Punjab Blast: What is an RPG? And how do they work?

Late Monday evening, the Intelligence office of the Punjab Police in Sohana, Mohali was disturbed by a blast which according to reports was a suspected RPG strike. No casualty has been reported so far.

The report said that a rocket-propelled grenade was thrown at the third floor of the Intelligence office building. No significant damage was reported inside the premises barring the breaking of windows, as the RPG was reported to have failed to explode.

Sources say that Punjab Police has recovered some explosives from the blast site. Forensic teams have been called to the spot.

An RPG or a rocket-propelled grenade is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons

Originally soviet era-made, the rocket-propelled grenade launcher fires a rocket out of a tube. The launcher rests on the firer's shoulder. The rocket is percussion fired and the gasses escape the nozzle at a high velocity. This causes the rocket to launch. Just as the rocket emerges from the tube, large fins spring out from the rocket. These fins along with a motor on the rocket allows the missile to travel a great distance.

Firing is usually accomplished through a trigger mechanism, at which point the grenade's rocket engine is activated and a short, high-powered burst of ignited gases launches the grenade for a short distance - maybe between 500 to 1,000 feet (150 to 300 meters).