The M72 LAW (light anti-tank weapon, also referred to as the light anti-armor weapon or LAW as well as LAWS: light anti-armor weapons system) is a man-portable disposable unguided anti-tank weapon.
In early 1963, the M72 LAW was adopted by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps as their primary individual infantry anti-tank weapon, replacing the M31 HEAT rifle grenade and the M20A1 "Super Bazooka" in the U.S. Army. It was subsequently adopted by the U.S. Air Force to serve in an anti-emplacement and anti-armor role in airbase defense.Mary T. Cagle "History of the TOW Missile System", page 10, U.S. Army, 1977.The U.S. Army partially replaced the Super Bazooka not only with the M72 LAW, but also the M67 recoilless rifle, and U.S. Marines kept the Super Bazooka in service until the late 1960s.
In the early 1980s, the M72 was slated to be replaced by the FGR-17 Viper. However, the Viper program was canceled by Congress and the M136 AT4 was adopted instead. At that time, its nearest equivalents were the Swedish Pskott m/68 (Miniman) and the French SARPAC.
Background
The increased importance of tanks and other armored vehicles in World War II caused a need for portable infantry weapons to deal with them. The first to be used (with varying successes) were Molotov cocktails, flamethrowers, satchel charges, jury-rigged landmines, and specially designed magnetic hollow charges. All of these had to be used within a few meters of the target, which was difficult and dangerous.
The U.S. Army introduced the bazooka, the first rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Despite early problems, it was a success and was copied by other countries.
However, the bazooka had its drawbacks. Large and easily damaged, it required a well-trained two-man crew. Germany developed a one-man alternative, the Panzerfaust, having single-shot launchers that were cheap and required no special training. As a result, they were regularly issued to Volkssturm home-guard regiments. They were efficient against tanks during the last days of World War II.
The M72 LAW is a combination of the two World War II weapons. The basic principle is a miniaturized bazooka, while its light weight and cheapness rival the Panzerfaust.
Development and production The solid rocket propulsion unit was developed in the newly formed Rohm and Haas research laboratory at Redstone Arsenal in 1959,E. T. DeRieux et al. Final Report – Development of LAW Propulsion Unit, R&H RARD, Technical Report No. S-12, December 1959 and the full system was designed by Paul V. Choate, Charles B. Weeks, Frank A. Spinale, et al. at the Hesse-Eastern Division of Norris Thermador. American production of the weapon began by Hesse-Eastern in 1963, and was terminated by 1983; currently it is produced by Nammo Raufoss AS in Norway and their subsidiary, Nammo Defense Systems (formerly Nammo Talley Inc.) in Arizona."M72 products" . Nammo Talley, Inc. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
Description
The weapon consists of a rocket within a launcher consisting of two tubes, one inside the other. While closed, the outer assembly serves as a watertight container for the rocket and the percussion-cap firing mechanism that activates the rocket. The outer tube contains the trigger, the arming handle, front and rear sights, and the rear cover. The inner tube contains the channel assembly, which houses the firing pin assembly, including the detent lever. When extended, the inner tube telescopes outward toward the rear, guided by the channel assembly, which rides in an alignment slot in the outer tube's trigger housing assembly. This causes the detent lever to move under the trigger assembly in the outer tube, both locking the inner tube in the extended position and cocking the weapon. Once armed, the weapon is no longer watertight, even if the launcher is collapsed into its original configuration. It is a line of sight weapon with a range around .
When fired, the striker in the rear tube impacts a primer, which ignites a small amount of powder that "flashes" down a tube to the rear of the rocket and ignites the propellant in the rocket motor. The rocket motor burns completely before leaving the mouth of the launcher, producing a backblast of gases around . The rocket propels the warhead forward without significant recoil. As the warhead emerges from the launcher, six fins spring out from the base of the rocket tube, stabilizing the warhead's flight. The early LAW warhead, developed from the M31 HEAT rifle grenade warhead, uses a simple piezoelectric fuse system. On impact with the target, the front of the nose section is crushed, causing a microsecond electric current to be generated, which detonates a booster charge located in the base of the warhead, which sets off the main warhead charge. The force of the main charge forces the copper liner into a directional particle jet that, in relation to the size of the warhead, is capable of a massive penetration.
A unique mechanical set-back safety on the base of the detonator grounds the circuit until the missile has accelerated out of the tube. The acceleration causes the three disks in the safety mechanism to rotate 90° in succession, ungrounding the circuit; the circuit from the nose to the base of the detonator is then completed when the piezoelectric crystal is crushed on impact.
The weapon can be fired from inside buildings as long as the structures are at least in size, which is about in volume, and have sufficient ventilation. The Department of the Army previously rated the weapon as safe to fire from enclosure, but this rating was removed in 2010 after the introduction of the safer AT4 CS. However, some modern variants of the LAW are specifically designed with fire-from-enclosure (FFE) capability.
In late 2021, Nammo unveiled the concept of a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a LAW. The tube is mounted facing downward, enabling the drone operator to fire on tanks and armored vehicles from a top attack position while remaining away.
