M-47 DRAGON

[Jim P]

Back in 1987 I was trained to be a dragon gunner for a Bradley unit.The M-47 was a shoulder fired,wire guided,disposable,one shot,anti-tank weapon.It weighed less than 50 pounds(with the infared sight),fired a 5 inch shape charge rocket,and had a range of 1000 meters. The warhead armed at 200 feet from firing and was capable of penetrating 8feet of packed dirt,4 feet of reinforced concrete,and 13-18 inches of (steel)armor plate.

I never heard much about it after getting out and figured that it was because of the TOW missle systems becoming more compact all the time.I find out now that it was because of its inability to penetrate laminated armor(such as used now on modern tanks)during desrt storm,that spelled its doom.

It sure was a HOOT to fire one though.It had 64 little jets around the back of it that would fire as you tracked a moving target.You had to be careful not to move around too much or you would fire all the flight correction jets and it would stay on its last course.It was so slow that you could actually watch it go down range for what seemed like forever.

The night sight(infared)is what I liked the most though.You could actually see a rabbit sitting in tall grass,a bright red bunny target LOL.

Well enough of me reliving the good ole days.I hope you like it,and maybe some of you who never heard of it find it interesting.

Jim P

[Jim P]

M-47 in action

[Frank M]

So Jim -

Modelled after the panzerfaust, eh?

Frank

[Jim P]

Yes Frank, strip away the fancy sight and the fly by wire guidence and thats basicly all you have left, a panzerfaust with a kickstand HAHAHA

The sight was the only thing that wasn't disposable(as we were reminded that it cost $5000 constantly)it was carried in seperate pouch on your side.After seeing the new javelin system,I understand why it superceeded it.Better warhead,more compact,and reloadable.It can also be shot in the prone position,which was impossible with the dragon.

Jim P