RPG-16
handheld anti-tank grenade launcher
The RPG-16 is a handheld anti-tank grenade launcher for anti-tank warfare. It was developed in 1968 and adopted by the Soviet Army in 1970 for special operation teams and the Soviet airborne troops (VDV). These were deployed during the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989) and saw service during several battles in that conflict.
Combat history
The RPG-16 was widely used during Soviet campaign in Afghanistan, mostly against hardened fire positions and buildings from stand-off ranges. When it was first introduced it was considered superior to the RPG-7, but the RPG-7's ability to accommodate oversized rockets gave it growth potential the RPG-16's undercaliber projectile could not compete with. Beginning in the 1980s, it was replaced by the older RPG-7D equipped with newer and more powerful rockets. Low-rate production was maintained by Russia until the 1990s, when it was removed from service after about 120,000 units being produced. The RPG-16 was not widely exported.
In 2023, Russian troops were seen using it against Ukrainian troops in Eastern Ukraine.
Design
The RPG-16 has a 58.3 mm (2.30 in) barrel with a HEAT warhead and a smoothbore recoilless launch using a rocket booster.
The public source identifies “RPG-16” as handheld anti-tank grenade launcher. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around RPG-16, handheld and anti-tank.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2375372. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1968, 1970, 1979 and 1989.
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This entry incorporates text from “RPG-16” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.