Thread by @ArmorCollection

#antitankthursday: M136 AT4. The AT4 is a disposable, unguided, shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon designed in Sweden and introduced in 1987. It was designed to give dismounted units a system capable of engaging vehicles that could then be discarded.
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While not as effective as anti-tank guided missiles, the AT4 is less expensive and simpler to train on. In fact, all the instructions for the single-shot launcher are written on the side!
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Unlike the World War II American Bazooka it resembles, the AT4 does not fire a rocket but an explosive charge that fires the high-explosive anti-tank projectile while a second charge blasts to the rear to negate recoil, similar to a recoilless rifle.
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This backblast can be dangerous to nearby friendly troops, so a new version, the AT4-CS, was developed for confined spaces that utilizes a water barrier to minimize the backblast pressure.
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While officially designated in the U.S. as the M136, it is almost always referred to as the AT4. AT4 was coined during the original marketing of the weapon as 'AT' stood for anti-tank and 'AT4' was a play on the 84 mm diameter of the projectile it fires.
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