Held Expedient AntiArmor Devices FM21-75

8/14/2019 Held Expedient AntiArmor Devices FM21-75

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FM 21-75

APPENDIX H

Held Expedient Ant iarmor Devices

GENERAL

There are many weap ons that you can use todestroy a tank or an armored personnel carrier. Theweapons most frequently used are LAWs, Dragons,TOWs, mines, and high-explosive dual-purpose(HEDP) rounds of the M203 grenade launcher. Theremay be times, however, when you will not have thesew eapon s available. In such cases, you may have touse field expedient devices. This appendix describessome appropriate devices.

HOW TO MAKE EXPEDIENT

DEVICES

In order to constru ct some of these de-vices, you must know h ow to prime chargeselectrically and nonelectrically. (app B).

FLAME DEVICES

These devices are used to obscure the

vision of a vehicle’s crew and to set the vehicleafire. The burning vehicle creates smoke andheat that will asphyxiate and burn the crew if they do not abandon the vehicle.

CONTENTS

GENERAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H -1

HOW TO MAKEEXPEDIEN T DEVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H-1

WEAK POINTS OFARMORED VEHICLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H-7

H-1

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FM 21-75

Molotov cockt ail. This is mad e with a breakablecontainer, a gas and oil mixture, and a clothwick. To construct it, fill the container (usuallya bottle) with the gas and oil mixture, and theninsert the cloth w ick into th e container. Thewick must extend both into the mixture and ou tof the container. Light the wick before throwingthe Molotov cocktail. When the container hitsa vehicle and breaks, the mixture w ill ignite,burning both the vehicle and the personnelaround it.

Eagle fireball. This is mad e with an amm unitioncan, a gas and oil mixture, a white phosph orousgrenade wrap ped w ith detonating cord, tape,a nonelectric blasting cap, a fuse igniter, anda grap nel (or rope w ith bent n ails). To constructan eagle fireball, fill the amm unition can with

the gas and oil mixture. Wrap the grenad e withdetonating cord and attach a nonelectric firingsystem (app B) to the end of the detonatingcord. Place the grena de inside the can w ith

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FM 21-75

the time fuse extending out of it. Make a slot inthe can’s lid for the time fuse to pass throughw hen the lid is closed . If available, attach arope with bent nails or a grapnel to the can.When you throw the can onto a vehicle, the bentnails or the grapnel will help hold the can onthe vehicle. Before throwing the can, fire thefuse igniter.

Eagle cocktail. This is made of a plastic or rub-berized bag (a waterproof bag, a sandbag linedwith a p oncho, or a battery case placed insidea sand bag), a gas and oil mixture, a smokegrenade, a thermite grenade, tape, string, andcommunications w ire or cord. To construct aneagle cocktail, fill the bag with the gas and oilmixture. Seal the bag by twisting its end andthen taping or tying it. Attach the thermite and

smoke grenades to the bag using tape, string,or communications wire. When attaching thegrenad es, do not bind the safety levers onthe grenades. Tie a p iece of string or cord to

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the safety pins of the grenades. Before throw-ing the eagle cocktail, pull the safety pins inboth grenades.

EXPLOSIVE DEVICES

Place such d evices at vu lnerable pointsto destroy components of tanks and armoredpersonnel carriers.

Towed charge. This is made of rope or commu -nications wire, mines or blocks of explosives,electrical blasting caps, tape, and electrical firingwire. To construct a towed charge, link a seriesof armed antitank mines together w ith rope orcommunications wire. If mines are not available,use about 25 to 50 pounds of explosives attachedon a board (sled charge). Anchor one end of therope on one side of a road and run its otherend across the road to a safe position fromwhich the charge may be pulled onto the road.Attach an electric firing system (app B) to each

mine (or to the explosive on the sled charge)and connect those systems to the firing w ire.Tape the firing wire to the rope running to theposition from which the charge is pulled ontothe road. At that position, conduct a circuit

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FM 21-75

check (app B) and then connect the firing wireto a blasting m achine. Just before a veh iclereaches the site of the tow ed charge, pu ll thecharge onto the road so that it will be run overby the vehicle. When the vehicle is over it, firethe charge.

Pole charge. This is made of explosives (TNT orC4), nonelectric blasting caps, time fuse, deto-nating cord , tape, string or wire, fuse igniters,and a pole that is long enough for the mission.Prime the desired amount of explosives withtwo nonelectric firing systems, and a ttach theexplosives to a board or some other flat material.The amoun t of explosives you use depend s onthe target to be destroyed . Tie or tape the

board with the explosives to the pole. The timefuse should only be about 6 inches long. Beforepu tting a pole charge on a target, fire the fuseigniters. Some good places to put a pole charge

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FM 21-75

on a vehicle are under the turret, over the enginecompartment, in the suspension system, and inthe main gu n tube (if the charge is mad e smallenough to fit in the tu be).

Sat chel charge. This is mad e of explosives(TNT or C4), nonelectric blasting caps, timefuse, detonating cord, tape, fuse igniters, andsome ty pe of satchel. The satchel can be anemp ty sand bag, or demolitions bag, or someother material. To construct a satchel charge,fill the satchel with the amount of explosivesneeded for the mission. Prime the explosiveswith two nonelectric firing systems. Use onlyabout 6 inches of time fuse. Seal the satchelwith string, rope, or tape, and leave the timefuse and fuse igniter han ging out of the satchel.Before throwing a satchel charge onto a target,fire the fuse igniters.

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WEAK POINTS OF ARMORED

VEHICLES

To use expedient dev ices successfully, youmust know where the weak points of armored

vehicles are. Some of the common weak pointsof armored vehicles are as follows:

The suspension sys tem.

The fu el tank s (especially the externaltanks).

The ammunition storage compart-ments .

The engine compartment .

The turret ring.

The armor on the sides, top, and rear(normally not as thick as th at on thefront).

NO TE: THE LOCATION OF SOM E POINTSMAY VARY FROM VEHICLE TO VEHICLE.

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If a vehicle is “bu ttoned u p” an d you compartment, at any external fuel tanks, or athave no antiarmor weapons, fire your rifle at the hatches. That will not destroy the vehicle,the vision blocks, at any op tical equipm ent but may hinder its ability to fight.mou nted ou tside the vehicle, into the engine

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Held Expedient AntiArmor Devices FM21-75