RPG-7

A shoulder-fired launcher designed in 1961 that has found a second career nobody planned for it. Its PG-7 shaped-charge grenade is one of the typical warheads fitted to first-person-view attack drones, which means much of the armour hit in this war is hit by RPG ammunition — just not fired from an RPG.

Overview

The RPG-7 is a Soviet reusable, shoulder-fired, unguided rocket-propelled grenade launcher, in production since 1961 and fielded in essentially every conflict since. It is cheap, mechanically trivial, requires minimal training and accepts a wide family of warheads. Both Russia and Ukraine use it, as does virtually every other armed force and armed group on earth.

Its conventional role in Ukraine is what it has always been: a short-range infantry weapon for engaging vehicles, fortifications and buildings, most useful in urban terrain and close ambush. On that measure it is a declining asset — modern tanks with explosive reactive armour and, increasingly, active protection systems are hard targets for an unguided round fired from a few hundred metres by an exposed operator.

The more consequential fact is what happened to its ammunition. The PG-7 warhead — the shaped charge from an RPG round, stripped of its rocket motor — has become the standard explosive payload for FPV attack drones on both sides. A weapon designed for a soldier to fire at 200 metres now arrives on a quadcopter, from above, at the top armour where it works best.

🔒 The full RPG-7 file is for BattlePolicy Pro members. Below the line: development history, design and capabilities, variants, the combat record, advantages and limitations, comparable systems, outlook, the full specifications table, our sourcing, and the analyst assessment — procurement, suppliers and the BattlePolicy verdict. Unlock the full file with BattlePolicy Pro →