what Happens When You Fire an RPG at 16 Inches of Bulletproof Glass?

Welcome to our Community
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Feel free to Sign Up today.
Sign up

jason73

Yuri Bezmenov was right
First 100
Jan 15, 2015
72,781
134,158
Bulletproof glass doesn’t joke around. But neither does a rocket propelled grenade.

One of Hollywood’s most consistent action movie tropes, the effectiveness of bulletproof glass has been pretty well demonstrated. Whether it’s the hero or the villain, someone’s going to have a gun pointed in their direction, only to stare smugly as the bullets are blocked by a sheet of glass the audience didn’t realize was there.



Through a process known as lamination, manufacturers layer polycarbonate material over panels of glass. The more layers, the more resistant the glass is to blunt force. While no window could ever be really, truly, 100% bulletproof, Blofeld can safely assume that James Bond’s 9mm isn’t going to make it through a panel 16 inches thick.

But what about a rocket propelled grenade?

This is the same question the team over at Crash Zone asked themselves. Not content to be mere armchair philosophers, they took their curiosity to the firing range.

Placing a test dummy behind the glass, the team fired an anti-tank RPG-7. How did he fare?

Not well. If real, the dummy would be unmistakably dead. The glass, however, holds up surprisingly well, even if it does have a rocket-sized hole in it.



So they add another panel, leaving space between the two. Does the dummy survive this time?

No.

What’s the lesson? Probably nothing you couldn’t have figured out on your own. Bulletproof glass will not protect you from a rocket.
 

Leigh

Engineer
Pro Fighter
Jan 26, 2015
10,925
21,293
If the first screen didn't already have a hole in it, the second test may have been successful

But it would probably be cheaper and more effective to use reinforced concrete
 

ThatOneDude

Commander in @Chief, Dick Army
First 100
Jan 14, 2015
35,390
34,272
There was a young retarded devil dog in my unit, trying to be all NCO like. He was giving a "class" to one of my young Marines...... He fired an at-4 directly through the glass at like 8 inches away. It blew the door off their guard post and blew them out the back.


He sat in the COC for the rest of the deployment with no gun.
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
49,704
50,709
Is there not a risk of eye injury when shooting one of these? Didn't see any goggles on shooter.
 

ThatOneDude

Commander in @Chief, Dick Army
First 100
Jan 14, 2015
35,390
34,272
Hmmm

I never thought about that

ThatOneDude @ThatOneDude
I've never fired an rpg, had them fired at me, but I know you can fire and at-4 without goggles, but you do not want to be behind it. The at-4 has a small charge that fires the rocket out, and then the main one kicks on after X amount of meters.
 

SongExotic2

ATM 3 CHAMPION OF THE WORLD. #FREECAIN
First 100
Jan 16, 2015
39,772
53,672
I've never fired an rpg, had them fired at me, but I know you can fire and at-4 without goggles, but you do not want to be behind it. The at-4 has a small charge that fires the rocket out, and then the main one kicks on after X amount of meters.
You can see that happen in this video too. After it leaves another charge goes off before it hits the target
 

Robbie Hart

All Biden Voters Are Mindless Sheep
Feb 13, 2015
49,704
50,709
I've never fired an rpg, had them fired at me, but I know you can fire and at-4 without goggles, but you do not want to be behind it. The at-4 has a small charge that fires the rocket out, and then the main one kicks on after X amount of meters.
Fired at you? Interested to hear this story