcher. With a tandem-charge, an initial small charge detonates any reactive armor. If explosive reactive armor (ERA) or cage armor is absent, this charge strikes the main armor. Behind the primary charge, a much larger secondary shaped charge bursts at the rear of the initial warhead and projects a thin, high-speed-jet of metal into the armour compromised by the first charge. PG-29V can kill hard targets, including tanks with ERA.

The RPG-29 is unusual among Russian anti-tank rocket launchers in that it lacks an initial propellant charge to place the projectile at a safe distance from the operator before the rocket ignites. Instead, the rocket engine starts as soon as a trigger is pulled, and burns out before the projectile leaves the barrel.

On the bottom of the tube is a shoulder brace for proper positioning along with a pistol grip trigger mechanism. A side rail on its left side accepts a 1PN51-2 night sight.

History

The RPG-29 was developed during the late 1980s, following the development of the RPG-26, and entered service with the Soviet Army in 1989. It has recently seen intermittent use by irregular forces in the Middle East theater, including in combat against Allied forces during the Iraq War, and the 2006 Lebanon War, when it was used against Israeli forces.

2003 Iraq War

The RPG-29 is believed to have been used in skirmishes against American and British forces during the initial 2003 invasion of Iraq. An RPG-29 round was reported in August 2006 to have penetrated the frontal underside hull (equipped with ERA) of a Challenger 2 tank during an engagement in al-Amarah, Iraq, maiming one and wounding several other crew members, but only lightly damaging the tank, which drove home under its own power.

On August 25, 2007 a PG-29V hit a passing M1 Abrams in the hull rear wounding 3 crew members. On September 5, 2007, a PG-29V hit the side turret of an M1 Abrams in Baghdad, killing 2 of the crew and wounding 1, and the tank was seriously damaged.

In May 2008, The New York Times disclosed that another M1 Abrams tank had also been damaged by an RPG-29 in Iraq, while fighting Shia militias at Sadr City. The US Army ranks the RPG-29 threat to armor so high that they refused to allow the newly formed Iraqi army to buy it, fearing that it would fall into insurgent hands.

2006 Lebanon War

During the conflict, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated that the RPG-29 was a major source of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) casualties in the 2006 Lebanon War. Shortly before the end of the conflict the Russian Kommersant magazine acknowledged through anonymous sources the possibility of a weapons transfer between Syria and Hezbollah during the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.

Syrian Civil War

During the Syrian Civil War, Syrian Opposition Forces, Syrian Armed Forces and Islamic State (ISIL) used RPG-29s.

Mexican Drug War

The cartels are known to have smuggled RPG-29s with some seized by Mexican forces.

2014 Gaza War

During the 2014 Gaza War, Hamas had RPG-29s in their inventory.

Iraqi Civil War

During the Iraqi Civil War, ISIL has used RPG-29s in Iraq, probably ones taken in Syria. And anti-ISIL Shia militias in Iraq have also used RPG-29s, the Iranian produced "Ghadir", which was supplied by Iran.

Operators

State operators

•  Algeria
•  Brazil - Locally produced
•  Cuba
• Iran - Locally produced as the "Ghadir"
• Mexico -Locally produced
• North Korea
• Russia
• Syria
• Pakistan
•  Ukraine
• Vietnam - Locally produced

Non-state organizations

•  Hezbollah
•  Hamas
• Iraqi insurgents (2003–11)
•  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - At least one used during the Siege of Menagh Air Base in the Syrian Civil War
•  Taliban (during 2013 through 2015)
• Syrian rebels

Former operators

•  Soviet Union - Passed on to successor states.

