Automatic Grenade Launchers Ebruar F
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2015 y Automatic Grenade Launchers ebruar F • he automatic grenade launcher (AGL) is belt and extract fired cartridge cases (Chinn, a self-loading gun that fires a medium- 1987; Dockery, 2002). MK 18 were issued to calibre explosive projectile at relatively troops in Vietnam, where they were employed NUMBER 48 T low velocities and at a relatively slow rate of from a tripod or pintle mount and typically fully automatic fire.1 Generally, AGLs are con- found on various riverine craft (Rottman, 2006). sidered to be direct-fire weapons, although Although reasonably effective, the MK 18 had they are typically capable of indirect fire. Many limited accuracy and range, and was consid- AGL systems are belt fed using disintegrating ered a stopgap solution before an automatic or non-disintegrating belts, while others are system could be introduced. fed from detachable box or drum magazines. The most significant development in AGL The projectiles fired from an AGL, while systems—at least in the West—came with the commonly termed ‘grenades’, differ substan- development of the self-powered, crew-served tially from hand grenades and rifle grenades. MK 19 series. The MK 19 series are advanced WEAPONS & MARKETS AGL systems typically chamber a centrefire primer ignition blowback-operated weapons cartridge consisting of a primer, propellant, chambered for the 40 x 53SR mm cartridge, and projectile in much the same way as typical employed by infantry and from a wide range small-calibre ammunition. In fact, when of vehicle platforms (US Army, 2003). Although initially introduced into US Navy service in originally designed in 1966, a final redesign the 1960s, AGLs were referred to as ‘40 mm in 1976 led to the MK 19 Mod 3, which first machine guns’.2 Currently they are variously entered US Navy service, and then US Army referred to as ‘automatic grenade launchers’, service in 1983. The MK 19 has seen consider- ‘grenade machine guns’ (GMG), and ‘grenade able export success and is in service with armed launcher machine guns’. forces around the world. It has also been Although not strictly an AGL, the MK 18 licence-produced in several countries, including Mod 0 was one of the earliest rapid-fire grenade Egypt and Turkey, and close derivatives of the launcher systems to enter service. Chambered system have been manufactured, such as the for the low-velocity 40 x 46SR mm cartridge, South Korean S&T Daewoo3 K4 (Gander, 2002; the MK 18 was developed by the Honeywell MKEK, 2013). Notes Company in the United States as a private ini- In many ways Soviet development of AGLs tiative with no government contract pending. paralleled the West’s experience. Concurrent Design began in 1962 and the first examples of with the development of the earliest self- the system were introduced into US Navy powered AGL systems in the United States, the service in 1965. The MK 18 was a manually Soviet AGS-17 Plamya (Пламя, or ‘flame’) was operated system, with the operator using a developed in the late 1960s and first entered hand crank to feed and fire cartridges from a military service in 1971.4 A 40.8 mm cartridge MK 19 Mod 3 belt-fed automatic grenade launcher on tripod mount Research Research Small Arms Survey Research Notes • Number 48 • February 2015 1 as the US M240—and portability make it suitable for deployment at the com- pany level. The QLZ87 is chambered for the Chinese 35 x 32SR mm cartridge and features a tubular design and a direct gas-impingement operating action. The Chinese development team working on the QLZ87 and the 35 x 32SR mm cartridge had deter- mined that a weapon chambered for the US 40 x 53SR mm cartridge would be too heavy and bulky to be em- ployed in the manner the Chinese military envisaged and that the Soviet 30 x 29B mm cartridge was too small to contain an effective high- explosive anti-tank (HEAT) payload. China also produces more conventional, belt-fed AGL systems, including the QLZ04 (chambered for the 35 x 32SR mm car- A Heckler & Koch GMG E automatic grenade launcher with Vinghøg Vingmate FCS mounted on a Softmount Combi tridge) and the LG3 (chambered for mount. © N.R. Jenzen-Jones 40 x 53SR mm), with the latter intended for export sales (Yan, 2014). had been developed previously, exhib- with the country’s armed forces, it has iting similarities with the US 40 mm not yet entered service (Boechin, 1999; design; however, the weapon’s de- Popenker, n.d.). Fire control systems and signers insisted on a smaller cartridge Crew-served AGL systems have airburst munitions to minimize the recoil of the weapon been manufactured in several other For many militaries the focus is now on and make it more viable for infantry countries around the world and include acquiring comparatively lightweight 5 carry, emplacement, and