This interesting grenade, manufactured by Bulgarian firm ARCUS Co., is designed to combat frogmen. The AR476 is fired from standard 40mm launchers at the area where combat divers are suspected to be underwater. When the projectile hits the water, a time deployed fuse is activated.
Many thanks, again, to Lusaka for the photo and info.
Michigan based Defcom LLC is a new firm that have designed two lightweight grenade launchers which make maximum use of polymers. They are in a sense the Glocks in a world of Beretta M9s.
The DEFCOM XL 79 COMPOSITE is essentially a M79 that has been brought into the 21st century. It weighs 1.41 kg, about half of the original metal-and-wood M79.
The Defcom M79 type product improved grenade launcher receiver, barrel shroud, stock, and front hand guard are manufactured from composite materials. Double action trigger with shotgun-type safety. Matte finish colors: black, desert sand, or woodland green. Top of barrel fitted with MIL_STD 1913 Picatinny rail system. Rear sight is a detachable flip-up scale graduated to 425 meters. Front sight is fixed. Fixed stock launcher has two (2) sling swivels, folding stock has a third swivel mounted on stock hinge. Ambidextrous safety and barrel latch. M16 style pistol grip.
The other Defcom product is the XL 200 under barrel rail mounted launcher. It weights about 40% less than the M203 and M320 launchers.
The XL 200 opens by moving forward, and then tips up at a 40 degree angle, which allows it to be loaded with the new larger low velocity less lethal ammunition.
The Defcom 40 mm grenade launcher is designed to mount to any Mil Spec 1913 Picatinny Rail system. It has a double action trigger with ambidextrous safety and barrel latch. Barrel tilts downward and locks at end of forward travel to permit loading of all low velocity 40 mm ammunition. Titanium breech face. Trigger mechanism is modular and can be easily repaired in field. Barrel meets U.S. military specifications for material and rifling.
I will be watching this new company with interest to see how their products do.
The Defcom website is not yet up, but the sales office can be contacted at 559.585.1712
While watching a video of the MetalStorm 3GL 40mm Grenade Launcher I was blown away by the incredible technology1 that these Australians have developed. I have blogged about the 3GL before, but I had not imagined it worked so well in practice. The video is worth 1000 words ...
The MetalStorm technology allows multiple rounds to be loaded into, and fired from, a single barrel. This makes a much more compact weapon than competing MGL2 systems such as the Milkor. The weapon has been designed to be within the same tolerances as the M203/M320 and so achieves similar range, velocity & accuracy. It makes use of standard 40x46mm grenade warheads which are inserted into the MetalStorm 'tail assembly'. This would make the system much more attractive to nations which currently use the standard 40x46mm rounds.
The grenades are fired electronically as fast as the trigger can be pull and the barrel is capable of 720 rounds per minute! I asked Mark, MetalStorm's armorer, about battery life and he told me that the 2xAA batteries is uses will last as long as the barrel does.
What really impressed me was how fast it could be reloaded. In the video you see the operator remove the rifle's magazine when reloading - this was for safety and it not required in the field.
In its stand-alone configuration (not attached to a rifle and with its own stock) it weighs 5 lbs - less than half the weight of the 11 lb Milkor MGL!
MetalStorm have also been working on a bullpup version of the 3GL. Aside from the shorter overall length, it allows the system to be used with rifles, such as the AK variants, which require the magazines to be rocked into place. The pistol grip of the non-bullpup version would get in the way during magazine changes,
As I said before, I am very impressed with this weapon. It offers a lot of power in a very small package.
Many thanks to David for answering my questions and providing photos and videos for the blog.
These photos are apparently of a Palestinian using some sort of homemade grenade launcher. It looks like it could be a 40mm grenade in the barrel, or maybe some type of 40mm less/non-lethal grenade like round, such as tear gas.
It appears to work by striking the firing pin (a drill bit) with a stone. I would not want to be within 200 yards of somebody firing that weapon.
Russian VOG-25 40mm Grenade. Photo from gunbroker.
UPDATE: DrStrangegun noticed that the size of the launcher is very simular to Russian GP-30 launcher. The Grenade is propelled through the vents you see in the above photo. Much like a rocket.
GP-30. From Wikipedia.
Hat Tip: MP.net
Russian unveiled the new Balkan 40mm automatic grenade launcher at IDEX 2009 (massive military expo held in Abu Dhabi that was on earlier this week).
Click to expand.
The AGS-17 Plamya, the auto grenade launcher currently fielded by Russia, is 30mm. The new launcher extends the effective range from 1700m to 2500m and the larger round will of course give it more bite.