See also

• M47 Dragon – (United States)
• PF-98 – (China)
• LRAC F1 – (France)
• M79 Osa – (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
• Rocket-propelled grenade (includes a description of tactics and history)

References

1. ^ Totten, Michael J. (May 12, 2009). The Future of Iraq, Part I. Michaeltotten.com (Report). Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2019. They've gotten some specialized training, some weaponry like the RPG-29 – which is one of the best Eastern bloc RPGs out there – and they use them to hit M1 tanks.
2. "La 104ème brigade de la Garde républicaine syrienne, troupe d'élite et étendard du régime de Damas". France-Soir (in French). 20 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
3. "The World Market for Man-Portable Anti-Armor and Bunker Buster Weapons" (PDF). forecastinternational.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
4. ^ Russian Close Combat Weapon. Moscow: Association "Defense Enterprises Assistance League". 2010. pp. 444–447. ISBN 978-5-904540-04-3.
5. "RPG-29 – Vampir". Guns and Weapons. June 9, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-06-20.
6. OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide. United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) DCSINT Threat Support Directorate, US Army, via Scribd. 2001. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
7. https://shahed-weaponry.org/product/rpg-29-multi-purpose-rockets/
8. "RPG-29 anti-tank rocket launcher". Firearms Russia. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
9. ИЗДЕЛИЕ 1ПН51-2 ТЕХНИЧЕСКОЕ ОПИСАНИЕ И ИНСТРУКЦИЯ ПО ЭКСПЛУАТАЦИИ [Product 1PN51-2 Technical Description and Operating Instructions] (in Russian). September 1991. 52 pages.
10. ^ Gordon, Michael R. (May 21, 2008). "Operation in Sadr City Is an Iraqi Success, So Far". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
11. Rayment, Sean (May 12, 2007). "MoD kept failure of best tank quiet". Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
12. Smith, Craig S. (August 28, 2005). "Big Guns For Iraq? Not So Fast". New York Times. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
13. Schiff, Ze'ev (6 August 2006), Hezbollah anti-tank fire causing most IDF casualties in Lebanon, Haaretz, archived from the original on April 16, 2018
14. Russian Minister says Russia, Israel have settled differences over Hezbollah arms, International Herald Tribune, 20 October 2006, archived from the original on 2006-11-26
15. ^ "The US is looking at a major tank upgrade, but a weapon to counter it is already out there". Business Insider Deutschland (in German). Archived from the original on 2018-05-07. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
16. "Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #20: RPG-29 Anti-Armor Munitions | Small Wars Journal". smallwarsjournal.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
17. ^ "The Combat Performance of Hamas in the Gaza War of 2014". 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
18. "Пустынный "Вампир": РПГ-29 принят на вооружение армии Алжира" [Desert "Vampire": RPG-29 adopted by Algerian army]. rg.ru (in Russian). 11 November 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
19. ^ "RPG-29 Vampir (Vampire)". www.militaryfactory.com. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
20. "آرپی جی29؛تیری جدید در کمان ارتش ایران + عکس". مشرق نیوز (in Persian). 7 January 2012. Archived from the original on 1 May 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
21. Montes, Julio A. (8 May 2015). "Portable Anti-Tank Weapons in Mexico & the Northern Central American Triangle". Small Arms Defense Journal. Vol. 7, no. 1. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019.
22. "North Korea sanctions evasion efforts detailed in UN's latest PoE report - NK News - North Korea News". nknews.org. 12 March 2019. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
23. Galeotti (2017), p. 56.
24. "Trade Update: After the 'Arab Spring'" (PDF). Small Arms Survey 2015: weapons and the world (PDF). Cambridge University Press. 2015. p. 107. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-28. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
25. "Vietnam Builds So Many Weapons For Its Army | 21st Century Asian Arms Race". 5 September 2018. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018.
26. "Vietnam produced RPG-29 rocket launcher and named it SCT-29". iMedia. 19 Apr 2022. Retrieved 19 Apr 2022.
27. "Hezbollah's Creative Tactical Use of Anti-Tank Weaponry". Jamestown.
28. "Surveying the Battlefield: Illicit Arms In Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia". Small Arms Survey 2012: Moving Targets. Cambridge University Press. 2012. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-521-19714-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
29. Antonio Giustozzi. "Counterinsurgency Challenge in Post-2001 Afghanistan". Small Wars & Insurgencies: 18.

Bibliography

• Galeotti, Mark (2017). The Modern Russian Army 1992–2016. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1472819086.

External links

• Fofanov, Vasiliy. "Modern Russian Armor". Retrieved 5 October 2015.

• Anti-tank rockets
• Rocket-propelled grenade launchers of Russia
• Rocket-propelled grenade launchers of the Soviet Union
• Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1989
• Bazalt products