RL-83 Blindicide

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RL-83 Blindicide
Rakrohre Schweizer Armee.jpg
Swiss Army 8.3 cm Raketenrohr launchers (Blindicide copy) on display
TypeAntitank rocket launcher
Place of originBelgium
Service history
Used bySee Users
Production history
Designed1950s
ManufacturerMecar SA
Specifications
Mass8.4 kg (RL-83)
12.9 kg (RL-100)
Length1.7 m (RL-83)
1.885 m (RL-100)
Crew2
ShellHEAT
Caliber83 mm, 100 mm
Rate of fire6 rpm
Muzzle velocity100 m/s (RL-83)
195 m/s (RL-100)
Effective firing range400 m (0.25 mi)
Maximum firing range900 m (0.56 mi)
83 mm HEAT round sectioned to show (wooden replica) booster and main charges, copper cone and rocket motor

The RL-83 Blindicide is primarily an antitank rocket launcher, but other rockets can be fired. It was produced by Mecar SA of Belgium and was an improved derivative of the M20A1 Bazooka. Its name translates to "armor killer", derived from the French "blindé" (armoured vehicle) and the suffix -cide meaning to kill.

Versions[]

The high-explosive antitank (HEAT) rocket of the RL-83 Blindicide can penetrate 300 millimeters of rolled homogeneous armour or one meter of concrete.[1] Besides HEAT, the Blindicide can also fire anti-personnel, smoke, incendiary and illumination rounds.

A final version of the Blindicide was the RLC-83, a shortened version of the RL-83. The RLC-83 differs from the RL-83 in having a 1.2 meter launch tube. The RLC-83 is intended to be used only with the rocket-boosted long-range projectiles.

Switzerland produced a licence version of the Blindicide, the Raketenrohr 58 (RR 58). The Raketenrohr 80 (RR 80) was an improved version with new aiming system for use by night. The Swiss army had a total of 20,000 RRs in service, all of which have been replaced by the German Panzerfaust 3.[2] Apart from the defensive role, the Swiss also used the Raketenrohr 80 to caused controlled avalanches, thus reducing the risks to civilians in avalanche prone areas.

A training round / practice rocket was available for Blindicide. This used a blank 20 mm cartridge to produce a flash and a bang, but the round only fell a few feet in front of the launcher.

A 20 mm Sub-caliber training round was also available. This had a rifled barrel and fired either a plastic or copper projectile. Initially this sub-caliber gun had a wooden body, but later an anodised Aluminium body was used.

Mecar Blindicide RL-83 with Belgian pattern face shield and monopod extended
Folded Blindicide, Face shield detaches as separate item.
Rear 20 mm sub-caliber gun, the gun remained in the launcher when a single plastic or copper projectile was fired. Front training "rocket" was shot out the launcher by a 20 mm blank cartridge.

Operational history[]

The Blindicide saw service with the Belgian forces during the Congo crisis.[citation needed] The Nigerian Army used some against Biafrans during Nigerian Civil War in the 1960s.[3]

The Blindicide was also used by Anti-British guerrillas during the Aden Emergency. A complete launcher and the remains of several projectiles recovered from Aden are held by the Imperial War Museum.[4][5]

The RL-83 version was used by the Israel Defense Forces during the Six-Day war and the Yom Kippur War;[6] it was also used by the Lebanese Army and by some Christian and Muslim militias during the Lebanese Civil War.[7]

In recent years, it has been reported that the Mexican Army deployed Blindicides against improvised armored vehicles in use by drug cartels.[8]

Blindicide has also been identified in video clips of the Free Syrian Army operating in Syria.[citation needed]

Users[]

Swiss soldiers using a Raketenrohr (1960s)
  •  Belgium – Retired in the late 1980s
  •  Burundi – In use[citation needed]
  •  Indonesia – Retired, formerly used by Naval Commando Corps[9]
    Indonesian marines RL-83 Blindicide
  •  Israel – Retired
  •  Italy – Retired[10]
  •  Lebanon – Retired ("on the 4th of January 1973, the Belgian government issued an export license to MECAR for the export of 4 Blindicide 83 mm to the Lebanese army." Source Mecar SA)
  •  Mexico – In use as of 2015[11][12]
  •  Netherlands – Used by the Dutch Marine Corps, one Raketbuis van 83 mm blindicide was issued per infantry platoon in 1963.[13]
  •  Pakistan[citation needed]
  •  Nigeria[3]
  •  Rwanda - Received via France[14]
  •   Switzerland - Raketenrohr version. Retired,[15] replaced by Panzerfaust-3
  •  Syria – Retired[citation needed]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jane's Infantry Weapons 1984–85, p. 690.
  2. ^ The World Defence Almanac 2010 page 214 ISSN 0722-3226 replaced by Panzerfaust-3
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Jowett, Philip (2016). Modern African Wars (5): The Nigerian-Biafran War 1967-70. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1472816092.
  4. ^ "Fragments of Belgian RL-83 Blindicide Rocket, Aden". iwm.org.uk. Imperial War Museum.
  5. ^ "Blindicide anti-tank rocket launcher". iwm.org.uk. Imperial War Museum.
  6. ^ David Campbell (2016). Israeli Soldier vs Syrian Soldier : Golan Heights 1967–73. Combat 18. illustrated by Johnny Shumate. Osprey Publishing. pp. 49, 78. ISBN 9781472813305.
  7. ^ Kassis, Véhicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon (2012), p. 16.
  8. ^ J. Robert, Bunker; Ramirez, Bryon (2013). "Narco Armor Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicles in Mexico" (PDF). Foreign Military Studies Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  9. ^ Jalesveva Jayamahe, p.123
  10. ^ Wiener, Friedrich (1987). The armies of the NATO nations: Organization, concept of war, weapons and equipment. Truppendienst Handbooks Volume 3. Vienna: Herold Publishers. p. 300.
  11. ^ J. Robert, Bunker; Ramirez, Bryon (2013). "Narco Armor Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicles in Mexico" (PDF). Foreign Military Studies Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  12. ^ Montes, Julio A. (8 May 2015). "Portable Anti-Tank Weapons in Mexico & the Northern Central American Triangle". Small Arms Defense Journal. Vol. 7 no. 1. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019.
  13. ^ Voorontwerp van een voorschrift betreffende de tactiek van de geweergroep. Korps Mariniers. 1 June 1963. p. 5.
  14. ^ The path of a genocide: the Rwanda Crisis from Uganda to Zaire
  15. ^ The World Defence Almanac 2010 page 214 ISSN 0722-3226

References[]

  • Samer Kassis, Véhicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon 1975–1981, Trebia Publishing, Chyah 2012. ISBN 978-9953-0-2372-4

External links[]

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