Italeri 0407 Accessories and Guns

The Bazooka was an American unguided anti-tank missile launcher with a cumulative warhead from the Second World War and the post-war period. In the basic version (designation: M1), the weapon weighed 5.9 kilograms, was 137 centimeters long, and the effective range was up to 140 meters. The caliber of the weapon was 60 mm.

The first works on individual anti-tank weapons of the American infantry took place as early as 1933, but only the outbreak of World War II significantly accelerated them. The first copies of the bazooka were used during the fighting in North Africa in 1942, where they proved to be a useful and effective weapon. Over time, improved versions of the M1 model appeared: M1A1 (a model with a simplified structure, but with an improved electrical system) and the M9 and M9A1 (versions with better targeting devices and a reduction of the service to 1 soldier in the M9A1 version). After World War II, the bazooka was still being developed, which resulted in the M20 Super Bazooka with a caliber of 88.9 mm, with a new missile capable of penetrating armor up to 280 mm thick and significantly increased range. There was also the M20B1 model with a reduced mass aluminum launcher. The last versions of the bazooka were withdrawn from the US Army in the 1960s, and the M72 LAW launcher was adopted in their place.