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40mm M320 grenade launcher will be replace M203 next year

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.

Xm320Glm
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

Xm320-M4-1
M320 mounted under M4.

Posted by Steve on Dec 5th 2008 | Filed in military | Comments (8)

RPG-40 Grenade launcher

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.

 Files Spec 2008 09 Rt1 Z01Rgp01
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.

 Files Spec 2008 09 Rt1 Z01Rgp03
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.

300Px-M-32-Grenade-Launcher

Marine with M32 MGL (MGL-140) in Iraq.
Photo from Wikipedia

 1 31 2004 Milkor-Mgl-Mk-1S Si5
MGL MGL Mk-1

The MGL is a scaled up version of the Striker/Streetsweeper/Protecta rotary magazine 12 gauge shotgun:

Striker
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.

Posted by Steve on Sep 12th 2008 | Filed in military, weapons | Comments (2)