M72A1 66mm Rocket Launcher : Australian Army

Used M72 66mm Rocket Launcher consisting of an outer olive green painted fibreglass tube, a rubber encased rocket extension and trigger mechanism and a pair of pop up light metal rear and front sights which are mounted on the upper most side of the weapon. The aluminium inner tube contained the rocket, the rocket of which is not present. This particular rocket launcher has been modified to fire the 35mm sub calibre rocket and bear stencilled instructions on the sides of the weapon to this effect.

Known colloquially in Australian service as the '66' due to the calibre (diameter) of the rocket fired, the M72 is a US designed and made single shot, disposable rocket launcher. In US service the weapon is often referred to as the Light Anti-tank Weapon or 'LAW'.

This type of light weight weapon was used in South Vietnam by Australian, New Zealand, South Vietnamese and United States Forces, for battlefield direct fire support. They were often used for destroying Viet Cong and North Vietnamese field fortifications. This use was popularly known as 'bunker busting'. The M72 was originally designed after the Korean War to be a one man portable, throw away rocket launcher to replace the M20 'Super Bazooka'.

Since the late 1990's, this earlier type of '66', the M72A1, was replaced by the heavier and more capable M72A6 version. This later version was used operationally by the Australian Army and RAAF Airfield Defence Guards (ADG) in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan between 1999 and 2014.

• LAW M72 Rocket Launcher : Australian Army