History of the P.I.A.T.

At the beginning of the Second World War, British soldiers used the anti-tank rifle "Boys" Mk I, offering a low rate of fire and which could not pierce below 10 mm thick armor.

British military engineers, including Jeffries and Wallis, decided to develop a new weapon in order to strengthen the possibilities of the British infantry tactics. Engineers combined the mortar structure of the rocket launcher technology and the firing device of the anti-tank rifle "Boys" Mk I: the result was called PIAT (Projectile Infantry initial Anti-Tank).

Some problems were identified by the infantry, which kept using the PIAT throughout the Second World War. Thus, the trigger could be operated only by using four fingers of the hand and the ammunition used had to be handled very carefully, lest explode fast enough.

P.I.A.T. sheet

Country creator/user: Great Britain
Name: PIAT

Shooting mode: single
Caliber: 89 mm
Practical range: 100 m
Maximum range: 300 m
Rate of fire: 2 rounds/min

Weigth: 14,5 kg
Rate of fire: 961 mm

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