To use the , the soldier removed the safety, tucked the tube under their arm, and aimed by aligning the target, the sight and the top of the warhead. Unlike the original American M1 60 mm
bazooka and the Germans' own heavier 88 mm tube-type rocket launchers based on the American ordnance piece, the did not have the usual trigger. It had a pedal-like lever near the projectile that ignited the propellant when squeezed. Because of the weapon's short range, not only enemy tanks and infantry, but also pieces of the exploding vehicle, posed dangers to its operator. Consequently, the use of a required a degree of personal courage. The backblast from firing went back around 2 m behind the operator. When used against tanks, the had an impressive
beyond-armour effect. Compared to the bazooka and the , it made a larger hole and produced massive
spalling that killed or injured the crew, due to burns and shrapnel, and destroyed equipment. One informal test found that the made an entry hole in diameter, whereas the made an entry hole at least in diameter. By contrast, the bazooka made an entry hole that was only in diameter). Much of that can be attributed not only to the size of the warhead of the , but also its horn-like shape, as opposed to the traditional cone-shaped warheads of rockets used in the bazooka and . The design was later copied in the modern-day
AT-4 anti-tank weapon, producing the same effect against modern main battle tanks. in 1945
Germany '' (paratrooper) equipped with a in Normandy, France. , March 1945 In the
Battle of Normandy, only 6% of British tank losses were from fire, despite the close-range combat in the thick
bocage landscape. However, the threat from the forced Allied tank forces to wait for infantry support before advancing. The portion of British tanks taken out of action by later rose to 34%, a rise probably explained by the lack of German anti-tank guns late in the war and the increased numbers of that were available to defending German troops. During
urban combat in eastern Germany later in the war, about 70% of tanks destroyed were hit by or s. Soviet and Western Allied tank crews modified their tanks in the field to provide some protection against Panzerfaust attacks. Defensive measures included the use of logs, sandbags, track links, and concrete and wire mesh, along with bed frames with springs (bedsprings), similar to expanded metal-type
German tank sideskirts. In practice, about a meter of
air gap was required to substantially reduce the penetrating capability of the warhead, so sideskirts and sandbags, along with other improvised armor, were virtually ineffective against both the
Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust. Moreover, the added weight from add-on armor overburdened the vehicle's engine, transmission and suspension. Later on, each Soviet heavy tank (
IS) and assault gun (
ISU-152)
company was assigned a
platoon of infantry in urban battles to protect them from infantry-wielded anti-tank weapons, often supported by flamethrowers. That order remained intact even during 1950s, including during the
Hungarian Revolution of 1956. During the last stages of the war, due to the lack of available weapons, many poorly trained
conscripts, mainly elderly men and teenage
Hitler Youth members, were often given a single , plus any type of obsolete pistol or rifle. Some only had a Panzerfaust. That led several German generals and officers to comment sarcastically that the empty launch-tubes could then be used as clubs in hand-to-hand combat.
Other countries Many were sold to Finland, which urgently needed them, as Finnish forces did not have enough anti-tank weapons that could penetrate heavily armoured Soviet tanks like the
T-34 and
IS-2. The Finnish experience with the weapon and its adaptability to Finnish needs was mixed, with only 4,000 of 25,000 total delivered expended in combat. The manual that came with the weapon upon delivery to the Finns included depictions of where to aim the weapon on the Soviet T-34 and US
Sherman tank (which also saw service with Soviet troops from US Lend-Lease-supplied stocks). The
Italian Social Republic (RSI) and the
Government of National Unity (Hungary) also used the . Several RSI army units became skilled in anti-tank warfare and the Hungarians themselves used the extensively, especially during the
Siege of Budapest. During this brutal siege, an arms factory, the Hungarian Manfred Weiss Steel and Metal Works, located on
Csepel Island (within the city) kept up production of various light armaments and ammunition, included, all the way until the very last moment, when attacking Soviet troops seized the factory by the first days of 1945. The US
82nd Airborne Division captured some in the
Allied invasion of Sicily and later during the fighting in Normandy. Finding them more effective than their own bazookas, they held onto them and used them during the later stages of the French Campaign, even dropping with them into the Netherlands during
Operation Market Garden. They captured an ammunition dump of near
Nijmegen and used them through the
Ardennes Offensive toward the end of the war. The Soviet
Red Army only incidentally used captured in 1944, but from the beginning of 1945, many became available and were actively used during the Soviet offensives of 1945, mostly in street fighting against buildings and protective covers. ==Variants==