Report to. 321 oF JR, THE PUBLICATION BOARD DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTCN, D.C. ITALIAN ANTI-TANK SHOULDER WEAPON RUSSELL A. FISHER, MAJOR, A.C. (0.8. agit atsos} This report has been declassified and Teleased to the Office of the Publication Board by the Army and Navy Departments, The Publication Board, in approving and disseminating this re~ port, hopes that it will be of direct benofit to U. S. science and industry. Interested parties should realize that some pro- ducts and processes described may also be the subject of U. S. patents. Accordingly, it is recommended that the usual patent study be made before pursuing practical applications. Price $ .10BECRET HEADQUARTERS EULOPEAN ‘I *R OF OPERAYIONS: UNIT: MY ALgOS Mission STL 5 December 1944 SUBJHCT : Italian Development of Anti-Tunk Shoulder Weapon. 1. Prior to the Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943, the Italian Ministry of War, Technical Section, in Rome, had constructed and made preliminary tests ugon an armor piercing anti-tank weapon capable of being fired from the shoulder. At the time of the Armistice, the Italian officer in charge of this development took the experimental eapon and all papers pertaining to it to a hiding place ayay from Rome in order to prevent their falling into German hands. After Allied occupation of Rowe, the Italian officer srocured the weapon and submitted it to the G-2 Section, Headquarters, Rome Allied Area Comund, 420 794,,U 3 Army. The weapon we inspected vy iajor #isher of ‘this [fission who discussed it in consider- able detail with the above mentioned Italian Officer. This officer offered to conduct range demonstration of the weapon, ‘but these were not held due to time limitations. 2. The exverinental -odel of subject veaxon ‘ms constructed basically out of an Ttallan carbine and on Italien 40 millimeter morta> barrel, as cun be scen from the attached photostatic copy of d2sign Aevgdng. © (Incl. #1) ihe weapon firea a low veloci- ty high explosive projectile. 3. Tae propelling mechanism is as follows : A biank carbine cartridge having suitable powder charge is discharged through a short bsrrel (fly in ottached. drawing) into an expansion chamber (#3. in drzwing) wide 1s connected ty means of tuo tubes, cne on each the breech of the motor barrel. (#4 in dx spaniing ess thus agolies the propelling ulseto the projectile in the morter barrels 603244. The weight and velocity of the projectile (actually the "momentun", t.e., mass tines velocity) eve fundsmentally limited by the recoll impulse vitich a man can sustain when firing the weapon from the shoulder, In consideration of this limitation, a projectile weighing 850 grams and having initisl velocity of 6C meters per second was determined by experiment to be the most effective. This low- velocity projectile depends for armor piercing effect upon the high explosives charge which it carries. 5. Measures taken in the desir of this weapon to reduce the reco1] shock are : a, The gas expansion chamber (#3) which operates to flatten the curve for pressure in the mortar barrel, at the expense of propelling charge; and ‘b. Recoil mechanisms which permit the mortar barrel to slide backward against a spring (#5) and the whole weapon to move backward against a spring Cushion in the butt Fi1). The Italian officer mentioned above states that he has fired the weapon many times from the standing position without undue shock. 6. The most satisfactory dimensions for the gas expansion chamber shown in the inclosed scsle drawings were arrivedat after a series of testa in which chambers of various dimensions were tried, so the Italian officer states. 7+ Inclosure #2 1s a photostatic copy of scale drawing showing longitudinal section of the projec- tile. Portion of the projectile marked "B" contains the high explosive called Th (trimethyl trinitro ante): portion "A" is the inside of a hollow ateel cone, "! whose function Je to "focus" the blast effect against’ the target. "C" 4g the hollow steel head of the pro- jectile. "D" is an instantaneous fuze and detonator assembly, commonly used in the Italian mortar shell “Brixia 45". “E-E" are stabilizing fins, eight (8) in number. The teil portion of the projectile 1a of aluminum and the-rest ateel, in the Italian model. 8. Data pertaining to the weapon for optimum performance are given by informant as follows :- -ls S03 21teight of weapon without load - - - - - - - 7.80 kgs projectile ---------- 850. grams " "igh explosive in projectile - 276. gram “" propelling powder charge ("balistite") - 1.90 grama zzle velocity of projectile - - - 60 meters per sec. ximum effective range, flat trajectory - - 80 meters "range, high angle - ~ - - -250 neters Exact dimensions of weapon are not available, but drawings are stated to be in scale. 9. Regarding armor penetration, only static tests on the projectile were completed. The stati- cally detonated projectile-was able to perforate seven (7) centimeters of armor plate in tao layers of three (3) and four (4) centimeters, so informant states. Final tests on the firing of live projectiles were interrupted by the Italian armistice. RUSSELL A. SISHER Major, AC 60321ZinckES 3 3cm2 1 9