RPG-7

The RPG-7 is a Soviet shoulder-fired rocket launcher introduced in 1961. Its name comes from the Russian words for hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher. It fires a rocket from a smooth metal tube and can be reloaded and fired again in a few seconds.

Afghanistan received RPG-7s from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. When the Soviet-Afghan War began in 1979, the weapon passed into the hands of mujahideen fighters, along with fresh supplies sent through Pakistan.

The RPG-7 became one of the most feared weapons of that war. Fighters used it against Soviet armored vehicles, trucks, helicopters, and even buildings and hilltop bunkers. Mujahideen teams learned to ambush convoys from the mountains, firing several rockets at once. A direct hit could destroy a tank, and the launcher was light enough for one fighter to carry across high mountain passes.

The RPG-7 is still used around the world today. It is cheap, tough, and simple enough to be operated with very little training, which is why it outlived the war that made it famous.