Airtronic USA has introduced a lightweight version of their RPG-7 launcher. The MK777 weighs just 7.7 lbs, about half the weight of their other RPG-7 launcher, the Airtronic RPG-7(USA).
The launcher has a metal liner covered with a carbon composite wrap manufactured by ATK. It is compatible with RPG-7 ammunition.
Man, just go ahead and Tapco tacticool that thing out….
1 
0Brad:
> I wonder how heavy a warhead an RPG-7 could manage? Not for anti-tank > work (since the projectile would be slow and have a loopy trajectory)
If you mean that the projectile would be too slow to have enough energy to penetrate tank armor, then I must disagree.
It has a shaped-charge, so anti-armor effectiveness is not dependent on velocity (unlike a conventional or sabot tank round)
If you mean that it is not flat-shooting, and so one must get too close to tanks to engage them, I tend to agree. On the other hand, that never has stopped any of a long train of similar anti-tank weapons:
* WW2 German Panzerfaust, Panzerschreck
* WW2 American Bazooka(s)
* WW2 British PIAT (propelled with a *spring*, not an explosive charge or a rocket)
* Vietnam–current-day M72 LAW
* and many more!
Bruce
0 0USMC already uses an RPG-like weapon (SMAW), the entire U.S. military has not forgotten that a reusable launcher for inexpensive unguided rockets has plenty of utility. The SMAW is more or less an Israeli B-300. I hear (and read) the USMC is looking to upgrade/replace but the concept remains the same.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoulder-launched_Multipurpose_Assault_Weapon
0 0What’s with the vertical foregrip… err… reargrip?
Reminds me of the one on the L86 LSW. Is that for firing in the prone position, or an “anchor point” for the shoulder?
I guess all they need now is to bring back the M202 Flash. I heard there’s still some floating around Californian Army surplus stores. Just needs an arrow indicating which side to aim at the enemy. 
0 0Its for the Afghan Army I bet. But its pointless why just buy more modern RPGs from Russia like the RPG-22 or RPG-75 or AT-4?
Or better yet for American jobs make and give them M-72 LAWS and or M3s?
0 0An RPG wouldn’t do jack and squat to the majority of adobe (not “mud”) structures in Afghanistan. As an example, I’ll share a delightful experience from my 2003-2004 paid vacation there:
My company’s Third Platoon was moving to search a village, when a sniper shot and killed the lead squad leader with a head shot. His Alpha team leader counter-attacked and attempted to assault the building where the shot had come from; upon booting the door, he was immediately hosed by AK-47 fire from a cathole inside the building’s first room. This more or less ended attempts to breach the house, as that was the only way inside. My company spent the rest of the day attempting to level the building, going from AT-4s, to the company 60mm mortars, to Apaches shooting Hellfires.
The end result-the building remained standing. Ultimately a CAS mission dropped 6 JDAMs on the building, which in fact leveled it.
Afghani structures are nothing to sneeze at.
0 0charles222, thats interesting. It sounds like what you needed was a thermobaric weapon. For example, the RPG-32 with a thermobaric warhead:
http://world.guns.ru/grenade/rus/rpg-32-e.html
0 0And it’s safety certified, right? Ready to field to US troops along with all that PG-7/OG-7 ammo made here in the states?
Leave it to an American company to take one of the most underestimated and effective weapon systems designed by man and throw picatinny rails, and EOTech, and a whole mess of other aftermarket AR-15 components on it. I’d love to see the price tag on this thing.
0 0One of the World´s greatest weapons and thats that…this version makes perfect sense.
0 0This is completely useless.. it has to be at LEAST 3″ shorter to be useful for carry purposes.
0 0Adam, LOL
0 0Bah! Go back to a Panzerfaust with a cardboard tube!
On a more serious note, it’s interesting to see the learning curve for Western forces as they adapt to fighting a real, dirty, on-the-ground war again. All those weapons that were declared obsolete because they couldn’t touch a high tech enemy are now the perfect low budget tool for the job.
Having RPGs and mortars at your disposal is like having a couple of bricks of .22. You can shoot all day, tear stuff up, and won’t break the bank.
