These two very graphic pictures are photographs of the VAB armoured personnel carrier that was took a direct hit from an RPG-7 rocket. In the first picture, the entry hole can be seen, just above the lower left hand corner of the driver's access door. The deadly jet of molten metal that consequently was propelled to the interior of the vehicle severly wounded the driver, destroyed the steering wheel, penetrated the steel gear transfer box and came out the other side, burning the feet of the Chef de Groupe (the squad leader) who was standing up on his seat, manning the 12.7mm machine gun in the cupola. The driver and the squad leader were immediately medevac-ed by helicopter to Yammassoukro and then by airplane to a French hospital. The driver, suffering from severe wounds and burns to his arms and chest area had his left forearm amputated and undertook several operations to save his mangled right forearm. The squad leader was a little luckier, his burned feet leaving no permanent damage once healed. The incident demonstrated the devastating effectiveness of the relatively primitive RPG-7 rocket with its hollow charge explosive warhead. A weapon dating back to the 1950's, the RPG-7 has been manufactured in numerous versions by numerous countries in enormous quantities. Its widespread availability, ease of operation and low price on the world's black arms markets assured that it quickly became the armor-defeating weapon of choice for terrorist, guerilla and rebel insurgent groups worldwide. Like the American Army units found out in Iraq, Somalia and other various conflicts in the Middle East, the relatively lightly skinned troop transport vehicles like the VAB, the M113 and the Hummer are extremely vulnerable to even the most primitive of the various types of RPG-7 warheads. Many different studies and efforts have been made in an attempt to counter this threat, from “in the field” armor plating to sophisticated kevlar and even reactive armor kits for the various wheeled and tracked armoured personnel carriers, all with various degrees of success. The fact remains that in any combat scenario the RPG-7 threat must not be underestimated and measures need to be taken to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable vehicles against this threat. |
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