Panzerfaust 3

History

The Panzerfaust 3's name dates back to the Panzerfaust used by the German army in World War II, which consisted of a small, disposable preloaded launch tube firing a high explosive anti-tank warhead, operated by a single soldier.

The introduction of reactive and active armours on combat vehicles of the then Warsaw Pact countries started a development in the technology of the capability of the warheads, the effective range and the optical sights of anti-tank recoilless rifles were therefore improved substantially. Despite these technological improvements, the primary role of the recoilless firing system as the most effective weapon against armoured tanks — at a distance up to 600 metres — remained the most important to infantrymen until the late 1990s.

After the formation of the Bundeswehr in 1956, one task of all troop formations was „fighting armoured vehicles and tanks“. The Bundeswehr at time was equpiped with the aging Panzerfaust 44 and the heavy Carl Gustaf 84 mm anti-tank rifle. These infantry weapon systems equipped with an armour piercing shaped charge warhead would have fought not only tanks but also machine gun nests, anti-tank positions, bunkers or field positions, etc. in open terrain. However, during the 70's new conceptional and tactical considerations were made in order to balance the constantly progressing development in tank technology.

In 1979 Dynamite Nobel AG received a development order, the first troop test began in 1986, and in 1992 Panzerfaust 3 was officially introduced. The improved PzF 3-T replaced the original model in the late 1990s, introducing a dual hollow charge "tandem" warhead to defeat explosive reactive armour. This means that the spike projecting from the warhead itself also contains an explosive charge to set off reactive armour and free the path to the main armour for the secondary warhead. The latest incarnation of the Panzerfaust 3, the PzF 3-IT-600, can be fired from ranges up to 600 metres thanks to an advanced computer-assisted sighting and targeting mechanism.

As of 2005, there were two additional models in the development or testing stage, both relying on smaller, and therefore lighter, warheads. These were the Rückstoßfreie Granatwaffe RGW (Recoilless Grenade Weapon) in calibres 60 and 90 millimetres. Both new weapons are expected to help facilitate the transition in German military doctrine from preparation for major tank battles to urban and low-level warfare.

Principle

The Panzerfaust 3 series of launchers is a compact, lightweight, shoulder-fired, unguided antitank weapon series. It consists of a disposable canister with a 110-mm warhead and reusable firing and sighting device. The DM12 and DM12A1 projectile consists of a shaped-charge warhead and is filled with Octol 7030, while the tandem DM22 warheads are made of PBX octogene (ca. 95% β-HMX) including the propulsion unit. The penetration performance of the Panzerfaust 3 is due to the shaped charge principle and the quick response of the percussion fuze; the effect on the target does not depend on the impact velocity.

The Panzerfaust 3 is light enough to be carried and fired by one person. It can be fired from enclosures since it does not have a significant backblast; the rear of the tube, filled with plastic granulate, minimises the blast effect by the so-called recoilless countermass principle. The booster propellant for the projectile in its tube is ignited by a bolt via a spring mechanism. Once ejected from the launcher, the projectile coasts a safe distance and then the rocket motor is ignited, boosting it to its maximum speed, after which it coasts until impact. The gunner carries at least two rounds while the assistant grenadier carries an additional three rounds.

The ergonomic design of the controls such as handles, launcher, barrel shape and optical sight, is predefined standard. All controls are easy to handle in all shooting positions (lying, kneeling or standing). After the weapon is fired, the firing mechanism with the attached optical sight is removed and the barrel thrown away, the firing mechanism is reusable. The effective combat range of Panzerfaust 3 is between 15 and 300 metres against moving and 400 and 600 metres against static targets. An optical sight with line pattern fixed to the reusable firing mechanism enables to engage moving or static targets. To ensure night combat capability, a night-vision device or residual light amplifier can be set up in front of the optical sight.

As safety precautions, the built-in fuse for the warhead is released by a safety mechanism. This arms the warhead after a flight distance of approximately five meters. Once armed, the warhead will detonate on impact, and as a safety when the rocket's propellant runs out. This safeguards against live ammunition staying around and causing hazards to all in the future. The Panzerfaust 3 is distributed in a special package including spare parts and a cleaning kit. The package contains a launcher, ejector and spring, extractor, dummy extractor plug, bolt-head retaining pin, plastic cleaning rod with brass tip, bore and chamber brushes, camel's hair brush and a prismatic bore scope. It takes several minutes to assemble and load the launcher.

Further development

A new sight called Dynarange is currently being procured as part of the German Infantryman of the Future project. Essentially this is a computer controlled aiming sight with range finder. It is meant to cope with the fact that some soldiers have had difficulties with the regular sight, as its scope is quite complex to the untrained eye. It would increases the weapon's effective range to 600 m (2,000 ft) against moving and stationary targets. Dynarange is already in service with the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps and the Dutch Army.

Variants

Data used from "Worldwide Equipment Guide, Volume 1: Ground Systems, December 2011"

PzF 3

Standard Anti-tank version with hollow charge warhead

PzF 3-IT

Improved Anti-tank version with tandem hollow charge warhead (designed to penetrate reactive armour)

PzF 3 Bunkerfaust

Designed for use against hardened bunkers, lightly armoured vehicles & soft targets

Ammunition

Current operators