0 0If you ask me, I think the grip that’s supposed to be the butt plate should be fixed. And the grip on the trigger doesn’t look ergonomic in any way, shape, or form. If I could change anyhting on the MK777, it would be to change both of the grips to the original model. Then, it should be shipped out to the ‘Stan for field testing.
0 0@Pro: It’s lighter, cheaper, and the munitions are readily available on the world market. All sorts of interesting stuff. There’s no point to going with the 32, they already have Javelins.
0 0One of the whacky things about the fall of the Iron Curtain and the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact is the increasing market for Western defense firms to support Warsaw Pact legacy equipment.
This is a great example.
0 0Steve-yeah, we had thermobaric rounds for the 203s; not sure why they weren’t used. I was a PV2 at the time, so it’s not like people discussed these things with me. :p
0 0Also the weapon by keeping it’s warhead and the delivery system separated makes developing and controlling what warheads are available very easy.
0 0This weapon system is only 7.7 Lbs. It will fire safely up to qty.-250 standard .40mm RPG-7 Rockets.
0 0Summarized : Fixing what ain’t broken never looked so good.
0 0The great advantage the Mk777 has over weapons such as the SMAW 2 or M-3 Carl Gutav is lighter weight and greater ammo flexibility.
Because the warhead of the RPG is independent of the launch tube diameter, it can be almost any size of convenience, from a small 40mm frag round like the Egyptians make, to the oversized 105mm thermobaric round that subase linked to.
The main advantage the Mk777 has over disposable weapons, such as the AT-4, is better sights and better ergonomics.
I think Airtronic has a winning concept with the lightweight Mk777.
0 0RPG-7s are in the gap between the M72 law and the M3/SMAWs.
However, M72 law is a rifleman’s weapon (RPG-7 is crew served) and the M3/SMAW provides a bigger bang.
0 0So, when are flamethrowers going to be fielded again?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a brutal weapon, sure, but it works once you get it in range. For close quarter fighting in some “mudhuts”, why not? Before breaching the door, hose the place with a little fire. Worked fine in both world wars. And it has one hell of an psychologic effect. Or, if there’s a sniper in it, just take out the building at once, without storming it. Worked in WW2 just the same.
I know, it wouldn’t be politically correct, or following whatever silly convention is currently in place, but IMO, whatever kills the enemy and helps keeping the good guys safe is fine. It’s war after all and fairness is irrelevant there. You want to win, not to be fair.
That said, who do I have to bribe to get this system? It’s perfect for defense against all those killer squirrels.
0 0No need the RPG-7′s got that warhead too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhE-5vpYE1g
The warhead doesn’t even need to penetrate walls, just shoot it through the front door and anything inside is toast.
0 0subase, ah, so it does. Thanks for the link! Yep, its not designed to go into walls, it is designed to create an incredibly high pressure wave inside enclosed spaces.
1 1So, who do I contact for NFA sales?
0 0This is one of the last items needed for my red dawn survival kit.
Now I need a new USSR.
0 0Now that’s a quite interesting development. Given the weight and a good menu of different kinds of ammo, it can be become a soldier favourite.
0 0Is it legal for deer in California?
0 0Tom, yes, it is single shot
0 0I’ve driven past Airtronic’s headquarters many times and have always wondered what they did. I had no idea that RPGs were being made just miles from my house. Too bad they don’t sell to civilians.
0 0Just how effective would that eotech be on this thing? Or for that matter those back up irons?
0 0Is there any weapon the Russians didn’t get right?
0 0Is it just me, or does that look like a toy?
0 0made in the USA, who are they trying to market this thing to?
0 0I know it’s supposed to be recoilless and all, but will reducing the weight increase the felt recoil possibly? Are they gonna sell these to the Afghan army and the Iraqis or something? What’s the market?
0 0RPG with an EoTech. That’s got to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen…
0 0…It’s not April 1st is it?
Is this real?
I can’t really see any application for a tacticool RPG launcher.
0 0Jacob, it is definitely real
0 0Is it reusable? Or is it a one shot deal?
0 0shockfish08, it is a launcher. You insert the rocket grenades. So yes, reusable.
