Source: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
A soldier of the 4th. Assault Battalion, 92nd. Assault Brigade “Ivan Sirko” on the firing range with a PSRL-1 (Precision Shoulder-fired Rocket Launcher). The profile of the Soviet RPG-7 is clear to see and in fact, the PSRL-1 is a direct (and unlicensed) modification of the RPG-7 developed and made in the United States by the AirTronic USA company. The PSRL-1 originally appeared in 2009 under the designation RPG-7USA and the first customer was Peru that obtained the weapon for the country's special forces in 2013. This was followed by the Philippine Armed Forces the following year. The Ukrainian Army became a purchaser in 2017, a year after the RPG-7USA was redesignated as the PSRL-1. The PSRL-1 is mainly targeted to the export market, specifically allied countries to the United States looking to upgrade from the RPG-7.
The PSRL-1 has the same weight, 14 pounds, of the RPG-7 but is a fraction shorter at 3 feet (compared to 3.1 feet of the RPG-7). Construction uses a combination of 4140 and 4150 ordnance grade steel. Both are chromium-molybdenum steel alloys with the barrel being 4150 steel as it has a higher heat resistance, is wear resistant, has a high tensile strength, and has a higher carbon content. The other components use 4140 steel mainly due to its cost-effectiveness in CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining of the parts. The rear of the barrel retains the wrap to protect the firer's shoulder from the heat. Another difference is a more conventional pistol grip on the PSRL-1 rather than the completely vertical grip of the RPG-7. Like the RPG-7, the PSRL-1 has a danger zone at the rear of the weapon of between 15 to 20 meters and this is created by the back blast when a rocket is launched.
The most notable difference from the RPG-7 is the abundance of Picatinny rails for mounting various optics and other accessories. The PSRL-1 ships with two standard sights. The first is a AirTronic PSRL 3.5x24mm optical sight which is superior to the RPG-7's standard 2.7x13mm PGO-7 sight. The second standard sight is shown in use here, the flip-up BUIS (Backup Iron Sights). As an optional accessory, AirTronic USA offers a EOTech 552 holographic weapon sight which has a 65 MOA (Minute of Angle) ring with a 1 MOA dot. The EOTech 552 can be used with 3rd. and 4th. generation night vision via a toggle switch that turns the sight into infrared brightness levels that can be picked up by night vision goggles.
The PSRL-1 boasts a longer range than the RPG-7 but only if using the 93mm SR-H1 HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) rocket designed specifically for the PSRL-1. Capable of penetrating 500mm of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA), the SR-H1 can achieve that at an effective range of 500 meters to a maximum range of 800 meters. By comparison, the 93mm PG-7VL HEAT rocket used by the RPG-7 can also defeat 500mm of RHA but only at 250 meters.
Of course, what makes the PSRL-1 attractive to export customers looking to update from the RPG-7 is that the PSRL-1 can use any rocket designed for the RPG-7 and that is the case here. The rocket the soldier is using is the Bulgarian produced 40mm OGi-7MA High-Explosive Fragmentation (HE-FRAG) rocket which is used against infantry, soft-skin vehicles, lightly armored vehicles, and hasty field fortifications. The OGi-7MA can be identified by the orange nose cap. The direct fire range is 180 meters but the rocket can go as far as 1,000 meters before the solid fuel is expended. The OGi-7 warhead contains over 1,250 fragments with a lethal radius of over 22 meters. The rocket is equipped with a CP-71 propellant charge and is normally fitted with a AF72 impact fuze. The AF72 ensures that any hit, even a glancing strike (that would normally ricochet), will detonate the warhead. If need be, the rocket can also use the AF76 fuze.
Besides the countries mentioned above, Turkey became a customer in 2022 when the PSRL-1 was purchased to equip units within the Turkish Navy special forces. As a note, Turkish Land Forces utilize the RPG-7 with the Turkish company MKEK producing various rockets for the weapon. These, of course, can also be used with the PSRL-1.
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