It is logical to compare it with the 40mm Mk 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher. The weight and rate of fire are much the same. The Balkan comes standard with optical sights and the Mk 19 can be fitted with sights if needed.
The ammunition is quite different. The Balkan uses Russian style 40mm grenades that are in a sense caseless. The primer ignites powder, the gas then exists through vents in the bottom of the case. This is similar to the infamous Gyrojet ammunition. Unlike the Gyrojet I think all the grenade powder is burnt before the round leaves the barrel, unlike the Gyrojet which burnt the propellant slowly and accelerated slowly.
The vents appear to have a shotgun-like star shaped crimp.
Another difference is that the ammunition box holds 20 linked rounds and weights 14 kg while the Mk 19 uses 32 or 48 round boxes weighing 20 and 30 kg respectively.
Hat Tip: diva @ WAFF
Danger Room reports that the US Army is look at developing a less-lethal grenade that “shower of high velocity rubber pellets that sting and disorient”.
Airsofters have long been using non-lethal gas powered reloadable “grenades” such as this one from Airsplat.com:
It will be interesting to see what the military come up with. A gas system instead of a pyrotechnic solution would definitely decrease the danger of injuring or killing people in a crowd which is one of the problems with flashbangs.
More at Danger Room
EOTech have developed a next-generation grenade sight at the request of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC). SMGLee grabbed some exclusive shots of it.
The reticle tracks up and down as the weapon is raised or lowered. How cool is that? I don’t have a grenade/flare/golf ball launcher but I want one!
More photos at MP.net
The Army Times reports that the H&K developed M320 will being replacing the M203 in February next year.
The Army plans to begin fielding the first of 71,600 new replacement launchers in February for a cost of about $3,500 each, Audette said. Fielding of the M320 will likely be completed by 2015, Audette said.
..
Each M320 will come with a laser range finder and a sophisticated sight that even lets soldiers know if they aren’t holding the launcher right.
M320 with stock and laser range finder sighting system.
The unit weights 3.57 – 3.89 lbs depending on what rifle it is being mounted on.The stock pictured above adds an extra lb bringing the weight up to 4.8 lbs.
Benefits over the M230 are:
- The barrel swings out allowing larger rounds than the M203. Useful for less than lethal rounds.
- Laser range finder and new electronic sight system which also indicates if the launcher is being held incorrectly.
- Double action trigger
M320 mounted under M4.
RIA Novosti reports:
He fired from several grenades at the house, and then started shooting at the building with the automatic rifle.
The ex-girlfriend was unharmed in the attack, but her parents were injured and later hospitalized.
Doctors said their lives are not in danger. The attacker was arrested by police.
Crazy.
About 6 months ago Metal Storm was awarded AU$1.4 million in development contracts from the US Navy to develop a 12 guage (.729″ caliber, not the 12 gauge shotgun cartridge) multishot weapon that mounts under an M16 and M4.
The MAUL has no moving parts and weights just 2.75 pounds.
All four rounds can be loaded into the chamber at once and are electronically ignited. It can fire lethal rounds, such as grenades, and non lethal rounds.
The weapon system was exhibited at AUSA Expo this year and should be in production next year.
The RPG-40 was on display at MSPO 2008. The Centre for Research and Development Equipment Mechanics (OBR SM) and Military Technical Academy, which I assume are Polish organizations, have developed the RPG-40. Despite its name it has nothing to do with the Russian RPG-* arms and does not fire rocket propelled grenades, just the standard 40mm variety.
The RPG-40
It holds 6 rounds and features an oversized chamber so a variety of lethal and non-lethal ammunition can be chambered – limited by how much pressure the weapon can withstand.
Oversized 40mm chamber
It may be in direct competition with the South African Milkor MGL (M32) that is currently used by the Marines in Iraq. It looks like it has a very similar spring-loaded magazine, which rotates after a shot has fired. I would not be surprised if the MGL technology has been licensed.
Marine with M32 MGL (MGL-140) in Iraq.
Photo from Wikipedia
MGL MGL Mk-1
The MGL is a scaled up version of the Striker/Streetsweeper/Protecta rotary magazine 12 gauge shotgun:
Striker shotgun with 12″ barrel. Photo from guns.ru
More info here (translated in google)
I have done my best to find accurate information about this firearm on the Polish MSPO 2008 website. I do not speak or read Polish so I had to rely on Google Translate. If I got something wrong, please correct me in the comments.
Following on from the AK firing out-of-battery, here is a 40mm grenade exploding in MK 19!
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- Steve