Need help finding an Anti-Tank Rocket project?

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Gonna be honest, it is very likely fictional, but an Armored Brigade mod I have played recently has an “MLAW”. I’m not sure if it’s a real project, but if it is, does anyone have like evidence of it existing, and info on what it even is? It seems to serve a similar purpose to M72 LAW so probably a disposable anti-tank weapon?

If it doesn’t exist, are there any similar infantry anti-tank weapon projects (other than FGR-17 and AAWS-M) that are interesting?
 
It could be MBT LAW? MBT LAW → MLAW. However, the real abbreviation for MBT LAW is NLAW (N means next-generation).
While I get the thought process, it’s not guided from what I can tell, so it probably doesn’t represent NLAW? It operates kinda just like an M72 LAW would. Checked to hopefully make this easier but it actually does the opposite of help because the Armored Brigade mod (which is chock full of things based on real obscure projects, Object 688, XM800W, Object 775…) marks it as a “Multibarreled LAW”. So, presumably MLAW stands for ‘Multi-barreled light anti-tank weapon’. Definitely not likely but a personal theory of mine is maybe an anti-armor M202 FLASH derivative? Idk if that coincides with any real programs, but the Multibarreled aspect of this mystery AT rocket does lead me to at least guess that could be it?
 
Depending on what era / timeline the mod is set in, could be the FGR-17 Viper which was intended to replace the M-72 LAW before shenanigans intervened.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see for some reason that you had already mentioned the Viper.

EDIT2: Come to think of it I might know what the MLAW was. I'll need to check on some notes at home first though before I'm sure one way or the other.
 
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Was there ever a proposed AT version of the M202 launcher? Same diameter rockets as the LAW, so it seems like an obvious idea, but I can only find reference to the incendiary and proposed riot gas versions.

Edit: I'd be surprised if no one suggested it, since the M202's rockets are literally based on the M74 with a new warhead.
 
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Was there ever a proposed AT version of the M202 launcher? Same diameter rockets as the LAW, so it seems like an obvious idea, but I can only find reference to the incendiary and proposed riot gas versions.

Edit: I'd be surprised if no one suggested it, since the M202's rockets are literally based on the M74 with a new warhead.
It seems likely. Even if as a one-off testing thingy.
 
In UK there was a LAW 80, a typical RCL of that time. In the '80ies there were a lot of replacement programs for anti tank weapons. Maybe it was one of these many projects.
 
Oh god that is weird yeah

Cool though
Best part, Brunswick Defense? Subsidiary of Brunswick Corporation, the bowling ball maker.

And yeah, very probably an M202 derivative. MLAW = Multiple LAW? The M202's M74 incendiary round is the same motor and fin assembly as the M72, but with the HEAT warhead replaced by very nasty thickened pyrophoric agent. There are scattered references around to a clip assembly for the M202 using LAW rounds designated XM78, but there's this whole nomenclature mess with the M202 and its ammunition.
 
Best part, Brunswick Defense? Subsidiary of Brunswick Corporation, the bowling ball maker.

And yeah, very probably an M202 derivative. MLAW = Multiple LAW? The M202's M74 incendiary round is the same motor and fin assembly as the M72, but with the HEAT warhead replaced by very nasty thickened pyrophoric agent. There are scattered references around to a clip assembly for the M202 using LAW rounds designated XM78, but there's this whole nomenclature mess with the M202 and its ammunition.

Most of those that I found refer to the XM191 launcher that was the predecessor to the M202, but they are very, very similar (enough so that I'm unsure why the M202 got a new number)
 
Most of those that I found refer to the XM191 launcher that was the predecessor to the M202, but they are very, very similar (enough so that I'm unsure why the M202 got a new number)
Aha, I've got this one solved. According to DTIC AD0868942, XM191 Multishot Portable Flame Weapon was the complete system designation.
The XM191 MPFW system consists of the lightweight, shoulder-fired, four-tube, semi-automatic, 66mm, XM202 rocket launcher and- the factory-loaded, four-round XM74 rocket clip). The system, as it appears when it is assembled and ready to fire, is shown in Figure 3. The rocket, which is propelled by the M54 LAW motor, has a warhead containing 1.3 pounds of thickened triethylaluminium (TPA). A complete description, including tabulated data, is contained in an annex to this report.
So there was no XM191 precursor prototype, the launcher has always been the (X)M202, while XM191 referred to the complete launcher and rocket combination. At some point after 1970, the XM191 Multishot Portable Flame Weapon name was dumped and it simply became the M202 Flame Assault Shoulder Weapon with M74 rockets (which themselves consist of an M54 rocket motor, M235 TPA warhead and M434 impact fuze). There was also a CS gas round developed for the M202 called the XM96, but that was never adopted for service use.
 
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