Rifleman's Assault Weapon
Encyclopedia
The Rifleman's Assault Weapon (also called RAW) is a close-support rocket-propelled grenade developed around 1977 and put into limited service by the United States Marine Corps
in the 1990s. It was developed in response to a military requirement for a multi-purpose close support weapon. The RAW's rocket-propelled spherical munition is fired from an M16 rifle
and is capable of blowing holes through masonry walls and disabling light armored vehicles. Some have nicknamed the Rifleman's Assault Weapon the "softball from Hell".
The RAW's 1-kg high explosive squash head
(HESH) warhead can penetrate 20 cm of reinforced concrete (creating a 36 cm-wide hole) and hit moving targets at a range of 300 meters. The RAW was considered to be ideal for the conditions of urban warfare
. Reconsideration by the U.S. military as to what kind of close support weapon they were seeking resulted in only limited procurement of the RAW, despite the weapon performing to specification and displaying a remarkably flat trajectory to a range of 300 meters. Brunswick Corporation also developed an antitank version of the RAW. Brunswick later sold the design for the RAW to KDI Precision Products, Inc., which became part of L-3 Communications
in 2001.
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
in the 1990s. It was developed in response to a military requirement for a multi-purpose close support weapon. The RAW's rocket-propelled spherical munition is fired from an M16 rifle
M16 rifle
The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...
and is capable of blowing holes through masonry walls and disabling light armored vehicles. Some have nicknamed the Rifleman's Assault Weapon the "softball from Hell".
The RAW's 1-kg high explosive squash head
High explosive squash head
High explosive squash head is a type of explosive ammunition that is effective against buildings and is also used against tank armour. It was fielded chiefly by the British Army as the main explosive round of its main battle tanks during the Cold War...
(HESH) warhead can penetrate 20 cm of reinforced concrete (creating a 36 cm-wide hole) and hit moving targets at a range of 300 meters. The RAW was considered to be ideal for the conditions of urban warfare
Urban warfare
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat is very different from combat in the open at both the operational and tactical level...
. Reconsideration by the U.S. military as to what kind of close support weapon they were seeking resulted in only limited procurement of the RAW, despite the weapon performing to specification and displaying a remarkably flat trajectory to a range of 300 meters. Brunswick Corporation also developed an antitank version of the RAW. Brunswick later sold the design for the RAW to KDI Precision Products, Inc., which became part of L-3 Communications
L-3 Communications
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. is a company that supplies command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, space, and navigation products. Its customers include...
in 2001.
| Performance of RAW and contemporary weapons | ||
| Effectiveness against reinforced concrete | ||
| Munition | Penetration in cm | Max effective range in meters |
| 140-mm RAW | 20 | 300 |
| 40-mm HEDP Grenade | ~ 15 | 400 |
| 83-mm Bunker Defeat Munition (SMAW-D) | 20 | 500 |
| Data source for weapons performance is Jane's Infantry Weapons 1995–96, Jane's Ammunition Handbook 1994, and M141 BDM. | ||