10 ms·

NLAW anti-tank launcher unboxing and instructions video

92 points by ChuckNorris89 5y ago

WithinReason 5y ago
Next up: Ukrainian soldier 1st person Twitch channel
- rasz 5y ago
  Most competitive FPS streamers set delay, otherwise you get stream sniped. On more serious note if you want war cosplay check out Kadyrow tiktok and instagram, they LARP running around behind secured Russian lines with a whole multiple cameras crew pretending to take part in active engagements by shooting at abandoned buildings or into the air.
  - mschuster91 5y ago
    I wouldn't underestimate Kadyrow's troops as LARPers. They have been accused of a lot of war crimes including torture, rape and murder.
    - PedroBatista 5y ago
      That’s their “job”. The fighting is for the poor bastards who happen to not be ethnic Russians and not Chechens. Even in hell everybody has their reserved role and for the army their role is to die ( some things never change ) while for the Chechens their role is to be a caricature of themselves conveniently spreading the fear around the world so the next time the army doesn’t even need to fight. It’s pure gangsterism coming from inside the head of a really small man.
      - emteycz 5y ago
        Tons of ethnic Russians went as cannon fodder.
    - eitland 5y ago
      I think this conflict has shown that they aren't as good at fighting against actual soldiers as they are at "fighting" against defenseless people.
  - OJFord 5y ago
    > LARP 'Live Action Role-Play', acting out costumed fantasy/in-character ..'scenes', it seems.
ChuckNorris89 5y ago
For some reason, I find the intricate multi layer packaging and how it all neatly fits together like Lego, highly satisfying. Is there a job for designing packaging specifically for munitions? If so, I'm wondering how does the job description look like.
- FerretFred 5y ago
  hehehe.. in the UK our local Council recyclers would refuse to take all that packaging away.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
    The main outer shell looks like it's recyclable plastic, but then inside that it (from 1:18 onwards) looks like heavy-duty Styrofoam / "Extruded polystyrene foam" which I know my local council won't take. Styrofoam is terrible stuff - bulky but not heavy (it's 98% air), not recyclable, and fragile enough that it's almost guaranteed to break down into fragments and small beads which are light enough to be dispersed by a breeze. Microplastics to go.
    - dodgerdan 5y ago
      It can be recycled… into Molotov cocktails!
      - SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
        In the UK, our local Council also frowns on that; and I do not think that Ukraine has a huge shortage of Styrofoam that we should send it over. I don't think anywhere is short of it. It's everywhere.
- machinerychorus 5y ago
  RIT offers BS and MS in Packaging Science https://www.rit.edu/study/packaging-science-bs https://www.rit.edu/study/packaging-science-bs That link includes a list of job titles, if you google them you might be able to find since job postings.
nbevans 5y ago
Pretty cool that the weapon itself is partly made from the same black polystyrene as the packaging.
Hamuko 5y ago
Are they giving these out to non-professional combatants since it's also instructing usage? And if so, are they giving it out to anyone that just asks? As far as I know, one missile costs as much as a base-spec Toyota Camry.
- adolph 5y ago
  Cost of Camry: $25,395 [0] Cost of T-72: $2,000,000 [1] 0. https://www.toyota.com/camry/2022/ https://www.toyota.com/camry/2022/ 1. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-current-price-of-a-T-72-tank https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-current-price-of-a-T-72-ta...
  - Hamuko 5y ago
    Well yeah, the math works out if you can trade in an NLAW or dozen into an inoperational T-72, but I'm not entirely sure 7 minutes 20 seconds is enough time to turn untrained people into effective anti-tank infantry, and not just blow up themselves, their house, or even friendly troops.
  - ed_balls 5y ago
    better comparison is that fully equipped tank, with a trained crew, maintenance and logistics is 10mln. To shoot eliminate a tank you need about 7 shots from a NLAW and about 4 people that need very little training. The best way to eliminate a tank to cut off supplies to it, so it's better to destroy trucks.
    - Reason077 5y ago
      Seven shots? According to the brochure, "Its armour-piercing warhead can destroy heavily protected MBTs in a single shot." https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw
      - ed_balls 5y ago
        on average. You miss 70% and you may need 1-3 hits. (smoke or other protection, tank engine maybe cold etc.) Tanks with active protection are even better. You hit less than 10% with nlaw. Newest Javelin is a bit better. That's why light infantry focus on trucks.
sam_goody 5y ago
Sitting at a desk in a Western office, this is cool. Thinking that this is practical life and death for real people is heart wrenching. Thinking that I am within five miles of a tank (as are many Americans; I suspect that outside of the U.S. tanks are even more proliferate), this is somewhat scary.
- abcd_f 5y ago
  Damn right. Every time there’s a video of one of these things being put to use, it’s invariably followed by “fuck, yeah!”, high fives or other form of celebration. But they didn’t just destroy a tank, they also killed the crew, burning it alive. In fact some of the crew may still be alive and smoldering at that very moment... War is war, do what you have to, but celebrating a killing is just wrong.
  - eptcyka 5y ago
