The Anti-Tank Grenade Launcher (RPG) enjoys a high reputation among the rebels for providing them with inexpensive anti-tank weapons that do not require a lot of training. The newest version of this weapon is the RPG-30.
The fact is that a very effective "antidote" - dynamic protection - has long been invented against shaped-charge warheads. More details about it (as well as about other aspects of modern tank building) can be found in our article "Weapons of Conflict: T-72". In short, such "reactive armor" consists of exploding plates; when the projectile hits the plate, detonation occurs, which affects the shaped charge jet. The jet deflects, significantly reducing the effectiveness of the cumulative action.
This response from the "defenders of tanks" did not remain without reaction from the "attacking" side. Tandem rockets soon appeared. Their warhead consists of two parts: the initial charge, which causes the detonation of the plates of reactive armor, and the main charge, which is triggered with some delay, when the dynamic protection has already worked, and the armor was left without its protection.
In response, even more sophisticated active defense systems have appeared. Such systems include the Russian Arena complex, the Israeli Trophy and the promising FCLAS system, which is being developed for the American army. Such installations detect an approaching shot and launch a counter-projectile, which destroys or undermines it with shock or explosive effects. For this purpose, dense inert metal elements are used, which, when exploded, are scattered by micro-shrapnel. It is assumed that, having a limited radius of destruction, they will not harm their troops in the vicinity.
The next step is the newest RPG-30 grenade launcher. It is equipped with a 105mm tandem warhead that is capable of penetrating over 650mm steel armor behind ERA. The main thing that appeared in it is the second shot, which is fired by a small-caliber booby-trap. It is part of a real missile ahead of the main warhead. The idea behind this technical solution is that active defense systems will hit the trap, but will not be able to immediately hit the second threat. According to a Russian expert, well-known active protection systems are able to hit the second target after a minimum time interval of the order of 0.2 seconds. The tank will not have this time.
It should be added that the RPG-30 does not at all pretend to be the "Abrams tank destroyer", as some journalists dubbed it. In fact, the main battle tank of the modern US Army has neither reactive armor nor an active defense system. Abrams is equipped with upgraded high-strength tank armor, which includes depleted uranium and other components.
In addition, it is known that, like the Abrams tanks, and their British counterparts, the Challenger 2 are hit by the grenade launcher of the previous RPG-29 series, which also has a caliber of 105 mm. As you know, even with an armor thickness of more than 600 mm and any angles of inclination of the armor plates, it is impossible to achieve full protection of the vehicle.
However, if the RPG-30 cannot be called the "killer of Abrams", then the title of "killer of the FCS program" can be rightfully assigned to it. One of the strengths of the family of vehicles that are being created under the Pentagon's "Combat Systems of the Future" (FCS) program is that armored vehicles with active protection and a mass of 30 tons must provide the same level of protection as the 60-ton Abrams. Nevertheless, if the active protection of the tank can be so cleverly bypassed, the developers of the means of protection of armored vehicles have something to seriously think about.
About a kind of "classic of the genre" - the Soviet RPG-7 grenade launcher, developed back in the 1960s, but to this day remains a serious "headache" for the military of the most modern NATO armies.
