#40mm

Recent news coverage has made it explicitly clear that the U.S. Marine Corps is finally going to upgrade legacy 40x46mm low-velocity M203 under-barrel grenade launchers to the much more mobile and versatile Heckler & Koch M320s that the U.S. Army has successfully been using for a number of years to date. Current numbers indicate that 7,000 are wanted by at least 2019, and at the latest in the year of 2022 for a force-wide issue among both the Active Component in the Fleet Marine Force and in the Reserves as well. Currently an article on Marines.mil is showcasing elements from 2nd Combat Engineering Battalion at Camp Lejeune working with M320s as a test case.

Among the dazzling amount of weapons displayed at  the LAAD 2017 Defence & Security exhibition in Rio de Janeiro (April 4-7), a lesser-known name called the attention in the South African Pavilion, the Rippel Effect, a privately-owned military equipment and systems manufacturer. The company has been supplying a range of own-designed grenade launchers, sighting and observation systems, and accessories to defense and law enforcement agencies worldwide, with clients in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

This past week a Serbian product, the 40mm/6 M11 made by Yugoimport SDPR J.P. was seen in use by the Safwa Islamic Brigade & Suqur al-Shamal opposition groups in northern Aleppo. The launcher isn’t very prevalent outside of Serbia and thus it’s presence in Syria indicates a line of supply that might lead back to Serbia. The 40mm/6 M11 is essentially a copy of the South African Milkor 40x46mm Low-Velocity MGL 6 round grenade launcher developed in the 1980s. Currently Milkor still produces the MGL, licensing the launcher out to various companies across the world.

On an episode of R. Lee Ermey’s Gunny Time, Kirsten Joy Weiss was invited to come out and shoot some revolver grenade launchers with The Gunny.

The US Army RDECOM published a YouTube video on the Picatinny Arsenal YouTube Page about Additive Manufacturing, which includes 3D printing, and the Rapid Additively Manufactured Ballistics Ordnance or RAMBO Launcher. RAMBO, in this case, is fundamentally a 3D printed version of the M203A1 40mm grenade launcher as well as 3D printed M781 training ammunition.

I am not sure what is more surreal – the fact that we now have a laser guided missile that can can be fired from a standard 40mm grenade launcher, or the fact that Raytheon used clean 20-somethings in polo shirts and safety glasses to demo a guided explosive device. Either way, this was a predictable munitions advancement and a real force multiplier for our good-guy soldiers who I’m sure are happy to be able to deliver their own “air strikes”.

A seller on Gunbroker has recently posted a very peculiar and unique weapon system, a civilian legal 40mm reproduction of the China Lake pump action grenade launcher. The receiver, stock, and pump are registered under a Title 1 firearm, while the barrel is registered as a destructive device. So too is each individual 40x46mm Low Velocity grenade, but the sale of those is not included. The seller claims that this is one of the few reproductions in existence (even fewer originals exist). At the time of this post, the current bid on the launcher is $9,500 while the minimum bid is $9,525. By the time this post is published, the item will probably have ended on Gunbroker, so the link might be broken. Weaponsman has also written up an in-depth report on the post.

How much firepower can you hold in your hands? Quite a lot, according to Kiev-based Precision Systems, who has developed a handheld automatic 30mm grenade launcher capable of dispensing five 30x29mm grenades quickly when used by just a single individual. News of this assault-rifle-sized automatic grenade gun was first published in the Anglosphere by ISH Jane’s:

Earlier we covered the DS Trushot made by Pakistani arms company Daudson, based in Peshawar. In addition to firearms, the same company makes a 40mm high velocity grenade launcher as well. It comes in a standalone variant, as well as a UBGL version to be affixed to an AKM via a set of Philips screws clamping the launcher to the barrel. The UBGL version looks awfully low on the rifle, much lower than many Russian GP30s or even an M203 when mounted to the rifle. Unfortunately the specifications don’t list the weight of the device but looking at the bulk associated with it, in addition to the statement that they are made of steel, I would imagine very heavy compared to European or American grenade launchers. Operation consists of unlatching the breech, pushing it forward, inserted a grenade, closing it, engaging the safety lever that rotates almost 180 degrees to fire, aiming in on the quadrant sight, and firing via a trigger similar to the GP30 design. The company has stated that the launchers have been used in “Anti-terrorist operations” but I can’t find any photographs of use by the Pakistani police or military forces supporting this.

Previously, we discussed the benefits of and challenges facing saboted projectile ammunition, including the advantages of decoupling the diameters of the bore and the projectile, and the problems of accuracy during sabot discarding. One concept that could possibly provide many of the benefits of saboted projectile ammunition without the drawbacks is the idea of having a malleable projectile that is forced through a conical section of bore, squeezing it down to a smaller shape. This increases, to a degree, the swept volume of the barrel, while not requiring any discarding sabot and not producing “wasted” energy that goes into propelling the mass of the sabot out of the barrel.

The AirSource Military recently posted up this video of an AC-130U during live-fire training.

The Hornets Nest is a 40mm adapter that fits 10 rounds of .22LR. With one pull of the trigger, all 10 rounds are fired. This is intended for use with 40mm destructive devices like grenade launchers. I am not sure if the DD NFA status trumps Machine gun? It is multiple rounds fired with one trigger pull. But since they are shot at the same time, does this make it like a shotgun? I am not sure if the hornets nest can be fired without the grenade launcher.

The United Kingdom has become the first nation in the world to receive  a modern cased telescoped ammunition (CTA) automatic weapon, the French 40mm CTCS, according to IHS Jane’s. The UK procured the weapons in July of last year to upgrade their Warrior IFVs, and as the main armament for the new Ajax scout tanks, expected to enter service in 2017.

Defense Technology announced three new 40mm products at the recent shot show: one launcher and two projectiles.

I was headed past Milkor USA’s booth today to take a look at their lightweight 40mm launcher when a launcher of a whole different aesthetic caught my eye: The 40mm Hydra.  With a large hydraulic buffer tube mated to the chamber and barrel, sitting above a grip frame with wood grip panels, and a very large box magazine that indexes somewhat like a Thompson SMG, it certainly did not look like the other rotary launchers on display.  I talked to their designer, and apparently it is a collaboration between Milkor USA and Rheinmetall Waffen.  An even more interesting point came up when he informed me that the Hydra can fire semi or full auto, at a rate of fire of 10 rounds in less than 2 seconds!  The Hydra could possibly succeed where the Czech RAG-30 and CZW-40 didn’t quite achieve, in controlled shoulder fired 40mm automatic grenade fire.  It is pictured here with a 6 round magazine, but also has 4 and 10 round magazines.