M72 LAW rocket launcher in extended (ready to fire) position and the M72 HEAT rocket / grenade in in-flight configuration, with tail fins extended
Posted on 05/31/2007 11:31:54 AM PDT by InfraRed
So, if the rocket had not actually been fired, you could probably drop the rocket back into the tube and have a functional weapon without even having to replace a scorched wire?
Yes, the LAW is considered and issued as a round of ammunition. Once fired it is useless and may be discarded.
Incidentally, the LAW has regained popularity during the Iraq war. It is still cheaper and lighter than newer weapons and works well against what the enemy is equipped with.
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/03/marines-fought-the-law-and-the-law-won/index.php
They make great potato mortars.
You can’t rely on what the media says, though. These are in high demand right now, so I doubt they are being de-militarized and sold. Most likely, it has been fired.
M72 LAW rocket launcher in extended (ready to fire) position and the M72 HEAT rocket / grenade in in-flight configuration, with tail fins extended
It's no longer ordnance. The ordnance left the tube when it was fired. It's basically akin to stomping on fired brass, not on live rounds.
I would wager that the “part” that was missing was the entire projectile. Otherwise it’s just a tube. But it sure is scary to the MSM!
I’m sure that a knowledgeable person could reuse a launch tube if they had a functional missile, but that missile is the part that’s impossible to get.
Jones is a freakin coward if a plastic tube is scary.
Maybe we should start building PVC MLRS platforms and see who has a coronary from that?
They told us to crush the AT-4 tube in boot camp because a discarded on could be used to create a fougasse or a one shot mortar by an insurgent group.
The launch tubes are eye-catching from a distance, and I was initially thinking a terrorist might have separated the rockets from the tubes for transport. With the eye-catching part being inert, it would be fairly safe to move the weapons into position and mate them up to smaller, less conspicuous rockets when needed. However, the rockets themselves aren't terribly inconspicuous, so that train of thought is now derailed.
you can buy used LAW tubes at most bigger surplus stores. It’s harmless
A used military rocket launcher, specifically a M72 light anti-tank weapon, covered by brush and leaning against a telephone pole, was spotted by a Butler County Jail inmate in the 500 block of South Third Street, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said.
It does later go on to say that a piece was missing rendering it inoperable, but within the context of it being a used, single use launcher, I don't think that means it was simply disassembled. That is of course assuming that by used, they mean expended as opposed to simply having been taken out of the box.
This is only about 40 miles from me. I'll have to ask my friends in law enforcement about it and see if they heard anything about it. Or at least if they heard anything that they can tell me, which aren't always the same thing.
Wow. I read through that article at least twice (well, I thought I had) and didn’t notice the word ‘used’. I even searched for ‘used’ in my browser before posting my correction. Please excuse my inability to read! It appears that the launcher was, indeed, used.
That sounds about right to me. I expect someone who actuallkinws will be along shortly...
lol...
I knew that. :-)
But I was picturing the Bugs Bunny scene where he is testing for dud bombs by banging them with a hammer (though of course those would really be ordnance).
“”Makes you wonder what they were using it for,” Jones said.”
Probably the same thing the VC used them for.
Booby traps.
Or sold to a stupid wanna-be terrorist.
Beercan carrier?
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