0 0Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, all of these newly ‘democratized’ countries are going to need arms along with our ‘allies’ in Afghanistan and Iraq. A US made RPG sounds like a real money spinner.
0 0Cobetco, Mr. Groom –
From the home page of the Airtronic website -
“Airtronic USA provides small arms and small arms spare parts to the U.S. Department of Defense, foreign militaries and law enforcement.”
I guess that does indeed mean Iraqis and Afghans could be considered in the market for this, yes.
Mathews, others –
Not sure what you would be looking for in a rocket launcher that would make you question those optics or sights. The original RPG-7 design isn’t really all that different, as far as I’m aware. The sights and optics employed on the old ones almost certainly aren’t any better.
0 0RPG7 made in USA could be eligible to US military help
0 0Want.
0 0Now that’s something. Airtronic has cut the weight of the RPG-7 down to almost as low as the elderly RPG-2. Good job.
Now it just needs a round with soft-launch capability for safe shooting from indoors.
I wonder how heavy a warhead an RPG-7 could manage? Not for anti-tank work (since the projectile would be slow and have a loopy trajectory), but for shooting at fortifications and area targets. I think I remember stories of Chechnyan rebels attaching blocks of plastic explosive to the standard warhead of RPG-7 rounds to enhance blast.
0 0Actually this is quite interesting when you think that the US Army is bringing a lot of older ‘low tech’ weapons out of retirement – the M72 and 90mm recoiless for example…
There are those that argue that the RPG is *just* the right weapon for the job in Afghanistan (do we really need to be destoying mud huts with $80,000 Javelins?). With teh large quanities of RPG munitions about in Afghanistan could these be issued to NATO troops so they can make use of RPGs?
0 0What is the point of the broom handle grip behind the firing grip? Is this supposed to butt up against the fire side shoulder?
They need to make “bird bombs” for these and market them for “pest control”. Stupid laws.
0 0This is something I have been wonderin about. Why use the old LAWS and 70mm recoiless when this meets so many of the needs our guys have. Light, effective,ubiquitous, simple and most importantly, cheap. There are a lot of good things about the RPG system we can use. Eight pounds verses 70, Seems like a winner. I knew ATK was making ammo. I now know why.
HE, shaped charge, willy Pete, all are available. Seems like a winner
0 0How is this better than the RPG-32? Dont say american-made , because that only counts if you are selling to americans .
I hope this thing is cheap .
0 0and who’s going to buy this? WHO can buy this?
0 0
Summarized : Fixing what ain’t broken never looked so good.
This weapon system is only 7.7 Lbs. It will fire safely up to qty.-250 standard .40mm RPG-7 Rockets.
Also the weapon by keeping it’s warhead and the delivery system separated makes developing and controlling what warheads are available very easy.
One of the whacky things about the fall of the Iron Curtain and the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact is the increasing market for Western defense firms to support Warsaw Pact legacy equipment.
This is a great example.
Steve-yeah, we had thermobaric rounds for the 203s; not sure why they weren’t used. I was a PV2 at the time, so it’s not like people discussed these things with me. :p
The great advantage the Mk777 has over weapons such as the SMAW 2 or M-3 Carl Gutav is lighter weight and greater ammo flexibility.
Because the warhead of the RPG is independent of the launch tube diameter, it can be almost any size of convenience, from a small 40mm frag round like the Egyptians make, to the oversized 105mm thermobaric round that subase linked to.
The main advantage the Mk777 has over disposable weapons, such as the AT-4, is better sights and better ergonomics.
I think Airtronic has a winning concept with the lightweight Mk777.
No need the RPG-7′s got that warhead too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhE-5vpYE1g
The warhead doesn’t even need to penetrate walls, just shoot it through the front door and anything inside is toast.
subase, ah, so it does. Thanks for the link! Yep, its not designed to go into walls, it is designed to create an incredibly high pressure wave inside enclosed spaces.
So, when are flamethrowers going to be fielded again?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a brutal weapon, sure, but it works once you get it in range. For close quarter fighting in some “mudhuts”, why not? Before breaching the door, hose the place with a little fire. Worked fine in both world wars. And it has one hell of an psychologic effect. Or, if there’s a sniper in it, just take out the building at once, without storming it. Worked in WW2 just the same.
