An automatic grenade launcher (AGL) or grenade machine gun is a grenade launcher that is capable of fully automatic fire, [1] and is typically loaded with either an ammunition belt or magazine. [2] [3] [4] [5]
These weapons are often mounted on vehicles or helicopters, as when these weapons are moved by infantry the weapon, its tripod, and ammunition, are a heavy load, requiring a small team. [2] Other types of grenade launchers are typically much lighter and can easily be carried by just a single soldier. The Mark 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher, first fielded by the United States in 1966, and still widely used today, weighs 62.5 kg (137.58 lb) when attached to its tripod, and loaded with a box of ammunition. [3] For comparison, the single-shot M79 grenade launcher weighs 2.93 kg (6.45 lb). Regardless of their weight, AGLs are still highly effective, and the Mark 19 is capable of indirect fire up to 2,200 metres, a role traditionally reserved for mortars. Even though the round carries less explosive than a 60mm mortar shell, this is thought to be counterbalanced by its much higher volume of fire.
The most popular caliber for automatic grenade launchers in Western nations has been 40mm. [2] [3] The Soviet Union successfully fielded a 30mm grenade launcher, the AGS-17, during its war in Afghanistan. In 2002, Russia introduced a successor weapon, the AGS-30, and in 2017, the AGS-40 Balkan. [6] Traditional munitions for automatic grenade launchers include high explosive, fragmentation, and shaped charge for attacking light armored vehicles. Less lethal rounds, like tear gas and sponge grenades for crowd control, have also been made. In the 21st century, AGLs have been made with integrated sight/range systems which can set a fused round to detonate precisely on, above, or behind a designated target. [6] [7]
Different weapons use different methods of operation, with blowback and long recoil being two common choices. [2] In all these weapons, the energy released by firing a round loads the next round into the weapon's breech. The Mark 19 is automatically reloaded through the blowback method, where expanding gases blow back the firing bolt.
In the long recoil method the bolt is fixed to the firing chamber, and the whole firing chamber is blown back. These weapons are slightly less accurate, but weigh less than blowback weapons. [8] General Dynamics manufactures a long recoil weapon, the Mark 47 Automatic Grenade Launcher, as does the Spanish firm Santa Bárbara. The LAG-40 manufactured by Santa Bárbara has a relatively low rate of fire of 215 rounds per minute.
Name | Country | Year | Image | Caliber | Effective Range | Muzzle velocity | Rate of fire, rpm | Approx. weight [upper-alpha 1] | Feed, rounds | Sights [upper-alpha 2] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mk 19 Mod 3 [9] | ![]() | 1966 | 40×53mm | 1,500 m (4,900 ft) | 241 m/s (790 ft/s) | 325‑375 | 35.2 kg (78 lb) | Belt, 32, 48 | Night vision | |
AGS-17 | ![]() | 1967 | ![]() | 30×29mm grenade | 1,700 m | 185 m/s | 400 | — | — | — |
Mk 47 Striker [10] | ![]() | 2005 | 40x53mm | 1,700 m (5,600 ft) | — | 225‑300 | 18 kg (40 lb) | Belt, 32, 48 | FCS, Thermal | |
HK GMG [11] | ![]() | 1992 | 40x53mm | 1,500 m (4,900 ft) | 241 m/s (790 ft/s) | 340 | 29 kg (64 lb) | Belt, 32 | Reflex, "Various" | |
SB-40 LAG [ citation needed ] | ![]() | 1984 | 40x53mm | 1,500 m (4,900 ft) | 240 m/s (790 ft/s) | 215 | 34 kg (75 lb) | Belt, 24, 32 | Night vision | |
