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Originally Posted by ToughOmbres
Very good points from all who have posted.
I doubt things would deteriorate to the point that the old 2.35 and 3.5 inch bazookas would make a comeback in US inventories for lots of reasons. Many Third World nations would doubtlessly use them however.
Even with ramped up production (say, doubled from peacetime) I believe there would definitely be shortages before the Thanksgiving Day Exchange.
The Recoiless rifles would have some utility (Ranger Regiment kept them into the 90's IIRC?) and have a new lease on life-if ordnance could still be safely used.
Would any referee allow the cancelled VIPER anti-tank inventories to still be around, waiting to be used?
Nations that licensed anti-tank weapons such as Norway with the M-72 LAW would produce as much as they could, but comparatively small amounts I expect.
Does anyone see US forces in a pinch trading for or "acquiring" rifle grenades which France is so fond of?
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At some point it’s probably smoke grenades and satchel charges!
The M67 90mm RR stuck around into the early 90s in some combat engineer units, arctic roled light infantry, and the Berlin Brigade due to shortcomings of the Dragon. They went into storage and made a brief comeback in the 2000s/2010s in Afghanistan as part of infantry platoons before being supplanted by the Carl Gustav. There’s probably plenty of them to go around, the problem is getting them to Europeans keeping them in ammo.
Viper had its funding cut in the early 80s. The AT4/M136 was well established by the 90s, fielding in 87. Truth be told, Viper wasn’t a whole lot better than the early M72s it was supposed to replace. The AT4 has an extremely effective warhead for a disposable anti armor weapon. For my money, you may see more AT4s, or a reopening of the M72 line focusing on the later Norwegian designed M72A5 variant. You could also se the German Armbrust coming in as a substitute standard.
The US military developed and low rate purchased a rifle launched munition, the RAW. With differing procurement and the continued threat of the Soviets this program may have gone into full rate production. Failing that, there are NATO standardized bullet trap grenades. However, there’s also going to be a lot of RPGs laying around, which offer greater range and power.