    I agree that the fate of a tank engineer being struck by an anti-tank missile is not great, but when comparing the scenarios of having a tank be disabled and its crew dismembered with the devastation that said tank will bring to civilians and civilian buildings, I'd much rather have the tank get disabled. The sad reality is that the tank operators will probably operate a tank to commit some atrocities some time before the anti-tank missile will be able to commit it's own atrocities upon the tank. I think pointing out that weapons of war are bad is like saying that water is wet. However, comparing the power of destruction between the tank and the anti-tank missile launcher, both can disable each other, but the damage one can do to humans and infrastructure is just disproportionate - it's ultimately a moral good to destroy a tank.
  - chockchocschoir 5y ago
    Indeed, morality is twisted in war times. But I don't think they are celebrating killing fellow humans, they are celebrating defending their homeland from invaders. I'm generally pro-peace in every single way. But I see a difference in celebrations from the people who are invading versus celebrations from the people who are defending themselves against invaders. One I'm fine with, the other I'm not. As many others have already done, the people in the tank has a choice between continuing to follow orders, or going against orders and leave their jobs/equipment behind. I feel very little sympathy right now towards the people who are continuing to follow orders even if they are aware they are invading their bordering country.
unicornporn 5y ago
As a Swede I'm happy to see that our Swedish weapons are in the right hands. I believe we've sent 5000 AT-4[1]. I'm not sure this is one of them though. From a rough Google Image search this does not look an AT-4. But what do I know... [1] https://www.globaldefensecorp.com/2022/03/11/sweden-transfer-5000-at-4-disposable-anti-tank-weapons-to-ukraine/ https://www.globaldefensecorp.com/2022/03/11/sweden-transfer...
- survirtual 5y ago
  This is definitely not an AT-4, it’s an NLAW guided missile. AT-4s are much simpler & unguided — but still very effective weapons.
  - unicornporn 5y ago
    Thanks! ...perhaps I should add that by "Swedish" I also meant SAAB weapons.
    - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
      >SAAB weapons Pretty cool that SAAB makes weapons considering they're dead as a favorite auto brand. " - I swear, if I have to put up with any more of these damn daily stand-up meetings, I'm bringing my SAAB to work and going to town." " - Oh, you got a new car?" " - Not exactly"
  - Reason077 5y ago
    The NLAW was itself co-developed by Sweden and the UK, and is known in Sweden as the RB-57 [1]. They are manufactured by Thales Air Defence in Belfast, Northern Ireland, using parts supplied by a variety of sub-contractors which include Saab of Sweden. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tank_Weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tan...
    - unicornporn 5y ago
      Thanks. I'm glad someone knows these things better than I do. I'm also happy (and sad) that someone else will have to do the dirty job of firing these beasts.
dash2 5y ago
The video here is the interesting thing, more than the weapon. Would it be theoretically possible to learn war from the internet, the same way you can learn programming? Watch some Youtube videos? Practice with your mates? My intuition is that no, soldiering involves a lot of learning-by-doing, you need hours of practice stripping and reassembling your Kalashnikov, and amateurs will quickly get killed by professionals.
- throwmeariver1 5y ago
  The AK was designed for easy and fast maintenance the gun can be easily disassembled, cleaned and lubed in a matter of minutes, without training. If you can change a lightbulb you can “strip” an AK.
- Hamuko 5y ago
  >Practice with your mates? With what equipment exactly?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - nopcode 5y ago
    airsoft
- eitland 5y ago
  > , you need hours of practice stripping and reassembling your Kalashnikov, G3 took max an hour or to to learn to the point where I could do it blindfolded I think. > and amateurs will quickly get killed by professionals. Extremely true I think.
- david422 5y ago
  There can't be a lot of learning from your mistakes. Make a mistake and dead. Or someone else makes a mistake and dead. Or even don't make a mistake and dead. Not a profession I would be good at.
- survirtual 5y ago
tablespoon 5y ago
The unit cost of that thing is $40,000 [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tank_Weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tan...
- Reason077 5y ago
  Which is a bargain, really, considering they're reported to have >90% effectiveness against Russian tanks that cost, what, 100x more? Asymmetric warfare.
  - sofixa 5y ago
    > Which is a bargain, really, considering they're reported to have >90% effectiveness against Russian tanks that cost, what, 100x more The newer ones like T-80 and T-90, yep, around ~100x more. And that's discounting any specialised equipment on the tank (like sensors, anti-tank rockets, etc.) and the crew. Russian tanks are made to be simple to operate, but they still require some training, you can't just throw a random conscript in it and expect them to be of much use.
  - tablespoon 5y ago
    > Which is a bargain, really, considering they're reported to have >90% effectiveness against Russian tanks that cost, what, 100x more? Asymmetric warfare. I don't disagree and know there are good reasons for the price (e.g. high reliability, complex with low production volumes compared to similar civilian goods). It's just kind of mind-boggling that a small consumable item like that is so expensive. According to Wikipedia a Javelin is even more at $240,000.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
Dzugaru 5y ago
This was just delisted from HN because... why?
- baybal2 5y ago
IdontRememberIt 5y ago
People are applauding that Western countries send these weapons but will cry when terrorists will buy them on the black market... "God laughs at men who complain of the consequences while cherishing the causes." (Bossuet)