STK 40 AGL [12] | ![]() | 1986 | | 40x53mm | 1,500 m (4,900 ft) | 242 m/s (790 ft/s) | 350‑500 | 33 kg [13] | Belt, 32 | Reflex, FCS, Thermal |
Daewoo K4 [14] | ![]() | 1985 | ![]() | 40x53mm | 1,500 m (4,900 ft) | 241 m/s (790 ft/s) | 325-375 | 34.4 kg (76 lb) | Belt, 24, 48 | KAN/TVS-5 night vision scope can be attached |
Howa Type 96 [15] | ![]() | 1996 | 40x53mm | 1,500 m (4,900 ft) | — | 250‑350 | 24.5 kg (54 lb) | Belt, 50 | Ladder sights | |
Denel Y3 AGL [16] | ![]() | 1992 | | 40x53mm | 2,176 m (7,100 ft) | 242 m/s (790 ft/s) | 280‑320 | 53 kg (117 lb) | Belt, 20 | Optical, Indirect electronic sight |
UAG-40 [17] | ![]() | 2016 | 40x53mm | — | 240 m/s (790 ft/s) | 400 | 31 kg (68 lb) | Belt, 32 | Optical, Infrared, Photo‑Visual, Electronic [18] | |
AGA-40 Md.85 [19] [upper-alpha 3] | ![]() | 1985 | ![]() | 40x74.5mm | 1,400 m (4,600 ft) | 216 m/s (710 ft/s) | 380‑450 | 33 kg (73 lb) | Mag., 10 | — |
AGS‑30 Atlant [20] [21] [22] | ![]() | 1990 | 30x29mm | 2,100 m (6,900 ft) | 185 m/s (610 ft/s) | 400 | 17.5 kg (39 lb) | Belt, 29 | Optical, Day‑Night, Radar sight | |
AGS‑40 Balkan [23] [24] | ![]() | 2017 | 40x53mm (caseless) | 2,500 m (8,200 ft) | — | 400 | 32 kg (71 lb) | Belt, 20 | Optical | |
Type 87 [upper-alpha 4] [25] | ![]() | 1987 | 35x32mm | 1,700 m (5,600 ft) | 200 m/s (660 ft/s) | 500 | 12 kg (26 lb)/20 kg (44 lb) | Mag., 6, 9, 12, 15 | Optical | |
Type 04 [26] | ![]() | 2004 | 35x32mm | 1,750 m (5,740 ft) | 200 m/s (660 ft/s) | 350-400 | 20 kg (44 lb) | Belt, 30 | Optical |
40×74.5mm [19] | 30×29mm | 40mm "Balkan" | 35×32mm [25] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HE | HEAT | VOG-30 [27] [28] | GPD-30 [22] [29] | 7P39 [24] [30] | HE | HEAT | |
Max. range | 1,550 m (5,090 ft) | 1,700 m (5,600 ft) | 2,100 m (6,900 ft) | 2,500 m (8,200 ft) | 1,750 m (5,740 ft) | ||
Muzzle velocity | 223 m/s (730 ft/s) | 185 m/s (610 ft/s) | — | 200 m/s (660 ft/s) | |||
Weight | 490 g (1.08 lb) | 348 g (0.767 lb) | 340 g (0.75 lb) | 430 g (0.95 lb) | — | — | |
Shell weight | 260 g (0.57 lb) | 275 g (0.606 lb) | — | — | — | ||
Filling | — | — | 47 g (1.7 oz) | — | 90 g (3.2 oz) | — | — |
Kill radius/area | 10 m (33 ft) | — | 90 m2 (970 sq ft) | 120 m2 (1,300 sq ft) | — | — | — |
Penetration | — | 50 mm (2.0 in) | — | — | — | — | 80 mm (3.1 in) |
A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke, or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The most common type are man-portable, shoulder-fired weapons issued to individuals, although larger crew-served launchers are issued at higher levels of organization by military forces.
The Mk 19 grenade launcher is an American 40 mm belt-fed automatic grenade launcher that was first developed during the Vietnam War.
The AGS-17Plamya is a Soviet-designed automatic grenade launcher in service worldwide.
Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gas created by the ignition of the propellant charge.
The Heckler & Koch HK33 is a 5.56mm assault rifle developed in the 1960s by West German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K), primarily for export.
The XM307 Advanced Crew Served Weapon (ACSW) was a developmental 25 mm belt-fed automatic grenade launcher with programmable airburst capability. It is the result of the OCSW or Objective Crew Served Weapon project. It is lightweight and designed to be two-man portable, as well as vehicle mounted. The XM307 can kill or suppress enemy combatants out to 2,000 meters (2,187 yd), and destroy lightly armored vehicles, watercraft, and helicopters at 1,000 meters (1,094 yd). The project was canceled in 2007.