I know, it wouldn’t be politically correct, or following whatever silly convention is currently in place, but IMO, whatever kills the enemy and helps keeping the good guys safe is fine. It’s war after all and fairness is irrelevant there. You want to win, not to be fair.
That said, who do I have to bribe to get this system? It’s perfect for defense against all those killer squirrels.
RPG-7s are in the gap between the M72 law and the M3/SMAWs.
However, M72 law is a rifleman’s weapon (RPG-7 is crew served) and the M3/SMAW provides a bigger bang.
If you ask me, I think the grip that’s supposed to be the butt plate should be fixed. And the grip on the trigger doesn’t look ergonomic in any way, shape, or form. If I could change anyhting on the MK777, it would be to change both of the grips to the original model. Then, it should be shipped out to the ‘Stan for field testing.
Its for the Afghan Army I bet. But its pointless why just buy more modern RPGs from Russia like the RPG-22 or RPG-75 or AT-4?
Or better yet for American jobs make and give them M-72 LAWS and or M3s?
What’s with the vertical foregrip… err… reargrip?
Reminds me of the one on the L86 LSW. Is that for firing in the prone position, or an “anchor point” for the shoulder?
I guess all they need now is to bring back the M202 Flash. I heard there’s still some floating around Californian Army surplus stores. Just needs an arrow indicating which side to aim at the enemy.
USMC already uses an RPG-like weapon (SMAW), the entire U.S. military has not forgotten that a reusable launcher for inexpensive unguided rockets has plenty of utility. The SMAW is more or less an Israeli B-300. I hear (and read) the USMC is looking to upgrade/replace but the concept remains the same.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoulder-launched_Multipurpose_Assault_Weapon
Brad:
> I wonder how heavy a warhead an RPG-7 could manage? Not for anti-tank > work (since the projectile would be slow and have a loopy trajectory)
If you mean that the projectile would be too slow to have enough energy to penetrate tank armor, then I must disagree.
It has a shaped-charge, so anti-armor effectiveness is not dependent on velocity (unlike a conventional or sabot tank round)
If you mean that it is not flat-shooting, and so one must get too close to tanks to engage them, I tend to agree. On the other hand, that never has stopped any of a long train of similar anti-tank weapons:
* WW2 German Panzerfaust, Panzerschreck
* WW2 American Bazooka(s)
* WW2 British PIAT (propelled with a *spring*, not an explosive charge or a rocket)
* Vietnam–current-day M72 LAW
* and many more!
Bruce
An RPG wouldn’t do jack and squat to the majority of adobe (not “mud”) structures in Afghanistan. As an example, I’ll share a delightful experience from my 2003-2004 paid vacation there:
My company’s Third Platoon was moving to search a village, when a sniper shot and killed the lead squad leader with a head shot. His Alpha team leader counter-attacked and attempted to assault the building where the shot had come from; upon booting the door, he was immediately hosed by AK-47 fire from a cathole inside the building’s first room. This more or less ended attempts to breach the house, as that was the only way inside. My company spent the rest of the day attempting to level the building, going from AT-4s, to the company 60mm mortars, to Apaches shooting Hellfires.
The end result-the building remained standing. Ultimately a CAS mission dropped 6 JDAMs on the building, which in fact leveled it.
Afghani structures are nothing to sneeze at.
charles222, thats interesting. It sounds like what you needed was a thermobaric weapon. For example, the RPG-32 with a thermobaric warhead:
http://world.guns.ru/grenade/rus/rpg-32-e.html
@Pro: It’s lighter, cheaper, and the munitions are readily available on the world market. All sorts of interesting stuff. There’s no point to going with the 32, they already have Javelins.
And it’s safety certified, right? Ready to field to US troops along with all that PG-7/OG-7 ammo made here in the states?
Leave it to an American company to take one of the most underestimated and effective weapon systems designed by man and throw picatinny rails, and EOTech, and a whole mess of other aftermarket AR-15 components on it. I’d love to see the price tag on this thing.
Man, just go ahead and Tapco tacticool that thing out….
