Power of a AT Rifle Grenade

[Virdea]

I did a lot of checking and finally consulted a person who actually fires them and trains others to do the same.  The current French AT grenade is the grenade à fusil antichar de 58 mm Mle F1 PAB - ACS58 to the world as a whole.  The grenades cost France $200 and have a shelf life of 24 years.  The mass .5 and have a 95% chance to hit a tank sized object at 100 meters.  The manual says the weapon has a RHA rating of 350 (I will leave that to the armor experts to figure) and can penetrate 800mm of bunker quality concrete.  The trainer for the weapon informs me that the grenade actually penetrates better than what it says since the same warhead is used in other instances and has a higher factor, and they inform their students to count on an RHA of 400.  

 

In terms of anti-personal use they are instructed to treat each grenade like a 60mm mortar in terms of danger close fire.  A special trick for users of this and the main AP grenade is to have five rifleman fire five grenades into a star pattern around an enemy position with a TOT burst.  Another trick is to fire it at a tree which I gather causes terrible secondary wounds.

[Belesarius]

I did a lot of checking and finally consulted a person who actually fires them and trains others to do the same.  The current French AT grenade is the grenade à fusil antichar de 58 mm Mle F1 PAB - ACS58 to the world as a whole.  The grenades cost France $200 and have a shelf life of 24 years.  The mass .5 and have a 95% chance to hit a tank sized object at 100 meters.  The manual says the weapon has a RHA rating of 350 (I will leave that to the armor experts to figure) and can penetrate 800mm of bunker quality concrete.  The trainer for the weapon informs me that the grenade actually penetrates better than what it says since the same warhead is used in other instances and has a higher factor, and they inform their students to count on an RHA of 400.  

 

In terms of anti-personal use they are instructed to treat each grenade like a 60mm mortar in terms of danger close fire.  A special trick for users of this and the main AP grenade is to have five rifleman fire five grenades into a star pattern around an enemy position with a TOT burst.  Another trick is to fire it at a tree which I gather causes terrible secondary wounds.

Ugh. Wood splinters are horrible.  I'm guessing the mass is .5kg, or just over a pound?  Do you know what the standard loadout for a squad would be?

[Khand-e]

I've used this image before, but why not again?

 

 

While not designed for AT purposes per say, notice the gold/black device on the right, that's a rifle grenade designed to be used as a breeching charge that, despite it's size. is apparently strong enough to blow down even a structural steel dead bolted door off it's hinges or at the very least destroy the bolts and locks on the door, though while it's meant as a breeching charge, It can be used in a pinch as an anti personnel grenade. Similarly, since you mentioned wood with trees, when fired at a wooden door, it will usually have enough body fragmention/shrapnel generation to cause wounds on the other side of the door for anyone trying to use the building inside as cover or concealment.

[Collimatrix]

400mm penetration from a 58mm projectile is nearly seven calibers of penetration.  Penetration of concrete is usually double the penetration in RHA, so that does lend some credence to the higher number.  Seven calibers is tip-top of the line performance in this day and age, especially for a mass-produced infantry weapon.  By comparison, US 40mm HEDP only manages a bit over 1.5 calibers of penetration.

 

Shaped charges penetrate better in tests if the test block they're being fired into is just under their maximum penetration.  So, if you fire the charge into a 500mm thick witness block, it may penetrate less (say, 350), while if the block is 400mm deep, it may punch right through.  This is because there's less material providing resistance to the jet at its maximum penetration into the block.

 

There are also differing standards of what constitutes penetration.  If the jet just barely makes it through, some may not count that as a penetration, as it wouldn't have enough oomph to really hurt anything on the other side.

 

Not surprised it costs $200 a pop.  Performance that good requires extremely precise manufacture of the charge liner.  You start having to manipulate residual stresses in the liner material, as these can affect liner collapse symmetry.

[Virdea]

Ugh. Wood splinters are horrible.  I'm guessing the mass is .5kg, or just over a pound?  Do you know what the standard loadout for a squad would be?

 

There is no standard load out as the squad is suppose to decide what the optimum mix of ammo and grenades is.  Each squad will have a GPMG, a designated marksman, a rocket launcher (sometimes a obsolete LRAC, sometimes an ERYX) and from 5 to 7 rifleman.  Most interviews I have conducted have each rifleman carrying either a rocket or a belt of ammo for the crew weapons, and a collective 40 grenades.  Standard practice for French special operations is to suppress enemy with a one minute barrage of 20 grenades while the LRAC, MG, and GPMG find covering positions, then these elements engage in a more sustained fashion.  

[Virdea]

400mm penetration from a 58mm projectile is nearly seven calibers of penetration.  Penetration of concrete is usually double the penetration in RHA, so that does lend some credence to the higher number.  Seven calibers is tip-top of the line performance in this day and age, especially for a mass-produced infantry weapon.  By comparison, US 40mm HEDP only manages a bit over 1.5 calibers of penetration.

 

Shaped charges penetrate better in tests if the test block they're being fired into is just under their maximum penetration.  So, if you fire the charge into a 500mm thick witness block, it may penetrate less (say, 350), while if the block is 400mm deep, it may punch right through.  This is because there's less material providing resistance to the jet at its maximum penetration into the block.

 

There are also differing standards of what constitutes penetration.  If the jet just barely makes it through, some may not count that as a penetration, as it wouldn't have enough oomph to really hurt anything on the other side.

 

Not surprised it costs $200 a pop.  Performance that good requires extremely precise manufacture of the charge liner.  You start having to manipulate residual stresses in the liner material, as these can affect liner collapse symmetry.

 

My contact tells me the French love grenades in Afghanistan because they are very difficult to trace back to their source of origin and even though 200 bucks is expensive, it is cheaper than firing a $10,000 ERYX down range.  They also love the AT grenades because the Taliban do not fortify their positions heavy enough to keep the weapons from punching through their cover.

 

Khand, that is an interesting diagram.