The AA-12, originally designed and known as the Atchisson Assault Shotgun, is an automatic combat shotgun developed in 1972 by Maxwell Atchisson. The most prominent feature is reduced recoil. The current 2005 version has been developed over 18 years since the patent was sold to Military Police Systems, Inc. The original design was the basis of several later weapons, including the USAS-12 combat shotgun. The shotgun fires in fully automatic mode only. However, the relatively low cyclic rate of fire of around 300 rounds per minute enables the shooter to fire individual rounds through the use of short trigger pulls. It is fed from either an 8-round box magazine, 20-round drum magazine, or a 32-round drum magazine. The charging handle is located at the top of the gun and does not reciprocate during firing.
The Heckler & KochG41 is a German 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle introduced in 1981 and produced in limited quantities by Heckler & Koch. It was designed to replace the 7.62×51mm NATO chambered Heckler & Koch G3 and the G3 based .223 Remington/5.56×45mm and later 5.56×45mm NATO chambered Heckler & Koch HK33 service rifles providing a more modern weapon compatible with then recently introduced NATO standards. It can use both the then new STANAG 4172 compliant 5.56×45mm NATO SS109, SS110, and SS111 ammunition and older .223 Remington/5.56×45mm M193 ammunition and was the last Heckler & Koch service rifle designed around the roller-delayed blowback mechanism.
The QLZ-87 is an air-cooled, gas operated 35×32mmSR automatic grenade launcher (AGL) that is crew transportable with limited amounts of ammunition. Unusual for handheld grenade launchers, the QLZ-87 fires high-velocity grenades of 35x32 mmSR caliber, which provides a longer range and flatter firing trajectory.
ST Engineering Land Systems Ltd (STELS), formerly known as ST Kinetics, is a strategic business area of ST Engineering and handles land systems and specialty vehicles.
The Denel Y3 AGL is a South African-manufactured automatic grenade launcher currently manufactured by Denel Land Systems. Originally developed by Aram Ltd as the AS88 as a support weapon for infantry, the patent rights were purchased and modified by Vektor, which later became a division of Denel Ltd. Further enhancements included rate of fire upgrade and the addition of a ballistics computer, with final qualification testing taking place in 1998, and operational testing in 2002. The Y3 was launched during the 2003 United Kingdom Defence Systems & Equipment (DSEi) International Exhibition.
The Daewoo Precision Industries K4 is a 40x53mm high-speed automatic grenade launcher in use with the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.
The GMG is an automatic grenade launcher developed by Heckler & Koch for the German Army. It is also often referred to as GMW or GraMaWa (Granatmaschinenwaffe).
The AGS-30 is a Russian automatic grenade launcher currently in production in Russia and in service with the Russian armed forces.
JSC Arsenal AD is a Bulgarian joint-stock company based in Kazanlak, engaged primarily in the manufacture of firearms and military equipment. It is Bulgaria's oldest arms supplier.
AGS‑40 Balkan is a Russian 40 mm caseless automatic grenade launcher and successor to AGS-17 and AGS-30, introduced and adopted by the Russian military.
The LG5 is a semi-automatic grenade launcher developed by Norinco and introduced in 2011. The launcher's designation "QLU" stands for "light weapon - grenade (Liúdàn) - sniper (Jūjī)" in Chinese military coding standard.
The Type 04 automatic grenade launcher is a Chinese 35x32SR mm belt-fed automatic grenade launcher, developed as an alternative to the older QLZ-87. It may be vehicle-mounted or crew-served.
AVB-7.62 is a battle rifle designed by Anatoly F. Baryshev that is derived from his weapon operating system. It is characterized by significantly reduced recoil.
In its current form, the Mk19 mod 3, this AGL has become the weapon of choice among US ground troops in Iraq – primarily because the AGL offers both direct (to 1,600 meters) and indirect fire (to 2,200 meters).
The long recoil operating system's obvious advantage is the compact gun body. While this compensates for the weapon's internal complications, that moving barrel might also result in first-round aiming inaccuracies. The AGL designers are willing to overlook this in exchange for reduced weight (in comparison to a blowback design) and for the portability inherent in a smaller weapon (even if weight reduction is modest). In any case, great accuracy is not the forte of the AGLs.