Ukrainian Training Videos: RPG-18

Since the war in Ukraine began on 24 February, the Ukrainian armed forces have been hastily putting together and sharing training films for various weapon systems. we’re sharing these so they’re saved for the historical record and so they can be easily found by those who might need them. We’ll try and give some context on the weapon’s origins and on who made the training video.

*Demonstrating how to deploy the RPG-18, the tube isn’t fully extended as its a live weapon*

In this well shot video a Ukrainian soldier demonstrates the features and handling of an RPG-18. The RPG-18 (‘Mukha’ or ‘fly’) was the first of the Soviet/Russian family of extendable tube launchers (very similar to the US M72 LAW). The RPG-18 was developed in the late-1960s and was introduced in the early 1970s. It has since largely been replaced by larger calibre and more capable launchers. The weapon is a simple, smoothbore, single-use launcher. It is constructed from an aluminium tube with an outer layer of fibreglass.

*A close up of the RPG-18’s locking system, rear sight and trigger*

It isn’t clear how many RPG-18 the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ may have had in inventory before the war began but it appears that the weapon seen in this video was made in East Germany and probably transferred by Germany as part of Germany’s military aid shipments to Ukraine. While Greece have also reportedly transferred a quantity of RPG-18s, we have seen other examples in the field with identical German instructions stickers.

#Ukraine: A rather interesting RPG-18 was captured by DNR forces; as can be seen, it was made by East Germany, and most likely recently transferred by Germany to UA forces. pic.twitter.com/B9WrWSRJvz
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 16, 2022

The video first surfaced around the 21st March, posted by Vadim Kodachigov (the director of Kort, a military industrial company) on Facebook, though he may not be the original creator. Kodachigov appears to be part of a Territorial Defence Force unit. The video identifies the unit as part of the 112th Territorial Defense Brigade (Kyiv). The production value of the video is relatively high, with a title card, good editing, close ups and some interesting footage of the weapon being fired.

RPG-18 Specifications:

Warhead	64mm HEAT
Weight (round and launcher)	5.7lbs (2.6kg)
Length	27.8in (705mm) – collapsed 41.3in (1050mm) – extended
Effective Range	220yd (200m)
Penetration	11.8in (300mm) against RHA

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Bibliography:

Earliest video source found: Vadim Kodachigov via facebook (source)

RPG-18, Military-Today, (source)

Ukrainian Training Video: RPG-76 Komar

Since the war in Ukraine began on 24 February the Ukrainian armed forces have been hastily putting together and sharing training films for various weapon systems. One of the most interesting weapons to be transferred to Ukraine is the Polish RPG-76 Komar (‘Mosquito’).

*Demonstrating the controls of the RPG-76*

The RPG-76 is essentially a smaller, lighter single-shot RPG-7, it has a folding stock and its round is adapted so its rocket nozzles are angled at 45-degrees to protect the user when firing. The RPG-76 was developed in the mid-1970s and entered production at Niewiadów in the mid-1980s. It was eventually withdrawn from general issue in 2003 but remained in Polish Army stores and saw some use with Polish troops during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While the RPG-76 can reportedly penetrate up to 260mm of Rolled homogeneous armour (RHA) it lacks a tandem charge round which could engage targets, such as tanks, with explosive reactive armour. Despite this it should be more than capable of taking on most Russian light armoured vehicles and soft-skin vehicles like trucks.

The small number of examples seen in the field so far appear to date to the late 1980s. Poland announced they would be transferring military aid to Ukraine in early February and has since transferred ammunition, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, mortars and provided medical supplies.

Another example of an RPG-76 in the field:

#Russia #Ukraine 🇷🇺🇺🇦: #Ukrainian Combatant with a noteable 1988-dated Polish RPG-76 'Komar' anti-tank grenade launcher, possibly supplied by #Poland 🇵🇱. pic.twitter.com/HuZkFGtV0k
— War Noir (@war_noir) March 21, 2022

The video first surfaced around the 11th March, posted on Facebook by Vadim Kodachigov (the director of Kort, a military industrial company), though he may not be the original creator. Kodachigov appears to be part of a Territorial Defence Force unit, who may also feature in the video.

RPG-76 Specifications:

Warhead:	40mm HEAT
Weight (round and launcher):	4.6lbs (2.1kg)
Length	32in (805mm) – folded 43in (1190mm) – extended
Effective Range	273yd (250m)
Penetration	10.2in (260mm) against RHA

Watch the training video for the Stinger MANPADS here

Bibliography:

Earliest source found: Vadim Kodachigov via facebook (source)

RPG-76 Komar – Polish miniature grenade launcher: how to shoot with this weapon, Defense Express, (source)

Ukrainian Forces Takes Delivery of Polish RPG-76 Komar Rocket-propelled Grenade, MilitaryLeaks, (source)

Poland pledges to send weapons to Ukraine, Independent, (source)

Translation of video adapted from @mdmitri91’s translation

Clement Attlee’s Curious MkII STEN Front Grip

I was recently I was taking a look through the Imperial War Museums’ online image collection when I found a pair of very interesting photographs taken in Scotland in April 1942. They show Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee handling a STEN MkII submachine gun while visiting Polish troops. Most interestingly though is the folding front grip which has been added to the Sten!

*Clement Attlee with STEN MkII (Imperial War Museum)*

The MkII, introduced in August 1941, did not have a folding front grip as standard. The earlier MkI had had a front folding grip, but the MkI*, introduced in October 1942, had eliminated this to speed up production. The original caption of this photo reads:

“Mr Attlee tries the weight and feel of the Sten Sub-machine gun used by the Paratroops.”

Attlee was visiting the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade during a visit to the 1st Polish Corps) at Cupar in Scotland. In the photos he’s accompanied by Colonel Stanisław Sosabowski, the commander of the brigade. In this second photograph, Attlee is holding the Sten by its trigger mechanism cover and we can see the folding grip more clearly.

It appears to be made up of a band of steel which slid onto the barrel nut housing – much like the later MkV foregrip. The grip appears to possibly pivot on a rivet and the grip itself appears to be tubular metal. Sadly the photos are fairly low resolution so we can’t see too much more detail.

These were the only two photos of the grip I could find and I haven’t yet been able to find any documentary references to them. It may be that the grip was experimental and provided to the Polish paratroops for testing or it was an adaptation unique to the unit – perhaps something the unit’s armourer made. I’ll need to do more research in the future to try and find out more about the curious STEN accessory!

For more on the STEN check out our video on the origins of the STEN and it’s name below:

Bibliography:

The Polish Army In Britain, 1940-1947 series, Imperial War Museum, H 18884 & H 18883

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