Armed Assault Wiki
Register
Advertisement
« The RPG-42 Alamut is a lightweight, reloadable and recoilless anti-tank weapon fired from the shoulder. It's based on modern Russian rocket launchers and produced in the Middle East. The RPG-42 Rocket is best used against light-armored vehicles and defenses, though when used against a tank, it could damage its tracks.
Field Manual
»
The RPG-42 105 mm rocket launcher.

The RPG-42 Alamut is a 105 mm rocket launcher used by several BLUFOR, REDFOR and INDFOR factions in ArmA 3.

Overview[]

The RPG-42 is a portable, recoilless, unguided, shoulder-launched, rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

It can be loaded with either 105 mm PG-42V high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) or 72 mm TBG-42V high-explosive (HE) grenades; with the former designed for use in taking out light/medium armoured vehicles, and the latter for large groups of infantry.

It has an integral night vision sight with a magnification strength of 2x and ballistic stadia accurate at ranges of up to 500 metres. The launcher's optical sight cannot be manually zeroed.

A general-purpose shoulder-fired launcher, the RPG-42 is the primary armament of CSAT medium anti-tank weapons teams. It is a relatively simple-to-use launcher that can be brought to bear against both vehicles and infantry.

The RPG-42's grenades are relatively lightweight to carry, which means that the operator need not bring heavier backpacks like the Carryall to stow munitions (as opposed to heavier guided launchers like the Titan or NATO's PCML).

Arma3-rpg42-08

Relatively inconspicuous, the RPG-42 is perfect against light/medium-armoured vehicles.

In contrast to the RPG-7, the RPG-42's 105 mm grenades are powerful enough to take out Armoured Personnel Carriers and Infantry Fighting Vehicles in a single hit. Even heavily armoured vehicles such as Main Battle Tanks are vulnerable if the RPG-42's PG-42V grenades strike their optics, engines, tracks, or other exposed components - though it will struggle to achieve anything more than a mobility/mission kill without the tank already being damaged.

The main drawback to the RPG-42 stems from its lack of guidance. Unlike its NATO counterpart, the RPG-42 is unable to lock onto vehicles and relies solely on the user's ability to lead and adjust for the target's velocity in order to land hits.

Another issue is that the RPG-42's munitions are not multi-role capable. The PG-42V tandem charge warhead is strong against vehicles but is near ineffective against infantry due to extremely poor area of effect damage, even when close together.

On the other hand, TBG-42V grenades are highly effective against infantry across a wide area regardless of spacing, but will deal almost no damage to armoured vehicles; aside from perhaps disabling unarmoured components (and even then only with a direct hit). As such, the user must decide on whether to exclusively carry anti-personnel HE grenades or anti-vehicle AT rounds. Alternatively, they can choose to haul a mixture of both round types simultanously, but this in turn results in a lowered total amount of HE/AT grenades overall.

Lastly, the RPG-42's operator must manually switch between munition types if they run up against a threat that their currently loaded grenade is incapable of tackling.

This can become problematic if the user's squad is ambushed by enemy infantry (for example); the amount of time needed to swap from an AT grenade to a HE round could result in disastrous consequences for the user. In stark contrast, the PCML's missile is multi-purpose and can be universally employed against both infantry and vehicles (though with reduced effectiveness compared to the RPG-42's dedicated grenades).

Optics[]

Arma3-rpg42-ironsight-overview

The RPG-42's optical scope cannot be manually zeroed but is able to activate a night vision mode. It features a partially illuminated reticle with red crosses denoting the point of impact at certain ranges. The uppermost cross is only used to hit targets at distances of 50 metres or less. Each cross below it corresponds to targets at ranges of 100, 150, 200, 300, 400 and 500 metres.

Arma3-rpg42-ironsight-specifics

Target vehicle is a Panther APC located approximately ~ 508 metres away from the operator.

Without a rangefinder, measuring the distance of a target can be accomplished by adjusting the launcher until the target vehicle's silhouette contacts the horizontal black bars on both sides of the reticle. This method can be used to estimate the distance of targets located up to 500 metres away.

Camouflage[]

  • Hex: Arid Hexacam camouflage pattern. Primarily used by Mediterranean CSAT anti-tank riflemen, as well as on AAF, FIA, and Loyalist RPG-42s.
  • Green Hex: Tropical Hexacam camouflage pattern. Used by both Pacific CSAT anti-tank riflemen and L'Ensemble fighters.
  • Green: Subdued flat green paint finish. Exclusive to Russian Spetsnaz operatives.

