The effect of the minimized recoil however is great enough to allow a portable weapon like this to fire large caliber warheads without causing trauma to the user.

The anti-tank grenade launcher was originally developed around 1960 and put into service by the Bundeswehr in 1963.

It was developed to provide West German infantry with a modern replacement for the bazooka that they had previously used.

The PzF 44 was a product of a period in which the German army was re-equipped with locally developed arms and equipment and retired the aging U.S. gear that had formed their initial arsenal.

The PzF 44's 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) cartridge (Panzerfaustgeschoß DM32)[3] could penetrate 370 mm (15 in) of rolled homogeneous armour and hit moving targets at a range of 300 m (980 ft).