LAW 80

Last updated
LAW 80
DM-SD-07-17341 (LAW 80 crop).jpg
Unextended LAW 80
Type Rocket-propelled grenade (anti-tank, disposable)
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Service history
In service1987–present
Used bySee § Users
Wars
Production history
Manufacturer Hunting Engineering
Produced1987–1993 [1]
No. builtc. 113,000 [1]
Specifications
Mass
  • 9 kg (20 lb) loaded
  • 4.6 kg (10 lb) projectile
Length
  • 1.5 m (59 in) firing
  • 1 m (39 in) carrying
Crew1

Calibre 94 mm (3.7 in)
Effective firing range20–500 m (66–1,640 ft)
Sights×1 magnification telescopic sight
Warhead HEAT
Detonation
mechanism
Contact fuze
Blast yield600-700 rha mm

Propellant HTPB
Launch
platform
Man-portable launcher

The LAW 80 (Light Anti-armour Weapon 80), regularly referred to as LAW 94 in British service, is a man-portable, disposable anti-tank weapon previously used by the British Army and a few other militaries.

Contents

Description

The weapon consists of an extendable launch tube with an integrated 9 mm (0.35 in) spotting rifle and 1× sight. The spotting rifle has five rounds of ammunition, and is ballistically matched to the rocket. The rounds it uses are quite unusual, consisting of a 9 mm tracer bullet loaded in a necked up 7.62mm NATO shell casing, with a .22 Hornet blank mounted in the base of the larger case, providing the propellant charge. Upon firing, the .22 cartridge case pushes out of the back of the 7.62 mm casing, unlocking the breech of the spotting rifle in a form of primer actuation. [2]

To launch the rocket the firer removes the large protective end caps and extends the rear of the launch tube, opens the sight, and moves the arming lever to "armed". The weapon is then in spotting rifle mode. To fire the rocket, the firer moves a charge lever forward with his firing hand thumb. The rocket motor burns out before it leaves the launch tube, the resulting blast being directed rearwards from the launch tube. The rocket then coasts to the target, arming itself after it has passed a certain arming distance. The warhead is a HEAT shaped charge and could penetrate 700 mm (28 in) of rolled homogeneous armour at 90 degrees, as was taught to soldiers trained on the weapon system in the British Army, Royal Navy (Royal Marines) and RAF Regiment [ citation needed ]. It was also taught that sloped, composite and reactive armour [ citation needed ], would reduce the penetration and would be an important factor when selecting the aiming point.

Specifications

External images
LAW 80 Brochure 1985
Searchtool.svg LAW 80(1)
Searchtool.svg LAW 80(2)
Searchtool.svg LAW 80(3)
Searchtool.svg LAW 80(4)

Operators

Operators
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Current
Former LAW 80 operators.png
Operators
  Current
  Former

Current operators

Past operators

Addermine

Addermine is an acoustic sensor system which uses the LAW 80 as a kill mechanism to create an anti-armour off-route mine. It can also be command detonated from up to 200 m away, or 2 km via a laser optical link. [7]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "LAW-80". WeaponSystems.net. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  2. "Cartridge of the Month". cartridgecollectors.org.
  3. "Google Sites". sites.google.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  4. Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (27 January 2009). ISBN   978-0-7106-2869-5.
  5. "World Infantry Weapons: Sierra Leone". 2013. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016.
  6. Owen, William F. (2007). "Light Anti-Armour Weapons: Anti-Everything?" (PDF). Asian Military Review. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  7. Heyman, Charles (2008). The British Army: A Pocket Guide 2002-2003. Casemate Publishers. p. 128. ISBN   9781783378968.

See also

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References