Because its easy, lightweight to carry, fast to reload, cheap as hell and most importantly very available.

Ah, very nice to see Jonathan Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK. Which houses a collection of thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history, presenting the facts of the RPG-7 :)

Excellent knowledge of Russian weapons. "Simplicity is what is most difficult in the world; it is the extreme limit of experience and the last effort of genius" - Leonardo da Vinci

You see the RPG constantly but very little info on how it works. This was so informative.

Proof that good, effective weapons do not have to be complicated nor expensive.. thanks for the video, very informative 👍

Cheap and available beats all other considerations. "It's not very powerful!" So fire another one, they are cheap. "It's not accurate!" So fire another one, we have a big pile of them. "It's not 'smart'!" So find a smart operator...

This is by far the best explanation of an RPG 7 and shaped-charges I have ever seen in almost any video, and especially so in such a short video. And I served for 28 years in the US Army. Well done Sir. Thank you.

It's such a beautiful example of Soviet tech: Easy to manufacture, easy to use, easy to adapt and modify, more durable than a cockroach in a twinkie, dirt cheap and not the best by far but by far the best at being good enough.

A week ago Poland ordered over 6 thousand Carl-Gustav M4s to replace 2 thousand of their RPG-7s

The rpg and the Ak47 are both essential tools in the freedom fighters starter kit..✊🏾

The RPGs are not your typical 1 time use and throw away AT weapon compared other shoulder fired AT weapons except the Carl Gustav, because both the RPG and Carl Gustav can be used over and over just as long there is plenty of shaped charged projectiles available.

I used an RPG II in the Congo War 1962 willest with 5 Cdo ( Mike Hoare)mercenaries, they worked well.Many year's later I also used the RPG VII,a far better weapon, greater range accuracy and penetration 11 inches of armour @ 0 deg. The self destruction 900 ft.fuse works well.

Nice to see Jonathan on the channel, I wish the pattern room had closer links with the MOD so that the Royal armouries could get some new British Army Rifles.

The Ukrainian's are also mass building RPG warheads with an additional serrated metal sleeve pre-added to the warhead to add additional fragmentation material for when the warhead explodes.

Always interesting, look forward to your next one Jonathan.

Great video! Very informative!

The RPG-7s best virtue is probably the scale of global ammunition production. The number of users combined with the number of projectiles available motivates the next generation of engineers to evolve the platform.

Brilliant as always Jonathan

The ingenuity of the Russian weapons is the effect-to-cost ratio. It may not be the best quality stuff, but it produces so many so cheaply and so quickly - all that matters in an all out war. The reusable tube is also making it the most environmentally friendly - ok, that is a sarcastic joke.

Fantastic explanation 😮

Excellent detail.

And WHY aren't NATO using something similar? Perhaps because it's too cheap to produce, and that wouldn't be any good for defence contractors...

More of these please! Do all weapons on the battlefield on both sides!

That was a great fun example, thank you. Please could you do a chat on the Carl Gustaf? 07:15 - GPMG + Carl Gustaf - When the missus asks what movie I'd like to see ""Anything! Just play it loud, okay?" Thanks again

More content like this please!

Thank you for that very informative and interesting video 👌

Great description on how the Weapon works.

Soviet engineering at its best

Great video thank you

They are very deadly and dangerous if you are inside a building. I had just gotten to sleep a few seconds then an RPG slammed into the building I was in with my platoon and woke me up from a dead sleep to being awake in seconds. This caused me a big heart attack for being a 19 year old Paratrooper to a near death experience with the tremendous explosion which I was deaf for a few minutes and thought that I had died. The only thing was I had bad ringing in my ears and couldn't hear anyone in the room I was in and saw how terrified everyone was and I moved to get out and find a place to shoot back. I had dreams that take me back to that time which gave me headaches when I had those bad dreams again. The RPG is no joke, still an effective weapon till this day. Even in Iraq in 2006-08 in my mind was find the RPG team, they were not hard to find because a Hadji squad or platoon size group would have 2-4 of them. Always spread out to find important the RPG team usually 2-4 guys. Their machine gun teams were not as dangerous as the RPG, if you can kill both then it's a good day. RPGs can destroy your positions, machine guns can point out where you are, always destroy the RPG guys!!!

In one word :Simplicity!

The Beauty os Russian weapons from Guns to Rocket launcher to other other is that they Cheap and very easy to handle and can be Mass produces and takes less time in Training and at the end Very Very affective and Deadly Unlike western weapons which r expensive and time consuming in training also

I love how in the past 30 years, there has been a massive misinformation campaign surrounding the effectiveness RPG-7. Yet time, and time again these Anti-Tank platforms have been taking down goliath at a budget. I would unironically prefer to have a RPG-7 in a squad than a couple guys lugging around a AT4.

And now the US makes it (PSRL-1). Lighter and with improved ammunition.

Thank you

I served 24 years and have been ever fascinated by this very very simple concept.

5:49 the camera man thought he is clear of back flash, he was wrong

"tankers hate this one cheap trick to raise the temperature inside the hull."

A soviet Russia masterpiece just like ak47 Russia engineers are amazing

5:49 Man ate the backblast

It is great Russian engineering always works and simple to operate , Also super cheap to produce.

