December 19,
2008: An Australian Army officer was recently convicted of stealing ten M72
rocket launchers. We was sent to prison for seven years. Seven of the rockets
made their way to Taha Abdul Rahman, a fence for stolen goods, who sold illegal
weapons to criminals. This would include terrorists. Abdul Rahman was sent to
prison for 3.5 years, but only one of the seven M72 he had was recovered. The
other six are missing, and no one knows who has them. It is feared that the M72
are on the black market, and that terrorists could get their hands on them.
This is deemed unlikely, but with the M72s still out there somewhere, anything
is possible. Biker gangs have been scrutinized, as these outfits have, in other
countries, expressed a fondness for weapons like the M72.
Developed in
the 1960s, the U.S. made M72 is a 7.7
pound, 66mm, one-shot anti-tank rocket weapon. It has a range of 200 meters and
is useful against structures as well as armored vehicles (although only the
side armor of the latest tanks is vulnerable). The two pound warhead is
designed to have some anti-personnel effect. The $2,000 M72 is the cheapest
weapon in this class, and light enough for someone to carry several.
