« The RPG-42 Alamut is a lightweight, reloadable and recoilless anti-tank weapon fired from the shoulder. It's based on modern Russian rocket launchers and produced in the Middle East. The RPG-42 Rocket is best used against light-armored vehicles and defenses, though when used against a tank, it could damage its tracks. Field Manual »





The RPG-42 Alamut is a 105 mm rocket launcher used by several OPFOR, BLUFOR and Independent factions in ArmA 3.

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Overview

The RPG-42 is a portable, recoilless, unguided, shoulder-launched, rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

It can be loaded with either 105 mm PG-42V high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) or 72 mm TBG-42V high-explosive (HE) grenades; with the former designed for use in taking out light/medium armour vehicles and the latter for large groups of infantry.

It has a built-in night vision sight with ballistic markings that are accurate at ranges of up to 500 metres, and has a magnification strength of 2x. The launcher's optical sight cannot be manually zeroed by the operator.

The primary armament of CSAT light AT infantry teams, the RPG-42 is a relatively simple-to-use weapon that can be brought to bear against both vehicles and infantry.

The RPG-42's grenades are relatively lightweight to carry as well, which means that the operator need not bring heavier backpacks like the Carryall to stow munitions, as opposed to heavier guided launchers like the Titan or NATO's PCML.

In contrast to the RPG-7, the RPG-42's 105 mm grenades are powerful enough to take out medium armoured vehicles like armoured personnel carriers in one hit. Even heavily armoured vehicles such as Main Battle Tanks are vulnerable if the RPG-42's PG-42V grenades impact exposed components such as the engine, optics, or tracks, which can result in a mobility kill (though not quite able to outright destroy an MBT unless it's already critically damaged).

The main drawback to the RPG-42 stems from it being an unguided weapon. Unlike its NATO counterpart, the RPG-42 cannot lock onto vehicles and relies solely on the operator's own ability to account for the target's position and movement in order to land hits. Another problem is that the RPG-42's munitions are not multi-role, and cannot be used against targets outside of what they are specifically tailored to tackle.

For instance, the PG-42V is very strong against vehicles but is completely redundant against infantry due to its tandem warhead lacking the ability to deal area-of-effect splash damage. This makes it next to useless even if infantry are tightly clumped together. On the other hand, TBG-42V grenades are highly effective against both clumped-up and scattered infantry targets alike due to the large blast radius of the warhead, but will deal almost no damage to armoured vehicles; aside from perhaps disabling unarmoured components (and even then only with a direct hit).

This means that the RPG-42's operator must manually switch between munition types if they run up against a threat that their currently loaded grenade cannot handle. This can become especially problematic if the operator's squad is ambushed, for example, whereas the PCML's missile does not have this issue and can be universally employed against both infantry and vehicles (though the latter won't be as effective as the RPG-42's HE grenade).

Camouflage

Hex: Arid Hexacam camouflage pattern. Primarily used by Mediterranean CSAT anti-tank riflemen, as well as on AAF, FIA, and Loyalist RPG-42s.

Arid Hexacam camouflage pattern. Primarily used by Mediterranean CSAT anti-tank riflemen, as well as on AAF, FIA, and Loyalist RPG-42s. Green Hex: Tropical Hexacam camouflage pattern. Used by both Pacific CSAT anti-tank riflemen and L'Ensemble fighters.

Tropical Hexacam camouflage pattern. Used by both Pacific CSAT anti-tank riflemen and L'Ensemble fighters. Green: Subdued flat green paint finish. Exclusive to Russian Spetsnaz operatives.

Munitions

The RPG-42 is able to utilise two types of grenades:

PG-42V

Warhead Damage type Base damage value Primary High-Explosive 28 Secondary Kinetic 480

Standard issue grenade round. Uses a 105 mm high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) tandem warhead.

The PG-42V combines a penetrator with a shaped explosive charge, which grants it armour piercing as well as explosive capabilities. It is ideal for use against light-medium armoured vehicles such as MRAPs or IFVs like the AMV-7 Marshall.

Against heavily armoured vehicles like the M2A4 Slammer UP MBT, its usefulness drops off somewhat since the penetrator isn't actually powerful enough to bypass through the frontal armour. Vehicles outfitted with slat cages will also tend to nullify the effects of the initial blast as well, though the penetrator can still go through depending on the impact angle.

It is always advisable to hit heavy armour in the rear where the armour is weakest, or against the tracks/wheels in order to inflict a mobility kill.

The PG-42V has an effective range of up to 500 metres and an absolute maximum of 700 metres. It has an initial and in-flight velocity speed of 140 m/s. The warhead has a blast radius of 3 metres, while its kinetic submunition has a launch velocity of 1,000 m/s and a penetration depth of 649.99 millimetres.

TBG-42V

Damage type Base damage value High-Explosive 200

Uses a 72 mm thermobaric warhead.

Unlike the standard PG-42V round, the TBG-42V is exclusively an anti-personnel grenade round that relies purely on explosive concussion to inflict damage.

It has the largest splash radius out of the two grenades, and is highly effective against clustered infantry and unarmoured vehicles like the Offroad. It can also be used to raze unarmoured structures, though it will still require several rounds before a large building can be brought down.

As is to be expected, armoured ground vehicles are completely immune to the effects of the warhead since it has absolutely zero penetration capability. It can however, be used to disable the optics or RWS turrets on MBTs. Vehicles like the AFV-4 Gorgon which use exposed turrets can also be disabled with an indirect hit in this way, though it will not deal much (if any) damage to the vehicle itself.

TBG-42V grenades have an effective range of up to 500 metres and an absolute maximum of 700 metres. It has an initial and in-flight velocity speed of 140 m/s. The warhead has a blast radius of 6 metres.

Trivia

The RPG-42 is based on the real-world Russian-made "RPG-32" rocket-propelled grenade launcher designed by NPO Bazalt, a subsidiary of the Rostec state-owned conglomerate.

TBG-42V grenades are significantly lighter to carry than the RPG-42's standard PG-42V rounds. Without taking stamina into account, it is possible to carry up to 12 spare rounds in a Bergen (which is currently the largest backpack available).

It was initially only available in a Arid Hexacam camouflage scheme. The release of the Apex expansion would later add the Tropical Hexacam variant for use by Pacific CSAT forces. Likewise, the Green variant was only added after the release of the Contact expansion pack.

With the release of the Tac-Ops DLC, the RPG-42 is also shown being used by the AAF in the Steel Pegasus mini-campaign/scenario. In Old Man , L'Ensemble guerillas will begin wielding the RPG-42 alongside the older RPG-7 once the player has progressed through a certain number of missions.

mini-campaign/scenario.

Gallery

See also