Vietnam Uses RBU-1200 Anti-Submarine Rockets to Attack the Ground

25 Desember 2020

 RBU-1200 anti-submarine rocket launchers on the Project 201 patrol boat (photo : BaoMoi)

The RBU-1200 anti-submarine rocket used for the Project 201 patrol boats (SO-1) has been used by the Vietnam People's Army in a new role.

During the war against the US, the Soviet Union provided the Vietnamese Navy with a total of 8 Project 201 small-sized anti-submarines. In Vietnam, this class of warships is simply called 200-ton anti-submarines. In the period between the 1960s and 1980s, it "received the retirement book".

The Project 201's small anti-submarine warfare armament includes two 2M-3 twin barrel gunships of 25 mm size, front and rear, and most notably 4 RBU-1200 anti-submarine rocket launchers.

The RBU-1200 complex with five 250 mm launch tubes is an anti-submarine weapon system manufactured by the Soviet Union, started in 1955. It has light weight, low recoil, so it is suitable for installation. on small boats with displacement of about 100-200 tons.

RBU-1200 RGB-12 rocket ammunition weighs 73 kg, carries a warhead weighing 30 kg, length 1.24 m. The projectile can be launched at an angle of fire from 0 to 51 degrees, the ability to cover the area with a size (70 x 120) m, the speed of the bullet in the water is 6.25 m / s, the maximum combat depth up to 350 m.

RBG-12 anti-submarine rockets belonging to the RBU-1200 complex (photo : BaoMoi)

After the SO-1 patrol ships were retired, these RBU-1200 anti-submarine rockets became redundant, because on the Petya class corvettes the more modern RBU-2500 and RBU-6000s were present. That is why the need to convert the above weapons for other purposes appears.

On the cover of the National Defense Industry and Economy magazine No. 6 in 2020 posted a very remarkable photo, which is the RBG-12 rocket ammunition being deployed by soldiers in military combat clothing, shows it has had a new role.

With a 30 kg warhead weight combined with a range of 400 - 1,200 m, RBG-12 bullets can be used to attack ground targets as a very powerful short-range jet artillery, when the attack power its was much larger than mortar bullets.

On the Syrian battlefield, but the rocket or "gas bomb" made on the same basis as the RBG-12 "stormed" and showed particularly high efficiency, so the Vietnam Army took advantage Using old weapons of the Navy for the Army can be seen as a rather unique direction.

(BaoMoi)