M80 LATW

The **M80 LATW** (Lightweight Anti-Tank Weapon) is a Rocket Launcher featured in *Blitzkrieg*, *Operation Sandstorm* and *Black Pegasus*.

## Technical Information

### Users

Irregular Terrorists
Panamoan Army

## Statistics

### Muzzle Velocity

125 Feet Per Second

It is intended to give infantry units a means to destroy or disable armored vehicles and fortifications, although it is not generally sufficient to defeat a sophisticated [modern] Main Battle Tank. The launcher and projectile are manufactured prepacked and issued as a single unit of ammunition, rather than as a weapon system, with the launcher discarded after a single use. So it is inexpensive.

## History

Albino Ordinance's first Lightweight Anti Tank Weapon concept was initially proposed by the Panamoan Army at the 4th of July (1980). It's details showed that it was a long range launcher, surpassing older designs, although they made it disposable after a single use, as the schematics of the weapon inscribed on it. It's flaws is the large back blast, which can wound nearby allies caught in the radius, and reveal the shooter's position. Although it's steel tube body construction is cheap, it was durable and further reinforced with Polyethylene and high class Polymers. Although some designers claim it's reload able, this is probably false.

The M80 LATW was accepted by the Panamoan Army and some APMC Units in October 26th, and was quickly pushed into mass production by Albino Ordinance. Only a few APMC Units accepted it, since they aren't pleased by it's large back blast, and it's discarded or disposed after a single use, one Marine even said that: "Why throw away a Good Rocket Launcher?", while Albino also planned it to replace the obsolete M31 Bazooka, the APMC simply picked the MK153 LATW as their launcher of choice, and later the MK205 Raufenblitz.

### Operation Sandstorm

The M80 LATW is the first anti-tank weapon wielded and is also carried by Karl Matkovic throughout the operations, It is disposed after using the single rocket it comes as default. Jack Blackburn uses it during the mission Operation Swordbreaker to kill a dug in enemy sniper in a hotel. It goes used rarely, with the APMC anti-tank weapon of choice being the MK153 LATW. It is not available for use in multiplayer.

## Design

The M80 may be considered a disposable, low-cost alternative to a M3 Striker recoilless rifle. The M80 LATW took many of its design features from the MK3 Striker, which operates on the principle of a recoilless weapon, where the forward inertia of the projectile is balanced by the inertia of propellant gases ejecting from the rear of the barrel. But unlike the M3 Striker, which uses a heavily reinforced and inexpensive steel tube with rifling, the disposable M80 LATW design greatly reduces manufacturing costs by using a reinforced smoothbore polyethylene outer tube. Being a disposable gun also allows for lighter and cheaper construction. In a single-use disposable gun, the barrel only needs to be able to contain a single pressure spike when firing, when it can be disposed of, even if it is ruined, burnt-out and strained, unlike traditional guns which are required to survive many pressure spikes without failure and thus need to be strongly overbuilt and made of heat-proof materials. Pressures are also kept quite low compared to many traditional guns. This lightweight and thin barrel and low pressure, combined with the almost complete lack of recoil, means that relatively large projectiles (comparable to those found in mortars and artillery systems) can be utilised, which would otherwise be impossible in a man-portable weapon.

In the system originally developed by Ayotte Arms Industries for the Striker, a plastic blowout plug is placed at the center rear of the shell casing containing the projectile and propellant, which itself is enclosed in the M80 LATW outer tube. When the gases build up to the correct pressure level, the blowout plug disintegrates, allowing the proper amount of gases to be vented to the rear, balancing the propellant gases pushing the projectile forward.

The M80 LATW uses a unique method that developed the spring-loaded firing rod is located down the side of the outer tube, with the firing pin at the rear of the tube. When released, the firing pin strikes a primer located in the side of the casing's rim.

The disadvantage of the recoilless design is that it creates a large back blast area behind the weapon, which can cause severe burns and overpressure injuries to friendly personnel in the vicinity of the user and sometimes even to the users themselves, especially in confined spaces. The back blast may also reveal the user's position to the enemy. The problem of back blast was solved with the M80A1 LATW version, specially designed for urban warfare. This version uses a saltwater countermass in the rear of the launcher to absorb the back blast; the resulting spray captures and dramatically slows down the pressure wave, allowing troops to fire from enclosed areas. The M80A1 LATW version also reduced its muzzle velocity from the original 85 to 75 MPH, as part of its effort to be user-safe in a confined space, making the M80A1 LATW version more difficult to use as the drop is more pronounced. The effectiveness of the V2 HEAT warhead is not dependent on speed.

To fire, the gunner first removes the safety pin located at the rear of the tube, which unblocks the firing rod. He then takes a firing position ensuring that no one is present in the back blast area. If firing from the prone position, he must also place his legs well to the side to avoid burning himself. Then the gunner moves back the front and rear sight covers, allowing the sights to pop up into their firing positions. The M80 LATW has iron sights that were originally developed for the cancelled M88 Viper, and are similar in concept and use to those on assault rifles. The process starts by removing the first of two safeties by moving the firing rod cocking lever (located on the left side) forward and then over the top to the right side. The gunner takes aim, while at the same time holding down the red safety lever located in front of the cocking lever, and then fires by pressing forward the red firing button with his right thumb. Both the red safety lever and the firing button must be pressed down at the same time to fire the M80 LATW. The red firing button has a similar resistance to the trigger pull of a rifle, so the gunner does not have to jab at the firing button, which could throw his aim off.

### Specifications

* Lenght: 1016mm
* Caliber: **65mm Warhead**
* Effective Range: 500-750 Meters (Minimum)
* Weight: **8.99** Pounds (Loaded)

## Trivia

### General

* Disposable anti-tank launcher.
* Some argue it is an Evalkan design.
* Some reports confirm that infantrymen also use it as a makeshift bat when the need arises.
* While not intended to destroy Main Battle Tanks, it can effectively destroy a T-72 Bulwark, T-80U Renegade and even the T-90 Oppressor with 2-3 Rockets on the front, and one rocket on the rear.

### Operation Sandstorm

* The M80 LATW lacks an optical sight.
* After Matkovic passes the M80 LATW to Blackburn, it can still be seen on his back.