The M72 LAW is a portable one-shot 66 mm unguided anti-tank weapon

Weapon

A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...

, designed in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by Paul V. Choate, Charles B. Weeks, and Frank A. Spinale et al. while with the Hesse-Eastern Division of Norris Thermadore, currently produced by Nammo Raufoss AS

Nammo

Nammo short for Nordic Ammunition Group is a Norwegian/Finnish military industry manufacturer of ammunition. The company has subsidiaries in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and Canada. The company is owned 50/50 by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry and...

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

In early 1963 the LAW was adopted by the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 and the United States Marines as their primary individual infantry anti-tank

Anti-tank warfare

Anti-tank warfare was created by the need to seek technology and tactics to destroy tanks and their supporting infantry during the First World War...

 weapon, replacing the M31 HEAT

M31 HEAT rifle grenade

The M31 HEAT is a fin-stabilized anti-tank rifle grenade designed in the late 1950s to replace the Belgian ENERGA rifle grenade which was adopted by the US Army and US Marines as an emergency stop-gap measure during the Korean War...

 rifle grenade and the
M20A1 "Super Bazooka" in the US Army.

It had been intended that in the early 1980s that the M72 would be replaced by the FGR-17 Viper

FGR-17 Viper

The FGR-17 Viper was an USA one man disposable antitank rocket which had slated in the 1980s to be the replacement for the M72 LAW, but was canceled shortly after production began due a major public scandal resulting from massive cost overruns and safety concerns, as well as a mistaken belief by...

, but this program was canceled by Congress and the M136 AT4 was introduced in its place.