Yassin 105 Tandem 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

It's not like a bullet, more like a very concentrated and powerful sand-blaster. If you increase the thickness and the shape of the copper you would end up with something like a bullet.

what about the tandem munitions like Yasin 105?

I had a friend who served in Iraq who got hit by an RPG. The resulting damage he sustained to his brain when he finally emerged from his coma rewired in a way that gave him the exact symptoms of autism

And with thousands of casualties and deaths to it's credit its the swiss knife for the army on a budget and it packs one hell of a punch

If only these weapons were not needed in the world today

The Rpg 7 ( and other models) is a Perfect and deadly Anti-Infantry weapon because of is Self-destruct timer and is range ( roughly 950 Mts) wich is a very safe distance for engaging entrenched enemy Infantry. And still is a very good Anti-Tank weapon when used in certain battlefield environment. An "Old" but Still a very Capable Effective Weapon.

Very interesting thanks for sharing 👍👍👍👍👍👍

what are the bottom left launchers

I grew up in Lebanon. Together with the AK-47 type assault rifles and Dshk mounted Toyota technicals, these things were ubiquitous.

5:49 that cameraman is a bit idiot and lucky at the same time. he's lucky to be alive after that stunt they do there.

How do the Carl Gustaf and B-300 SMAW compare with the RPG-7?

That was super interesting

Concentrated pressure area, yes of course...

I had it when i was soldier. Good stuff with optics

Back blast area was NOT clear…

very well said. it's a Panzerfaust with a reusable tube and a booster/sustainer motor. it's more of a recoilless gun than a 'bazooka'

For Jonathan he needs to know this is also manufactured in the United States by Airtonic as the PSRL. Basically, it can be purchased by the British military from The Americans for use by the SAS and SBS. Currently the airtronic factory is making them for the ukrainians

I can almost hear Jonathan saying “thank god, it is not one of those sci-if gun review”.

What continually amazes me is the fact that Western militaries have refused to copy the RPG and instead stick with less accurate and versatile disposable rockets

if the fuse is in the back of the warhead how does the piezoelectric charge at the tip activate it?

Simple, cheap and effective... Nuff said. People will still be using them 50-100 years from now...

It's a hypersonic jet of molten copper...you won't believe the burn wounds on survivors 😮😮😮

It shouldn't, but those blue gloves really bother me.

I see them on the wall for sale. Do you ship to California?

Why no comparison with 66mm LAW.

A shoulder fired 82mm round! How accurate at close range against static buildings? People will always make use of dis-separate technologies.

Just looking at the difference between the Charlie "G" and the RPG "7" the RPG appears to be more easily portable than the CG. The ammunition seems to be more easily portable as well. As I have never had to carry or use either weapon I could be all wrong about this.

Roberts ridge, Extortion 17, and Operation Red Wings come to mind as extremely effective use of this weapon.

RPG-7 The child of the panzerfaust

Same weapon Somalis used to take down a Blackhawk helicopter back in the 90s it's very effective

Interesting! 😉

Nice video However, it IS a plasma jet with copper (or other non-ferrous metal) nuclei and a bunch of free electron under incredible pressure

What use is the background music?

proud to be Indian

Question: For anyone who has ever fired an RPG, is it actually "recoil-less"? Like could a toddler fire one without falling over???

How on Earth do you 'sight' i.e. estimate the range of an 82mm Mortar on an RPG-7 launcher? Sounds like a fun training exercise, on the field, not so much.

is that a circle 11 marking on the round ?:)) VMZ then...

700 dollar rpgs can stop 10 million dollar Abrams.

The kornet is the successor to the RPG 7

Ballistic High-Speed on KZfaq blew up their RPG launcher when the booster rocket fell off the warhead and bounced around inside the launcher expansion chamber

We had those crappy Laaw disposable thing that was useless.

For years I have wondered if NATO forces should adapt this weapon and why it has not?

CCCP 💪...

Easy to use with minimal training due to simplicity.

How accurate are they?

RPG-7 Unit cost ~$2,000 Projectile cost ~$350-1,000 Carl-Gustaf Unit cost ~$20,000 Projectile cost ~$500-3,000

The Swedish "Charlie G" recoilless gun or weapon system, is the best counter to the old Soviet RPG-7's. The "Charlie G" lightweight to carry, fast to use and aim plus fire then reload too, as well as can be operated by one person if necessary, ideally two soldiers are better. Lastly the "Charlie G" and their rounds are very much more affordable, compared to other Western State of the art Anti-Tank Bunker Busting Weapons. However, the RPG-7 has become the individual Eastern Soldiers and very much International terrorists, Anti-Tank Weapon of choice because they are cheap!

there is at least 7 types of rounds for RPG7

4:24 are you sure what you're saying here is about the RPG 7?

They can make the charge diy at home

My cat invented nuclear shape charge. He's ingenious! He did it in our garage! He was going to test it on North Korea. It's very fortunate that I stopped him before he could do it.🙀

a jet of particles is a plasma

Sooomething!!! Roa Aotearoa nui.

the guerrila’s answer.

russia was is and probably will be for a very long time the maker of the most cheap but reliable and so effective weapons worldwide, the library mouses know how to desgn amazing stuff

Blast 5:46

This guys' lingo😂 'death dealing end' or 'to whom it may concern'

400meter effective range 700 max. Vs t72 main gun 4500 meters range..... So you gotta get close or rpg 7 sucks.