employ. The the General Dynamics Santa Bárbara weapons with advanced fire control final result was a blowback-operated Sistemas SB40 LAG (manufactured in systems (FCSs), often combined with weapon chambered for the 30 x 29B mm Spain) (EN SB, n.d.), the Singapore an airburst munitions (ABM) capabil- cartridge (Garavskiy, 2012; USSR Min- Technologies Engineering CIS 40AGL ity. The introduction of advanced FCSs istry of Defence, 1982). The AGS-17 was and Light Weight AGL (Singapore) provides for increased first-round hit lighter than the 12.7 x 108 mm heavy (ST Engineering, 2014a; 2014b), the probability. This eliminates the need to machine gun in Soviet service when it Heckler & Koch GMG (Germany) ‘walk’ fire onto a target, which allows was introduced and the later AGS-30 (Heckler & Koch, n.d.), the Howa the weapons’ operators to maintain the reduced the weight of the system sig- Machinery Type 96 (Japan) (JGSDF, element of surprise, engage multiple nificantly. n.d.), the Denel Land Systems GLI-40 targets rapidly, and reduce ammuni- The AGS-30 is chambered for the (South Africa) (Denel Land Systems, tion consumption (which, in turn, same 30 x 29B mm cartridge and weighs 2015), and the Plant Leninska Kuznya results in longer mission endurance only 16.5 kg complete with its tripod. UAG-40 (Ukraine) (Leninska Kuznya, or reduced carry load). Additionally, The introduction of the AGS-30 also 2015). the increased accuracy provided by resulted in the development of the these systems can greatly reduce the GPD-30 30 x 29B mm cartridge, with Man-portable automatic chances of collateral damage. If an improved lethality and range over FCS is combined with an ABM capa- the earlier VOG-17 and VOG-30 series grenade launchers bility, system operators will be able to cartridges (KBP Tula, 2013). A more Most AGLs are crew-served weapons, engage targets in defilade.8 Accurate recent improvement programme6 has often employed from fixed or semi- first-round hit capability becomes of led to the Russian Federation 40 mm fixed positions, typically at the battal- particular importance when firing 6G27 Balkan AGL, a new design cham- ion level, or from vehicles. There are shaped-charge munitions (such as high- bered for the 40 mm 7P39 caseless some exceptions, however, including explosive dual-purpose projectiles) cartridge. The 7P39 cartridge offers the man-portable Czech Weapons against hardened targets or armoured increased range and lethality over the RAG 30 and Chinese QLZ87 systems. fighting vehicles (Jenzen-Jones, 2014). earlier 30 mm systems in Russian serv- China developed the QLZ87 in the ABM work by using information ice. While this weapon has appeared 1980s and intended it to be operated provided by the FCS to program the at an arms exhibition in the Russian by one soldier.7 The QLZ87’s compar- munition to detonate precisely above Federation and some sources have atively light weight—on a par with a or next to a target, making it possible claimed that it is undergoing testing general-purpose machine gun such for a direct-fire weapon9 such as an 2 Small Arms Survey Research Notes • Number 48 • February 2015 AGL to engage targets in defilade. These include groups in Chad, Libya, 6 It appears that this was a 1990s programme Targets are thought to be protected by Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Sudan, following on from one initiated in 1980 cover in up to 75 per cent of engage- and Ukraine, as well as numerous that resulted in the experimental TKB-0134 Kozlik (Козлик, or ‘goat’) (Boechin, 1999). ments, making the military value of other countries (Ferguson and Jenzen- 7 In its ‘light’ configuration, with a six-round ABM very significant, despite the dis- Jones, 2014; Yan, 2014). drum magazine and integral bipod. tinct increase in munition and weapon The QLZ87 is also employed in a ‘heavy’ system complexity and cost (Errante, configuration with a 15-round drum Lipsit, and Moran, 2006; Williams, Notes magazine and tripod (Yan, 2014). 2010). 1 Several other self-loading grenade launch- 8 Protected by cover. ABM projectiles are programmed ers that are capable only of semi-automatic 9 In contrast to indirect fire support weapons, either in the barrel of the weapon via fire have been developed, but are beyond such as mortars, which typically engage the scope of this report. Notable examples targets outside the operators’ line-of- contacts or induction, or by use of include the Chinese QLB06, South African sight. While AGL systems are sometimes radio frequency (RF) or infrared (IR) PAW-20, US XM25 CDTE, and Czech employed in the indirect fire role, they signals in order to impart fuze mode, SAG-30. are typically used as direct fire weapons. time delay, and other necessary details 2 More properly, ‘Gun, Machine, 40MM 10 The MK 285 PPHE cartridge is a good to the munition.