Ukrainians once again surprised the world with bought of 1000 shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket-propelled grenade launchers for Ukraine’s Army.
Despite a suffered from the war economy, businesses, civic groups and citizens in Ukraine continue to raise astronomical amounts of money to help their armed forces counter Russian aggression. Thanks to people’s activism, the Come Back Alive charity managed to accumulate enough funds to purchase a batch of 1,000 grenade launchers.
According to a press release from Come Back Alive, the charity foundation has handed over 1000 new 40-mm ATGL-L3 rocket-propelled grenade launchers to the Ukrainian military. The anti-armor weapons were purchased abroad for 4 million euros ($4,3 million).
“The weapons went to the units that are already involved or will be involved in the summer offensive campaign,” says Taras Chmut, director of the Come Back Alive foundation. “Like the 1460 machine guns we also delivered to the army, these are infantry weapons at the platoon level. There is a huge demand for it in the troops. In addition, a similar Soviet model RPG-7 is familiar to all branches or corps of the military. Enough ammunition for it is produced in Europe. We buy them and receive them as aid. It is a simple, reliable, effective weapon.”
The 40-mm ATGL-L grenade launchers are manufactured by the Bulgarian company Arsenal. This grenade launcher is essentially a lightweight version of the Soviet RPG-7, for which new types of shots have been developed. They are designed to destroy enemy armored vehicles as well as manpower.
The ruggedness, simplicity, low cost, and effectiveness of the RPG-7 family grenade launcher have made it the most widely used anti-armor weapon in the world. Around 40 countries use the weapon; it is manufactured in several variants by nine countries.