The RAC 112 APILAS (RAC - Roquette AntiChar (French for "anti-tank rocket"), APILAS - Armour-Piercing Infantry Light Arm System) is a portable one-shot 112 mm recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher, designed in France by GIAT Industries. Over 120,000 of the APILAS launchers have been produced, and they are in service with many countries.
History
84,000 were ordered in 1984 by the French Army to replace the LRAC F1 until the adoption of the Eryx short-range missile. The French company Matra Manurhin Défense (now NEXTER - ex GIAT) produced 120,000 APILAS between 1985 and 2006.[3]
Design
The APILAS is supplied in an aramid fibre launcher tube with a retractable sight. The effective range of APILAS is from 25 m (it takes 25 m for the rocket to arm itself) up to 300–500 m depending on the target. The shaped charge warhead is electrically fused and will detonate at impact angles up to 80 degrees.
Although heavy, the APILAS is able to pierce 700 mm of RHA. Within the French Army it is categorized as "traumatic weapon", because of its blast and noise. A French soldier cannot fire it more than three times in his service during peacetime.