bazooka

Bazooka is the common name for a family of portable, shoulder-fired anti-tank rocket launchers developed by the United States during World War II. The most widely known variants were the M1 Bazooka and the M3 Bazooka, which fired 60 mm (2.36 inch) rockets from a tubular launcher. Rockets were unguided and carried warheads such as high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and fragmentation types, designed to defeat light armor, fortifications, and bunkers. The term bazooka became a generic designation for similar shoulder-fired rocket systems used by various forces.

Design and operation: A Bazooka consists of a launch tube, a handgrip, and a shoulder stock. The operator loads a rocket into the tube, aligns it with the aiming sight, and fires. The rocket is propelled by its onboard motor and exits the tube toward the target, where the warhead detonates on impact or at a preset delay. The system is recoilless in the sense that the rocket provides the forward impulse, making it portable for infantry use, though it can produce a noticeable backblast that requires clear space behind the shooter.

History and variants: Fielded by U.S. forces from 1942, the M1 Bazooka was followed by the lighter and easier-to-produce M3 variant. The Bazooka saw extensive use in World War II and continued to be employed through the early Cold War and in some postwar conflicts, with numerous export versions adopted by allied nations. It complemented other infantry anti-armor tools of the era before being phased out in favor of more modern launchers and guided systems.

Impact and legacy: The Bazooka provided infantry with a portable means to engage armored threats and fortified positions, influencing the development of later shoulder-fired rocket systems. Today, the term bazooka persists as a generic reference to such launchers in popular and military contexts.