Etymology
RPG is an initialism from the Russian language РПГ or ручной противотанковый гранатомёт (transliterated as "ruchnoy protivotankovy granatomyot"), meaning "hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher". Thus, "rocket-propelled grenade" is a backronym.
There were Soviet weapons preceding the rocket-propelled grenade that were also designated "RPG" (RPG-40, RPG-43 and RPG-6) but those were anti-tank hand grenades, and the acronym stood for ручная противотанковая граната, or "hand-held anti-tank grenade", they were not launchers. The projectile of RPG launchers is similarly designated PG, (PG-7, etc.), which similarly stands for противотанковая граната, "anti-tank grenade".
Read more about this topic: Rocket-propelled Grenade
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