German PanzerFaust VS RPG

[x westie]

Hi  Guys,            With the use of the RPG by terrorist's in Afghanistan and Iraq ,i would like to know more as how the RPG compares to the German PanzerFaust of WW2, I have been told that the PanzerFaust was a very potent weapon against our tanks, maybe some of our knowledgeable Army.Ca guys could give some info on these 2 weapons,, thanks for your input.

 

[xavier]

Westie:
From what I've read the RPG family is allegedly an evolution of the panzerfaust. Specifically the RPG 2 is based on a German wartime design that never saw production called the Panzerfaut 250. This launcher was to be reusable and there were 2 types of missiles- antitank and antipersonnel.  Obviously the RPG has been improved over the years as the armour has improved.
Right now the RPG 7 (the most common) is unable to destroy a modern tank like the M1/Leo 2/Challenger/ T80 though a well placed shot can disable it. The RPG rocket can still knock out the tracks and wheels (though the sideskirts are designed to minimize the damage)  the rear (aka engine bloc) and maybe the turret but I'll defer to the tankers to refute or confrm what I've written.
You can read about how the M1 was specifically designed to neutralize the RPG threat. Osprey has a booklet on the tank and Zaloga devotes a section in his booklet.
Osprey also has booklet on the Leopard I & II, the Merkava and the Challenger which should shed aditional light on your question.

Hope that helps.

xavier

xavier

 

[Armymatters]

Here's a good page on the Panzerfaust and all its variants:
http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust2.htm

Captured German factories producing the Panzerfaust continued to produce Panzerfaust for the Russians for quite a while. The Russians then developed Panzerfaust into their first indigenous RPG: RPG-2, which was the predecessor of the current RPG-7.