Hope this link works,

again courtesy of DefenseReview.Com.

 

http://www.defensereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/airtronic_rpg_7_usa_21.jpg" width="500" align="left" border="0" />

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd be curious to see how well they match up in per-unit price.

My guess is the Airtronics kit comes in more expensive than any of the other nations producing it...(just seems to be an American thing: take another idea, and add bells and whistles to justify the insane price increase).

 

Not like the RPG series launchers ever really required tight tolerances of their components, simplicity, robustness, and cheap and easy to manufacture being the goal.

 

Now if some western companies started developing more lethal and capable rounds for it, then we'd have the competitive edge (but again, that's providing we don't charge 4-5 times more for each round!)

 

Looking at various other shaped charge warheads, I'm curious how potent a new generation HEAT warhead in 85mm could be made compared to standard (original designs) Russian/former WP production (copper liners?).

 

But the kicker has always been, it still requires a separate laucher system altogether,

unlike the hook-it-under-anyone's-AR M203 (which certainly lacks a comparable punch, but can make up for it in the fact that more troops can be issued it without overcomplicating their current weapons loads).

 

Still, I'd to have a try at something like this (second entry, with the pic) myself, giving every soldier RPG-like anti-armor lethality capabilities but without the bulky weight of always carrying around an RPG launcher (and having to be concerned with its backblast area) or the semi-permanently-attached M203.

(Being a leftie (-handed) myself, I never could get used to the right-handed/right-shoulder firing posture necessary to properly use the M203...)

There’s a new American made RPG-7 at   http://www.airtronic.net/contact.shtmllink /> IT WOULD BE NICE TO LOAD THE BULGARIAN GTB-7BG INTO YOUR AMERICAN VERSION OF THE RPG THEN SELL IT FOR LESS THAN $500 SO IT WOULD TAKE THE PLACE OF THE ARMY AT4, LAW and SMAW FOR IMMEDIATE USE IN AFGHANISTAN AND VMZ IS HIGHLY MOTIVATED TO MAKE A DEAL - NOW. This AMERICAN RPG-7 could fire GTB-7BG  http://articles.janes.com/arti...  and really kick Taliban ass….Use of Overwhelming force of Thermobaric Ammo is the best exit stradegy. These Thermobaric rounds are what really scares the enemy and wins.

When will the US start taking thermobaric rounds seriously? Do we even have one for the M4 Gustav?  It would hit like a full-sized 105mm howitzer.

 

Also is a thermobaric round for the 40mm AGL or 203 a possibility - I don't know if there is some kind of minimum size.  If not it seems like a 203 round or even a thermobaric hand grenade could be a real room-clearer.