Ammunition
M72 LAWs used rockets, which were issued with the launcher itself. Improvements to the launcher and differences in the ammunition were differentiated by a single designation. The M72A2's warhead penetrated of armor.
A training variant of the M72 LAW, designated M190, also exists. This weapon is reloadable and uses the M73 training rocket. A subcaliber training device that uses a special tracer cartridge also exists for the M72. A training variant used by the Finnish armed forces fires tracer rounds.
The US Army tested other 66 mm rockets based on the M54 rocket motor used for the M72. The M74 TPA (thickened pyrophoric agent) had an incendiary warhead filled with TEA (triethylaluminum); this was used in the M202A1 FLASH (flame assault shoulder weapon) four-tube launcher. The XM96 RCR (riot control rocket) had a CS gas-filled warhead for crowd control and was also intended for use with the M202, though the rocket never entered service.
Service history
Australia The M72 rocket has been in Australian service since the Vietnam War.REL22751 – M72 (L1A2F1) Rocket Launcher – Australian War Memorial. Accessed December 2010.Weapons Used by Infantry Rifle Sections – diggerhistory.info. Accessed December 2010. Currently, the Australian Defence Force uses the M72A6 variant, known as the "light direct fire support weapon", as an anti-structure and secondary anti-armor weapon. The weapon is used by ordinary troops at the section (squad) level and complements the heavier Carl Gustav recoilless rifle and Javelin missile, which are generally used by specialized fire support and anti-armor troops.REMEMBER WHEN.... WE GOT ATGWS?
Canada As of 21 February 2023, Canada has supplied 4,500 M72s to Ukraine for use in the Russo-Ukrainian War. These are of the M72A5-C1 designation.
Finland The M72 LAW is used in the Finnish Army (some 70,000 pieces), where it is known under the designations 66 KES 75 (M72A2, no longer in service) and 66 KES 88 (M72A5). In accordance with the weapon's known limitations, a pair of "tank-buster" troops crawl to a firing position around away from the target, bringing with them four to six LAWs, which are then used in rapid succession until the target is destroyed or incapacitated. Due to its low penetration capability, it is used mostly against lightly armored targets. The M72 is the most common anti-tank weapon in the Finnish Army. Finland has recently upgraded its stocks to the M72 EC LAW Mk.I version. It is designated 66 KES 12 Claimed penetration for the M72 EC LAW is of rolled homogeneous armor steel plate, nearly twice that of the M72A2."Nammo Ammunition Handbook: Edition 2" , Nordic Ammunition Company (Nammo), page 131, 2014. It also fields the bunker-buster version that contains of DPX-6 explosive, named M72 ASM RC, and locally designated 66 KES 12 RAK. The oldest version of the 66 KES 75 is now retired.
Israel Having first arrived in Israel during The Yom Kippur War as part of Operation Nickel Grass, the LAW is the primary light anti tank weapon of the Israeli infantry, and has been used extensively throughout the different wars and conflicts, including the current Gaza war.
Norway In late February 2022, the Norwegian government announced that it intended to donate "up to 2,000" M72 LAW units from their reserve stocks to Ukraine, in response to the Russian invasion. On March 30, 2022, the Norwegian Defence Ministry said that 2,000 more units will be sent to Ukraine.
Taiwan The Republic of China Army (Taiwan) uses the M72 as a secondary anti-armor weapon for infantry units. It is used primarily as a backup to the Javelin and BGM-71 TOW anti-tank weapons. The weapon was later reverse-engineered into the "Type 1 66 mm anti-armor rocket", which was introduced from M72 A2, but is more-popularly nicknamed as the "Type 66 rocket" due to its caliber. After several decades of application, the Type 66mm anti-armor rocket has evolved into Kestrel (67mm) model since 2008.
Turkey The Turkish Army uses a locally built version by Makina ve Kimya Endustrisi Kurumu, called HAR-66 (Hafif Antitank Roketi, 'light antitank rocket'), which has the performance and characteristics of a mix of an M72A2 and an A3. Turkey also indigenously developed an anti-personnel warhead version of HAR-66 AP and called it "Eşek Arısı" ('wasp').
United Kingdom
The British Army employed the NAMMO M72, designated as the "Rocket 66 mm HEAT L1A1," until it was phased out and replaced by the LAW 80 in the 1980s."Jane's Infantry Weapons 1995–1996", page 686 The M72 saw active use during the 1982 Falklands War, where it was primarily utilized to suppress Argentinian defensive positions at close range. Additionally, it was used against an assault amphibious vehicle during the initial invasion and played a role in damaging the Argentinian warship during the invasion of South Georgia.
Under the 2012 Urgent Operational Requirement program, the M72 was reintroduced into British service, with the M72A9 variant being designated as the Light Anti-Structure Munition (LASM).
United States
During and after Vietnam War, all issued LAWs were recalled after instances of the warhead exploding in flight, sometimes injuring the operator. Each LAW that received the safety modifications was stenciled "w/coupler".Some reports state these instances were caused by misfires due to water in the flash tube and by unproven rumors of sabotage at the manufacturing plant during the Vietnam War.