Munitions[]

The RPG-42 is able to utilise two types of grenades. The standard anti-vehicle PGV-42V grenade has a weight of 60 "mass", while the anti-personnel HE TBG-42V grenade has a weight of 40 "mass" units:

PG-42V AT[]

Arma3-icon-pg42v

PG-42V

Warhead Damage type Base damage value Penetration depth (mm)
Primary Tandem High-Explosive Anti-Tank 28 N/A
Secondary Tandem High-Explosive Anti-Tank 480 649.99

Standard-issue anti-armour grenade. Uses a 105 mm high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) tandem warhead.

The PG-42V combines a penetrator with a shaped explosive charge, which grants it armour piercing as well as explosive capabilities. It is ideal for use against light-medium armoured vehicles such as MRAPs or IFVs like the AMV-7 Marshall.

Against heavily armoured vehicles like the M2A4 Slammer MBT, its usefulness drops off somewhat since the penetrator isn't actually powerful enough to bypass through the frontal armour. Vehicles outfitted with slat cages will also tend to nullify the effects of the initial blast as well, though the penetrator can still go through depending on the impact angle. It is always advisable to hit heavy armour in the rear where the armour is weakest, or against the tracks/wheels in order to inflict a mobility kill.

The PG-42V has an effective range of up to 500 metres and an absolute maximum of 700 metres. It has an initial and in-flight velocity speed of 140 m/s. The primary (explosive-only) warhead has a blast radius of 3 metres, while its kinetic submunition has a launch velocity of 1,000 m/s and a penetration depth of ~ 649 millimetres.

TBG-42V HE[]

Arma3-icon-tbg42v

TBG-42V

Damage type Base damage value
High-Explosive 200

Uses a 72 mm thermobaric warhead. Unlike the standard PG-42V round, the TBG-42V is exclusively an anti-personnel grenade round that relies purely on explosive concussion to inflict damage.

It has the largest splash radius out of the two grenade types and is highly effective against clustered infantry and unarmoured vehicles like the Offroad. It can also be used to raze unarmoured structures, though it will still require several rounds before a large building can be brought down.

As is to be expected, armoured ground vehicles are completely immune to the effects of the warhead since it has absolutely zero penetration capability. It can, however, be used to disable the optics or RWS turrets on MBTs. Vehicles like the AFV-4 Gorgon which use exposed turrets can also be disabled with an indirect hit in this way, though it will not deal much (if any) damage to the vehicle itself.

TBG-42V grenades have an effective range of up to 500 metres and an absolute maximum of 700 metres. It has an initial and in-flight velocity speed of 140 m/s. The warhead has a blast radius of 6 metres.

Trivia[]

  • The RPG-42 is based on the real-world Russian-made "RPG-32" rocket-propelled grenade launcher designed by NPO Bazalt, a subsidiary of the Rostec state-owned conglomerate.
  • TBG-42V grenades are significantly lighter to carry than the RPG-42's standard PG-42V rounds. Without taking stamina into account, it is possible to carry up to twelve spare rounds in a Bergen (which is currently the largest backpack available).
  • It was initially only available in an Arid Hexacam camouflage scheme. The release of the Apex expansion would later add the Tropical Hexacam variant for use by Pacific CSAT forces.[1]
  • Beginning with its introduction in the Alpha and all the way up to release, the RPG-42's TBG-42V HE grenades weighed the same as its PG-42V AT grenades. Game Update 1.12 subsequently reduced its weight by 40% (from 60 "mass" to only 40).[3]
    • A bug also prevented the AI from being able to accurately hit enemy vehicles at distances beyond 300 metres. However, this issue would not be corrected until Game Update 1.64.[4]
  • Before Game Update 1.50, the explosion effects for both grenade types were significantly larger and did not match their actual area-of-effect damage radii.[5]
  • With the release of the Tac-Ops DLC, the RPG-42 is also shown being used by the AAF in the Steel Pegasus mini-campaign/scenario.[6]
    • In Old Man, L'Ensemble guerillas will begin wielding the RPG-42 alongside the older RPG-7 once the player has progressed through a certain number of missions.[7]
The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content.
  • Arma3-icon-rpg42rucamo

    Icon for the unused and hidden RPG-42.

