SHOULDER-LAUNCHED MUNITIONS, Military Manual

SHOULDER-LAUNCHED MUNITIONS, Military Manual Review

This manual provides technical information and training and combat techniques for shoulder-launched
munitions. Intended users include leaders and designated Soldiers who will use this information to successfully integrate shoulder-launched munitions into combat operations. This manual discusses gunnery training and the train-the-trainer program.

INTRODUCTION

Shoulder-launched munitions are used against light armored vehicles, field fortifications, or other similar targets. These weapons are issued as rounds of
ammunition to individual Soldiers in addition to their assigned weapons and the unit’s organic antiarmor weapons. Shoulder-launched munitions can withstand
extreme weather and environmental conditions including arctic, tropical, and desert.This chapter provides information common to the weapons discussed in this manual to include care and handling, destruction and decontamination procedures, and operating temperatures.

TYPES OF SHOULDER-LAUNCHED MUNITIONS
1-1. Shoulder-launched munitions include the M136 AT4 light antiarmor weapon, the M72-series light antiarmor weapon (LAW), improved M72-series LAW, and the M141 bunker defeat munition (BDM) (a shoulder-launched, multipurpose assault weapon-disposable [SMAW-D]). The M72-series LAW (M72A2 and M72A3) was introduced in the early 1960s for use against light tanks of that era. More recent and improved versions of the M72-series LAWs were produced in the 1990s and include the M72A4, M72A5, M72A6, and M72A7 (Chapter 5). The M136 AT4 was designed in the late 1980s for use against the improved armor of light armored vehicles, and the M141 BDM was developed in the early 1990s primarily to use against bunkers.