NIZHNY TAGIL, September 11. /TASS/. The Russian army is receiving advanced RPG-30 antitank rocket launchers, NPO Bazalt Director General Vladimir Porkhachyov told TASS at the Russia Arms Expo 2015 (RAE 2015) international arms show on Friday. "The RPG-30 has entered service and is being fielded with the Army," he said.
According to the director general, the latest rocket launcher is second to none in the world, because it is designed for punching through any active protection systems mounted on armored vehicles to enhance their survivability.
Porkhachyov commented that all active protection systems shared the same philosophy, i.e. radar acquisition of an incoming antitank missile and its elimination at a short or long range with warheads, fragments and high-explosive effect. Those systems have common drawbacks, however, i.e. long reaction time. This was taken into consideration by the developer of the RPG-30.
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"The novelty of the Russian rocket launcher is that two rockets are fired at the target at the same time. One is a so-called ‘agent provocateur’ 42 mm in caliber, followed a bit later by a primary 105-mm tandem warhead rocket," he said.
The first rocket trips the target vehicle’s active protection system that kicks in to eliminate it, while the second rocket with the post-explosive reactive armor penetration capability exceeding 600 mm slips past the defenses and hits the target. The rocket launcher has a range of 300 m.
According to Porkhachyov, potential buyers have been very keen on the RPG-30. "At RAE 2015, our stand was visited by Saudis who were very interested in the weapon," he said.