    There is a hidden variant of the RPG-42 which features a unique camouflage scheme (Classname: launch_RPG32_camo_F[8], Texture name: rpg_32_body_rucamo_co.paa[9]).
    • It was "added" with the release of the Contact expansion but can only be equipped through the use of scripting commands or re-enabling it via config with a custom addon.

Gallery[]

Video[]

References[]

  1. Kovařič, V 2016, SPOTREP #00058, Arma 3, viewed 2 March 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00058>.
  2. van 't Land, J.J. 2019, SPOTREP #00089, Arma 3, viewed 2 March 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00089>.
  3. van 't Land, J.J. 2014, SPOTREP #00019, Arma 3, viewed 11 September 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00019>.
  4. Kovařič, V 2016, SPOTREP #00059, Arma 3, viewed 11 September 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00059>.
  5. van 't Land, J.J. 2015, SPOTREP #00047, Arma 3, viewed 9 September 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00047>.
  6. ARMA 3: Tac-Ops 2017 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Steel Pegasus, Breaking Through
  7. ARMA 3: Apex 2020 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., Old Man
  8. ARMA 3: Contact 2019 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., \a3\weapons_f_enoch\launchers\rpg32\config.bin, CfgWeapons >> launch_RPG32_camo_F
  9. ARMA 3: Contact 2019 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., \a3\weapons_f_enoch\launchers\rpg32\data\rpg_32_body_rucamo_co.paa

External links[]

See also[]

Weapons of comparable role and configuration[]

