The M202A1 Flame Assault Shoulder Weapon (FlASh) is a lightweight multishot reusable rocket launcher designed and developed in the United States in 1972. Although most people will inevitably recognize it from the 1985 film Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the M202 and M202A1 both saw action in the US Army and US Marine Corps as a ranged incendiary device before its gradual phase out in favor of the SMAW in the mid-1980s. Johnny Wild of Wild Arms Research and Development has been hard at work once again reviving an almost forgotten recoilless launcher with the intention of not only reproducing it but also improving on the design to make it simpler to build. I spoke with Johnny recently and he has shared some of his progress so far with TFB. Let’s take a look at what he’s got so far!

Wild Arms Research and Development @ TFB:

• New DIY RPG-2 44mm Launcher Chalk Rounds from Wild Arms Research
• The 308 SCA Semi-Caseless Ammunition by Wild Arms Research and Development
• TFB B-Side Podcast: Talking Recoilless Launchers with Johnny Wild

Wild Arms Lets Off Some Steam With A DIY M202 Launcher

My project will try to emulate the look and feel of the original while making some upgrades to the original to make it more simple to build. It’s a registered destructive device and will launch 66mm homemade chalk rockets. I was also looking at making warheads filled fire extinguisher powder to make a tactical fire suppression rounds. It would be a play on the original concept designed to start fires and mine will put them out.

I currently have bought carbon fiber barrels (upgrade from the original fiberglass), A supporter donated an original M202 to make the project even more realistic.

Instead of the mechanical firing mechanism, I am looking into having on board computer that will be programmed to fire one rocket at a time with each pull of the trigger while being rechargeable.

For many of the components in the launcher, I was looking composite materials (Forged Carbon Fiber and specialized 3d printed filaments.

We hope to have the launcher built in the next few months and then development on the rockets will be next and hopefully have a test fire by the end of the year. The fuel will be the same as the fliegerfaust rockets, just a much bigger motor

The 66mm Carbon Fiber Barrels

This, to me, is actually a really impressive project. The M202A1 was said to be an extremely effective incidental weapon, especially in dense urban areas where the effects of fire can spread rapidly and cause enemy combatants to flee the structure they’re occupying. I really like that Johnny is also considering flipping the concept of the warhead on its head by attempting to make his projectiles anti-incendiary rather than incendiary. If it proves to be effective, we could have a new cooler fire extinguisher on our hands. If you guys would like to keep tabs on this project and other projects that Johnny and Wild Arms Research and Development come up with, you can follow him on Instagram here, or on YouTube where he posts regular update videos on his various projects.