92 points by ChuckNorris89 5y ago

WithinReason 5y ago

Next up: Ukrainian soldier 1st person Twitch channel

rasz 5y ago
Most competitive FPS streamers set delay, otherwise you get stream sniped. On more serious note if you want war cosplay check out Kadyrow tiktok and instagram, they LARP running around behind secured Russian lines with a whole multiple cameras crew pretending to take part in active engagements by shooting at abandoned buildings or into the air.
- mschuster91 5y ago
  I wouldn't underestimate Kadyrow's troops as LARPers. They have been accused of a lot of war crimes including torture, rape and murder.
  - PedroBatista 5y ago
    That’s their “job”. The fighting is for the poor bastards who happen to not be ethnic Russians and not Chechens. Even in hell everybody has their reserved role and for the army their role is to die ( some things never change ) while for the Chechens their role is to be a caricature of themselves conveniently spreading the fear around the world so the next time the army doesn’t even need to fight. It’s pure gangsterism coming from inside the head of a really small man.
    - emteycz 5y ago
      Tons of ethnic Russians went as cannon fodder.
  - eitland 5y ago
    I think this conflict has shown that they aren't as good at fighting against actual soldiers as they are at "fighting" against defenseless people.
- OJFord 5y ago
  > LARP 'Live Action Role-Play', acting out costumed fantasy/in-character ..'scenes', it seems.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

For some reason, I find the intricate multi layer packaging and how it all neatly fits together like Lego, highly satisfying. Is there a job for designing packaging specifically for munitions? If so, I'm wondering how does the job description look like.

