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Wirkmittel-90 / Matador / RGW-90 - Design

The MATADOR is among the lightest in its class. The warhead is effective against both vehicle armour and brick walls. The weapon has little back-blast, making it safe for operation in confined spaces. The MATADOR is supposed to be capable of defeating the armor of most known armored personnel carriers and light tanks in the world. The dual-capability warhead, when acting in the delay mode, creates an opening greater than 450 mm (18 in) in diameter in a double brick wall, and acts as an anti-personnel weapon against those behind the wall, offering an unconventional means of entry when fighting in built-up areas. The MATADOR's projectile is claimed to be insensitive to wind due to its propulsion system, which results in a highly accurate weapon system.

The weapon system is intended to expand the weapon mix of other Bundeswehr units. The 90 mm weapon with the Spreng MZ effector and a programmable multi-purpose warhead, which weighs only around eleven kilograms when ready to fire, enables the soldiers to shoot a wide range of targets at a distance of up to 600 meters in direct fire (lightly armored point targets and infrastructure targets) or up to 1,200 meters in the air detonation point (unarmored area targets) to be fought extremely accurately. In addition to the aforementioned MZ explosive effector, the Bundeswehr also procured other types of ammunition (anti-structure, smoke RP, illuminated IR and exercise PT).

The Wirkmittel 90, capable of night combat, is used to combat both soft and semi-hard targets, such as lightly armored vehicles or field fortifications. The shooter can program the weapon in such a way that the cartridge explodes when it hits the target or after it has penetrated with a delay. The Wirkmittel 90 can also be used to illuminate the battlefield in the visible and infrared range and to blind the enemy by using smoke cartridges.

Different types of ammunition are available to the shooter. These include shells to attack targets in and behind cover with a range of up to 1,200 meters (explosive shells in Air Blast Point mode) and smoke shells to rob the enemy's line of sight. However, various flare cartridges for battlefield lighting that cover the visible light spectrum and the infrared range, as well as practice cartridges for training and combat shooting can also be used with the new weapon system. In English, the effective means 90 is referred to as a Long Range Multi Purpose (LRMP) Warhead.

The outstanding feature of the Wirkmittel 90 is the hitherto unrivaled ability to precisely deploy an unguided and ballistically flying projectile from a shoulder weapon up to a distance of 1,200 m. To do this, the shooter measures the exact distance to the target using the laser range finder integrated in the fire control sight and specifies which fuze mode (impact or air fuze) should be used to engage the target. The fire control sight receives the ballistic data via an ammunition store located in the effector. These are evaluated by the fire control sight. After switching on the fire control sight, communication with the ammunition store takes place. The type of ammunition loaded is shown to the shooter on the display.

The Wirkmittel 90 mm is based on the Davis gun principle (counter mass principle). After the weapon has been fired, a gel-based countermass ensures that the weapon can be deployed with low recoil. Similar to the Armbrust, the counter-mass counteracts the recoil of the weapon upon firing. The counter-mass consists of shredded plastic, which is launched out of the rear of the weapon when it is fired. This plastic is rapidly slowed by air resistance, allowing the weapon to be fired safely within an enclosed space. In addition, the positioning of the counter-mass takes into consideration the centre of gravity of the weapon to ensure good balance for better accuracy.

The grenade launcher is characterized by a certain simplicity of construction. It has a barrel-container with a grenade inside, an external trigger and sights. The trigger mechanism has folded handles for fire control and a shoulder stop. Initially, the "Matador" grenade launcher was equipped with a low magnification optical sight. With its help, effective shooting at stationary or moving targets was ensured at ranges of up to 300-500 m. Later, the Dynahawk sight was developed with a range finder, a ballistic calculator and a grenade programmer. In the RGW 90 LRMP or Wirkmittel 90 configuration, this scope provides shooting at 1,200 meters. At the same time, the total length of the product in the combat position is no more than 1 m. The caliber of the barrel is 90 mm. The weight of the heaviest modification is 8.9 kg.

The cruise engine integrated in the wing-stabilized projectile ensures a constant speed of the projectile. This constant speed and the high-precision measurement of the resulting acceleration values using the DM1625 (explosive) / DM1626 (illuminated/fog/exercise) fuze manufactured by Junghans Defense make it possible on the one hand for the 90 mm weapon to be fired to a large extent independently of crosswinds and on the other hand also on distances of 1,200 m can be used with pinpoint accuracy in front of, behind or above the desired target.

Different types of ammunition are available to the shooter. These include shells to attack targets in and behind cover with a range of up to 1,200 meters (explosive shells in Air Blast Point mode) and smoke shells to rob the enemy's line of sight. However, various flare cartridges for battlefield lighting, which cover the visible light spectrum and the infrared range, as well as practice cartridges for training and combat shooting can also be used with the new weapon system. In English, the effective means 90 is referred to as a Long Range Multi Purpose (LRMP) Warhead.

All MATADOR RPG ammunition is built on a common principle and uses the recoilless launch principle. The grenade is equipped with a starting charge and a counterweight in the form of plastic pellets. During a shot, the pellets fly out of the back of the barrel and are quickly decelerated in the air, due to which the danger zone behind the weapon is reduced. The initial speed of the grenade itself during departure from the TPK is 250 m/s. In flight, its own jet engine is turned on, which additionally accelerates it.

Several variants of the grenade launcher with different grenades are offered. The RGW 90 HH (HEAT/HESH) grenade launcher is equipped with a warhead of a combined action: depending on the mode of the blaster, it works as a cumulative or as an armor-piercing one with a removable main part. A similar grenade with a tandem charge (HH-T) has also been developed, the penetration of which is at least 500 mm of homogeneous armor, in particular for dynamic protection. The next option in this line is the MATADOR-MP multi-purpose grenade, which independently determines the detonation mode upon impact. On its basis, the RGW 90 LRMP product with an increased firing range was created.

The MATADOR-WB grenade is equipped with a special warhead for destroying buildings. Depending on the type of target, the ammunition can penetrate several layers of brickwork and/or make a hole with a diameter of at least 400-450 mm. There are also special grenades with a smoke and lighting charge.

In a word, the MATADOR disposable grenade launcher of 90 mm caliber is not the newest, but quite successful sample of infantry reactive weapons. Its strengths include small dimensions and weight, simplicity and ease of use. In addition, an important advantage is the presence of several modifications with different grenades, which allows to solve a wide range of tasks. Therefore, "Matador" poses a considerable danger both for equipment of various classes, and for buildings or personnel.