Weapons of ArmA 3
Handguns 4-five .45ACP-C2 .45P07 9 mmPM 9 mmRook-40 9 mmStarter Pistol 10 mmSpectrum DeviceZubr .45
Submachine guns ADR-97 5.7 mmPDW2000 9 mmProtector 9 mmSting 9 mmVermin .45
Shotguns Kozlice
Carbines AKU-12 7.62 mmAKS-74U 5.45 mmKatiba Carbine 6.5 mmMk20C 5.56 mmMXC 6.5 mmTRG-20 5.56 mm
Assault rifles AK-12 series (AK-12, AK-12 GL) • AKM 7.62 mmCAR-95 series (CAR-95, CAR-95 GL) • Katiba 6.5 mm (Katiba GL) • MX series (MX, MX 3GL) • Mk20 5.56 mm (Mk20 EGLM) • Promet series (Promet, Promet GL, Promet SG) • SDAR 5.56 mmSPAR-16 series (SPAR-16, SPAR-16 GL) • Type 115 6.5 mmTRG-21 5.56 mm (TRG-21 EGLM)
Designated marksman rifles ASP-1 Kir 12.7 mmCMR-76 6.5 mmCyrus 9.3 mmMk-I EMR 7.62 mmMk14 7.62 mm (Classic) • Mk18 ABR 7.62 mmMAR-10 .338MXM 6.5 mmPromet MR 6.5 mmRahim 7.62 mmSPAR-17 7.62 mm
Sniper rifles GM6 Lynx 12.7 mmM320 LRR .408
Squad automatic weapons CAR-95-1 5.8 mmLIM-85 5.56 mmMk200 6.5 mmMX SW 6.5 mmRPK-12 7.62 mmSPAR-16S 5.56 mmZafir 7.62 mm
Machineguns Navid 9.3 mmSPMG .338
Launchers 9M135 VoronaMAAWS Mk4PCMLRPG-7RPG-42Titan MPRLTitan MPRL Compact
Static M2Mk6 MortarMk30Mk32Remote DesignatorStatic Titan Launcher (AA, AT)
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Karts DLC | Marksmen DLC | Apex DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
Arma3-factionicon-fia FIA - Armoury (ArmA 3)
Handguns ACP-C2 .45
Carbines TRG-20 5.56 mm
Assault rifles Mk20 5.56 mmTRG-21 5.56 mm (TRG-21 EGLM)
Designated marksmen rifles Mk14 7.62 mm
Squad automatic weapons Mk200 6.5 mm
Launchers MAAWS Mk4 Mod 0RPG-42
Static M2Mk6 Mortar
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Marksmen DLC | Apex DLC | Tanks DLC
Arma3-factionicon-fia Government Loyalists - Armoury (ArmA 3)
Handguns ACP-C2 .45
Carbines AKS-74U 5.45 mmMk20C 5.56 mmTRG-20 5.56 mm
Assault rifles AK-12 series (AK-12, AK-12 GL) • AKM 7.62 mmMk20 5.56 mm (Mk20 EGLM) • SPAR-16 series (SPAR-16, SPAR-16 GL) • TRG-21 5.56 mm (TRG-21 EGLM)
Designated marksmen rifles Mk14 7.62 mmMk18 ABR 7.62 mm
Squad automatic weapons LIM-85 5.56 mmMk200 6.5 mm
Launchers RPG-7RPG-42
Static M2Mk6 Mortar
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Marksmen DLC | Apex DLC
Arma3-factionicon-csat CSAT - Armoury (ArmA 3)
Handguns Rook-40 9 mmZubr .45
Submachine guns Sting 9 mm
Carbines Katiba Carbine 6.5 mm
Assault rifles CAR-95 series (CAR-95, CAR-95 GL) • Katiba 6.5 mm (Katiba GL) • SDAR 5.56 mmType 115 6.5 mm*
Designated marksman rifles ASP-1 Kir 12.7 mmCMR-76 6.5 mmCyrus 9.3 mmRahim 7.62 mm
Sniper rifles GM6 Lynx 12.7 mm
Squad automatic weapons CAR-95-1 5.8 mmZafir 7.62 mm
Machineguns Navid 9.3 mm
Launchers 9M135 VoronaRPG-42Titan MPRLTitan MPRL Compact
Static Mk6 MortarMk30Mk32Remote DesignatorStatic Titan Launcher (AA, AT)
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
* denotes weapons exclusive to the Viper sub-faction.
Marksmen DLC | Apex DLC | Tanks DLC
Arma2-factionicon-russianspetsnaz Russian Spetsnaz - Armoury (ArmA 3)
Handguns Rook-40 9 mm
Carbines AKU-12 7.62 mm
Assault rifles AK-12 7.62 mm (AK-12 GL)
Designated marksman rifles ASP-1 Kir 12.7 mm
Squad automatic weapons RPK-12 7.62 mm
Launchers RPG-42
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Marksmen DLC | Apex DLC | Contact DLC
Arma3-factionicon-aaf AAF - Armoury (ArmA 3)
Handguns ACP-C2 .45
Submachine guns PDW2000 9 mm
Carbines Mk20C 5.56 mm
Assault rifles Mk20 5.56 mm (Mk20 EGLM) • SDAR 5.56 mm
Designated marksman rifles Mk18 ABR 7.62 mm
Sniper rifles GM6 Lynx 12.7 mm
Squad automatic weapons Mk200 6.5 mm
Launchers MAAWS Mk4 Mod 0PCMLRPG-42Titan MPRLTitan MPRL Compact
Static M2Mk6 MortarMk30Mk32Static Titan Launcher (AA, AT)
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Apex DLC | Tanks DLC
Arma3-factionicon-syndikat L'Ensemble - Armoury (ArmA 3)
Handguns PM 9 mm
Submachine guns Sting 9 mmPDW2000 9 mmProtector 9 mm
Shotguns Kozlice
Carbines AKS-74U 5.45 mmAKU-12 7.62 mm
Assault rifles AK-12 series (AK-12, AK-12 GL) • AKM 7.62 mmSPAR-16 series (SPAR-16, SPAR-16 GL)
Designated marksmen rifles Mk14 Classic 7.62 mm
Squad automatic weapons LIM-85 5.56 mmRPK-12 7.62 mm
Launchers RPG-7RPG-42
Static M2
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Apex DLC | Contact DLC
Western Sahara
Arma3-factionicon-wssfia Sefrawi Freedom and Independence Army - Armoury (Western Sahara)
Handguns ACP-C2 .45P07 9 mm
Submachine guns PDW2000 9 mmSting 9 mm
Carbines Velko R5 5.56 mm
Assault rifles Galat ARM 7.62 mmSLR 7.62 mm
Machineguns SA-77 7.62 mm
Launchers RPG-42Titan MPRL
Static M2Mk6 MortarZU-23-2
Arma3-factionicon-wstura Tura - Armoury (Western Sahara)
Submachine guns PDW2000 9 mm
Assault rifles Galat ARM 7.62 mm (Old) • SLR 7.62 mm
Machineguns SA-77 7.62 mm
Launchers RPG-42
Static M2Mk6 MortarZU-23-2
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Advertisement