FerretFred 5y ago
hehehe.. in the UK our local Council recyclers would refuse to take all that packaging away.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
  The main outer shell looks like it's recyclable plastic, but then inside that it (from 1:18 onwards) looks like heavy-duty Styrofoam / "Extruded polystyrene foam" which I know my local council won't take. Styrofoam is terrible stuff - bulky but not heavy (it's 98% air), not recyclable, and fragile enough that it's almost guaranteed to break down into fragments and small beads which are light enough to be dispersed by a breeze. Microplastics to go.
  - dodgerdan 5y ago
    It can be recycled… into Molotov cocktails!
    - SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
      In the UK, our local Council also frowns on that; and I do not think that Ukraine has a huge shortage of Styrofoam that we should send it over. I don't think anywhere is short of it. It's everywhere.
machinerychorus 5y ago
RIT offers BS and MS in Packaging Science https://www.rit.edu/study/packaging-science-bs https://www.rit.edu/study/packaging-science-bs That link includes a list of job titles, if you google them you might be able to find since job postings.

nbevans 5y ago

Pretty cool that the weapon itself is partly made from the same black polystyrene as the packaging.

Hamuko 5y ago

Are they giving these out to non-professional combatants since it's also instructing usage? And if so, are they giving it out to anyone that just asks? As far as I know, one missile costs as much as a base-spec Toyota Camry.

adolph 5y ago
Cost of Camry: $25,395 [0] Cost of T-72: $2,000,000 [1] 0. https://www.toyota.com/camry/2022/ https://www.toyota.com/camry/2022/ 1. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-current-price-of-a-T-72-tank https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-current-price-of-a-T-72-ta...
- Hamuko 5y ago
  Well yeah, the math works out if you can trade in an NLAW or dozen into an inoperational T-72, but I'm not entirely sure 7 minutes 20 seconds is enough time to turn untrained people into effective anti-tank infantry, and not just blow up themselves, their house, or even friendly troops.
- ed_balls 5y ago
  better comparison is that fully equipped tank, with a trained crew, maintenance and logistics is 10mln. To shoot eliminate a tank you need about 7 shots from a NLAW and about 4 people that need very little training. The best way to eliminate a tank to cut off supplies to it, so it's better to destroy trucks.
  - Reason077 5y ago
    Seven shots? According to the brochure, "Its armour-piercing warhead can destroy heavily protected MBTs in a single shot." https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw
    - ed_balls 5y ago
      on average. You miss 70% and you may need 1-3 hits. (smoke or other protection, tank engine maybe cold etc.) Tanks with active protection are even better. You hit less than 10% with nlaw. Newest Javelin is a bit better. That's why light infantry focus on trucks.

sam_goody 5y ago

Sitting at a desk in a Western office, this is cool. Thinking that this is practical life and death for real people is heart wrenching. Thinking that I am within five miles of a tank (as are many Americans; I suspect that outside of the U.S. tanks are even more proliferate), this is somewhat scary.

abcd_f 5y ago
Damn right. Every time there’s a video of one of these things being put to use, it’s invariably followed by “fuck, yeah!”, high fives or other form of celebration. But they didn’t just destroy a tank, they also killed the crew, burning it alive. In fact some of the crew may still be alive and smoldering at that very moment... War is war, do what you have to, but celebrating a killing is just wrong.
- eptcyka 5y ago
  I agree that the fate of a tank engineer being struck by an anti-tank missile is not great, but when comparing the scenarios of having a tank be disabled and its crew dismembered with the devastation that said tank will bring to civilians and civilian buildings, I'd much rather have the tank get disabled. The sad reality is that the tank operators will probably operate a tank to commit some atrocities some time before the anti-tank missile will be able to commit it's own atrocities upon the tank. I think pointing out that weapons of war are bad is like saying that water is wet. However, comparing the power of destruction between the tank and the anti-tank missile launcher, both can disable each other, but the damage one can do to humans and infrastructure is just disproportionate - it's ultimately a moral good to destroy a tank.
- chockchocschoir 5y ago
  Indeed, morality is twisted in war times. But I don't think they are celebrating killing fellow humans, they are celebrating defending their homeland from invaders. I'm generally pro-peace in every single way. But I see a difference in celebrations from the people who are invading versus celebrations from the people who are defending themselves against invaders. One I'm fine with, the other I'm not. As many others have already done, the people in the tank has a choice between continuing to follow orders, or going against orders and leave their jobs/equipment behind. I feel very little sympathy right now towards the people who are continuing to follow orders even if they are aware they are invading their bordering country.