Bah! Go back to a Panzerfaust with a cardboard tube!
On a more serious note, it’s interesting to see the learning curve for Western forces as they adapt to fighting a real, dirty, on-the-ground war again. All those weapons that were declared obsolete because they couldn’t touch a high tech enemy are now the perfect low budget tool for the job.
Having RPGs and mortars at your disposal is like having a couple of bricks of .22. You can shoot all day, tear stuff up, and won’t break the bank.
This is completely useless.. it has to be at LEAST 3″ shorter to be useful for carry purposes.
Adam, LOL
One of the World´s greatest weapons and thats that…this version makes perfect sense.
So, who do I contact for NFA sales?
This is one of the last items needed for my red dawn survival kit.
Now I need a new USSR.
Want.
RPG7 made in USA could be eligible to US military help
Cobetco, Mr. Groom –
From the home page of the Airtronic website -
“Airtronic USA provides small arms and small arms spare parts to the U.S. Department of Defense, foreign militaries and law enforcement.”
I guess that does indeed mean Iraqis and Afghans could be considered in the market for this, yes.
Mathews, others –
Not sure what you would be looking for in a rocket launcher that would make you question those optics or sights. The original RPG-7 design isn’t really all that different, as far as I’m aware. The sights and optics employed on the old ones almost certainly aren’t any better.
Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, all of these newly ‘democratized’ countries are going to need arms along with our ‘allies’ in Afghanistan and Iraq. A US made RPG sounds like a real money spinner.
Now that’s something. Airtronic has cut the weight of the RPG-7 down to almost as low as the elderly RPG-2. Good job.
Now it just needs a round with soft-launch capability for safe shooting from indoors.
I wonder how heavy a warhead an RPG-7 could manage? Not for anti-tank work (since the projectile would be slow and have a loopy trajectory), but for shooting at fortifications and area targets. I think I remember stories of Chechnyan rebels attaching blocks of plastic explosive to the standard warhead of RPG-7 rounds to enhance blast.
How is this better than the RPG-32? Dont say american-made , because that only counts if you are selling to americans .
I hope this thing is cheap .
This is something I have been wonderin about. Why use the old LAWS and 70mm recoiless when this meets so many of the needs our guys have. Light, effective,ubiquitous, simple and most importantly, cheap. There are a lot of good things about the RPG system we can use. Eight pounds verses 70, Seems like a winner. I knew ATK was making ammo. I now know why.
HE, shaped charge, willy Pete, all are available. Seems like a winner
What is the point of the broom handle grip behind the firing grip? Is this supposed to butt up against the fire side shoulder?
They need to make “bird bombs” for these and market them for “pest control”. Stupid laws.
Actually this is quite interesting when you think that the US Army is bringing a lot of older ‘low tech’ weapons out of retirement – the M72 and 90mm recoiless for example…
There are those that argue that the RPG is *just* the right weapon for the job in Afghanistan (do we really need to be destoying mud huts with $80,000 Javelins?). With teh large quanities of RPG munitions about in Afghanistan could these be issued to NATO troops so they can make use of RPGs?
Is there any weapon the Russians didn’t get right?
Just how effective would that eotech be on this thing? Or for that matter those back up irons?
I’ve driven past Airtronic’s headquarters many times and have always wondered what they did. I had no idea that RPGs were being made just miles from my house. Too bad they don’t sell to civilians.
Now that’s a quite interesting development. Given the weight and a good menu of different kinds of ammo, it can be become a soldier favourite.
Is it legal for deer in California?
Tom, yes, it is single shot
Is it just me, or does that look like a toy?
made in the USA, who are they trying to market this thing to?
Is it reusable? Or is it a one shot deal?
shockfish08, it is a launcher. You insert the rocket grenades. So yes, reusable.
…It’s not April 1st is it?
Is this real?
I can’t really see any application for a tacticool RPG launcher.
Jacob, it is definitely real
RPG with an EoTech. That’s got to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen…
I know it’s supposed to be recoilless and all, but will reducing the weight increase the felt recoil possibly? Are they gonna sell these to the Afghan army and the Iraqis or something? What’s the market?
and who’s going to buy this? WHO can buy this?