The Wasp 58 is a 58-mm rocket launcher antitank weapon developed in France in the late 1980s. The weapon was, originally, privately developed by the French firm Luchaire SA, subsidiary of GIAT.[2]
History
In the early 1980s, Luchaire's sales department had noted the rising costs of light individual anti-armour/assault weapons were to the point that fewer and fewer could be purchased and that there was a need for a one-man anti-armor/assault weapon which could be purchased for a cost slightly higher than that of a rifle grenade, but with the greater accuracy and ease of use of a one-man rocket launcher
The world export markets was the major considerations behind the development of the Wasp 58 by Luchaire.
The Wasp 58 was first sold in 1987.[3] It has been a commercial success with over 450,000 produced,[4] including licensed production in Greece.