unicornporn 5y ago

As a Swede I'm happy to see that our Swedish weapons are in the right hands. I believe we've sent 5000 AT-4[1]. I'm not sure this is one of them though. From a rough Google Image search this does not look an AT-4. But what do I know... [1] https://www.globaldefensecorp.com/2022/03/11/sweden-transfer-5000-at-4-disposable-anti-tank-weapons-to-ukraine/ https://www.globaldefensecorp.com/2022/03/11/sweden-transfer...

survirtual 5y ago
This is definitely not an AT-4, it’s an NLAW guided missile. AT-4s are much simpler & unguided — but still very effective weapons.
- unicornporn 5y ago
  Thanks! ...perhaps I should add that by "Swedish" I also meant SAAB weapons.
  - ChuckNorris89 5y ago
    >SAAB weapons Pretty cool that SAAB makes weapons considering they're dead as a favorite auto brand. " - I swear, if I have to put up with any more of these damn daily stand-up meetings, I'm bringing my SAAB to work and going to town." " - Oh, you got a new car?" " - Not exactly"
- Reason077 5y ago
  The NLAW was itself co-developed by Sweden and the UK, and is known in Sweden as the RB-57 [1]. They are manufactured by Thales Air Defence in Belfast, Northern Ireland, using parts supplied by a variety of sub-contractors which include Saab of Sweden. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tank_Weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tan...
  - unicornporn 5y ago
    Thanks. I'm glad someone knows these things better than I do. I'm also happy (and sad) that someone else will have to do the dirty job of firing these beasts.

dash2 5y ago

The video here is the interesting thing, more than the weapon. Would it be theoretically possible to learn war from the internet, the same way you can learn programming? Watch some Youtube videos? Practice with your mates? My intuition is that no, soldiering involves a lot of learning-by-doing, you need hours of practice stripping and reassembling your Kalashnikov, and amateurs will quickly get killed by professionals.

throwmeariver1 5y ago
The AK was designed for easy and fast maintenance the gun can be easily disassembled, cleaned and lubed in a matter of minutes, without training. If you can change a lightbulb you can “strip” an AK.
Hamuko 5y ago
>Practice with your mates? With what equipment exactly?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- nopcode 5y ago
  airsoft
eitland 5y ago
> , you need hours of practice stripping and reassembling your Kalashnikov, G3 took max an hour or to to learn to the point where I could do it blindfolded I think. > and amateurs will quickly get killed by professionals. Extremely true I think.
david422 5y ago
There can't be a lot of learning from your mistakes. Make a mistake and dead. Or someone else makes a mistake and dead. Or even don't make a mistake and dead. Not a profession I would be good at.
survirtual 5y ago

tablespoon 5y ago

The unit cost of that thing is $40,000 [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tank_Weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tan...

Reason077 5y ago
Which is a bargain, really, considering they're reported to have >90% effectiveness against Russian tanks that cost, what, 100x more? Asymmetric warfare.
- sofixa 5y ago
  > Which is a bargain, really, considering they're reported to have >90% effectiveness against Russian tanks that cost, what, 100x more The newer ones like T-80 and T-90, yep, around ~100x more. And that's discounting any specialised equipment on the tank (like sensors, anti-tank rockets, etc.) and the crew. Russian tanks are made to be simple to operate, but they still require some training, you can't just throw a random conscript in it and expect them to be of much use.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > Which is a bargain, really, considering they're reported to have >90% effectiveness against Russian tanks that cost, what, 100x more? Asymmetric warfare. I don't disagree and know there are good reasons for the price (e.g. high reliability, complex with low production volumes compared to similar civilian goods). It's just kind of mind-boggling that a small consumable item like that is so expensive. According to Wikipedia a Javelin is even more at $240,000.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

Dzugaru 5y ago

This was just delisted from HN because... why?

baybal2 5y ago

IdontRememberIt 5y ago

People are applauding that Western countries send these weapons but will cry when terrorists will buy them on the black market... "God laughs at men who complain of the consequences while cherishing the causes." (Bossuet)