A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired rocket weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor which propels the RPG towards the target and they are stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable with new rocket-propelled grenades, while others are single-use. RPGs are generally loaded from the front.
A rocket-propelled grenade (left) and RPG-7 launcher. For use, the thinner cylinder part of the rocket-propelled grenade is inserted into the muzzle of the launcher.
Soviet/Russian rocket launchers. From top to bottom: RPO-A Shmel, RPG-22, RPG-26, RPG-18.
A Luftwaffe soldier using a Panzerfaust, a forerunner of modern-day RPGs
A North Vietnamese soldier using a Soviet made RPG-2
Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile or man-portable missile, among other variants, are common slang-terms to describe high-caliber shoulder-mounted weapons systems – that is: weapons firing large heavy projectiles ("missiles"), typically using the backblast principle, which are small enough to be carried by a single person and fired while held on one's shoulder. The word "missile" in this context is used in its original broad sense of a heavy projectile, and encompasses all shells and rockets, guided or unguided. A more formal variant is simply shoulder-fired weapons system and the like.
Shoulder-launched weapons avoid the problem of recoil by directing all exhaust out of the rear of the launch tube, the so-called backblast principle.
An American-Bulgarian team prepares to reload an RPG-7 shoulder-fired rocket launcher with a fresh rocket and booster charge.
AT4 single-use disposable antitank launcher, a smoothbore recoilless gun pre-loaded with a HEAT-FS projectile and a fixed propellant casing.
Polish soldiers prepare to fire PZR Grom MANPADS.