The M79 Osa ( sr, Оса; "

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

") is a Yugoslav-made portable 90 mm anti-tank weapon made of fibre-reinforced plastics. It resembles the French portable anti-tank launcher 89 mm LRAC F1. It consists of the launcher, a CN-6 sighting piece,

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

and carrying case for the rocket. The M79 shoots unguided projectiles in direct sight and is effective against armoured fighting vehicles and fortifications.

Operation

The M79 Osa is operated by a two-man team, an operator and a loader. The loader inserts the rocket container through the rear of the launcher. The operator then takes aim at the target through the CN-6 sight. The CN-6 sight has 3.5x magnification and a 10 degree field of view. It also features anti-laser filters to protect the operator from blinding battlefield lasers. When the trigger is pressed, the rocket motor is fired electronically. The rocket leaves the launcher at a speed of approximately 250 meters per second. It is accurate enough to be used against armoured vehicles at a range of 350 meters, and can engage larger stationary targets up to 600 meters away. On impact a

piezoelectric Piezoelectricity (, ) is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins—in response to applied mechanical stress. The word '' ...

impact fuse in the rocket triggers the

shaped charge A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to form an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, ini ...

warhead, which can penetrate up to 400 millimeters of armour. The fuse is sensitive enough to trigger the warhead at impact angles up to 70 degrees from the vertical. After firing, the spent rocket container is removed from the launcher, and a fresh tube is attached.

Operational history

The M79 Osa was designed and manufactured by

Sloboda A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions Povolzhye, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for "freedom" and may be loosel ...

in the former Yugoslavia. It has continued production in Serbia,

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

, and in Croatia (as the RL90 M95). A large number of M79 OSA rocket launchers were supplied to rebels in Syria which proved effective in deterring the Syrian Army's armor. Many mistook the M79 supplied to the rebels in Syria for the Russian

RPG-29 The RPG-29 "Vampir" (Russian for "vampire") is a Soviet reusable rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher. Adopted by the Soviet Army in 1989, it was the last RPG to be adopted by the Soviet military before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. T ...

rocket launcher, which also saw use. M79 Osas were also used in Iraq by

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...

against Iraqi army and

JANES Janes is an English patronymic family name. Its root is believed to be from the possessive of the given name '' Jan'' (see ''Jayne''), '' John'' or ''Ian''. In England, the name appears to have its densest roots in Bedfordshire and Gloucestershi ...

reported their use against US-made

M1A1 Abrams The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare and now one of the heaviest t ...

tanks. In September 2014, the Houthi movement seized

Sanaa Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gover ...

, the capital city of Yemen, and in March 2015 the Saudi coalition launched an all out war on them all over Yemen. A large stockpile of M79 Osa rocket launchers and rockets were found in Yemeni military weapons depots. All sides of the conflict have used the M79 since 2015.

Operators

Current operators

* * (RL90 M95) * * * *

Non state operators

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the govern ...

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

Former operators

* *

References

* ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 2005-2006''

External links

Sloboda a.d. Čačak, Serbia

Eurokompozit: RBR-90mm M79
{{Military Technical Institute Belgrade Anti-tank rockets Military equipment of Bosnia and Herzegovina Weapons of Yugoslavia Military Technical Institute Belgrade Military equipment introduced in the 1970s