Panzerschreck, shoulder-type rocket launcher used as an antitank weapon by Germany in World War II. The Panzerschreck consisted of a lightweight steel tube about 1.5 metres (5 feet) long that weighed about 9 kg (20 pounds). The tube was open at both ends and was fitted with a hand grip, a trigger mechanism, and sights. The tube launched a 3.3-kg (7.25-pound) rocket-propelled grenade with a diameter of 8.8 cm (3.5 inches). After loading the rocket in the tube and aiming the weapon at the target, the operator successively pulled two firing triggers, the first to cock the tube’s ignition system and the second to fire it, thereby generating a small electrical current that ignited the rocket’s motor. The operator was protected from the rocket’s backblast by holding the tube on his shoulder with about half the tube protruding behind him. The rocket’s low speed in flight meant that the Panzerschreck’s maximum effective range was about 150 metres (500 feet). The rocket carried a powerful hollow-charge explosive that could penetrate 210 mm (8.25 inches) of armour, thicker than that of any Allied tank.
The Panzerschreck was first used by Germany in 1943. The United States claimed that the Germans had copied the design of the Panzerschreck from the U.S. Army’s bazooka, which was supplied to the Soviet Red Army in 1942 and had fallen into German hands. In any case, the bazooka certainly stimulated the Germans in their own efforts to design a similar weapon. The Panzerschreck was widely issued to German infantry units and was one of their two main handheld antitank weapons, the other being the Panzerfaust.