#40mm

Raytheon has tested a new missile that could give a long-range high explosive payload delivery capability to grenadiers in the Army’s infantry rifle squads. From Raytheon’s press release:

TFB friend Lionel attended the recent B&T Police & Military Day 2015 event, and covered some of the products exhibited there. Show host B&T had on display their less lethal ammunition and accessories for 40mm grenade launchers, including vests and grenade holsters. Lionel writes:

TFB friend Lionel attended the recent B&T Police & Military Day 2015 event, and covered some of the products exhibited there. Regarding Simunition’s booth, he writes:

In a head-scratching ruling, the ATF has reclassified 40mm practice (“chalk”) rounds and 40mm flares as “destructive devices”, putting them in the same category as actual explosive 40mm grenade ammunition. While several sources have covered this topic, the best treatment I have seen comes from WeaponsMan, and is reproduced in part below:

The UK has become the first nation to embrace “cased telescoped” ammunition technology*, having announced an order for 515 40mm CTA guns to retrofit the Warrior IFV and arm the new ASCOD-derived Scout SV vehicle, which will replace the long-serving CVR(T) family, including the Scimitar. IHS Janes reports:

Our friend Gabor from KaliberInfo.hu sent us a photo of this slick looking lightweight 40mm grenade launcher. He writes …

Larry Vickers’ TacTV YouTube channel has released a series of videos showcasing 40mm underbarrel grenade launchers, including uncommon footage of firing actual high explosive dual-purpose (HEDP) grenades. The videos are embedded below:

Did you know that it is legal to own a grenade launcher? Yeah, that is pretty awesome. By the letter of the law you can also possess live HE grenades, but acquiring them is incredibly difficult. However a smattering of other rounds are available if you want to experience the joy of an M203 without the strict storage requirements and high cost of 40mm HE. Surplus practice grenades are affordable and can be reloaded with .38 special blanks too!

The author recently had the privilege and opportunity to qualify with 40mm Low Velocity Less Lethal rounds. As a Marine infantryman in Afghanistan, these rounds are usually not part of our tool kit. They would be much more commonplace among Military Police, Marine Security Guard detachments at Embassies overseas or base riot contingency forces. But because of the highly volatile and strategic situations Marines are finding themselves in at the tail end of the war, the issuance of these rounds have become necessary.  The need for zero civilian casualties because of the previous election and the terms of the security agreement between President Hamid Karzi and ISAF forces has made it so. With this being said, the ROEs are extremely restrictive, requiring extensive PID and EOF procedures before engaging the Taliban. This is an extremely different situation in which Marine Infantrymen find themselves in compared to previous conflicts where direct action was the name of the game. In current day Helmand, before pulling the trigger Marines must now have to decide upon a life alternating shoot, no shoot call.

These videos show the new Madritsch ML40AUS 40mm grenade launcher, mounted on Thales Australia EF88 Assault Rifle, being fired with a M583A1 White Star Parachute illumination round (top video) and a M433 HEDP (bottom video).

The US Army has patented a system to convert surplus 155mm projectiles containing bomblets into 40mm grenades.

Our favorite Bulgarian arms manufacturer has added two new exotic grenades to their 2012 line up. The RLV-AD (Anti-Diver) round is designed to explode at a depth of 5 meters creating an underwater shockwave that is lethal at up to 15 meters and harmful up to 30 meters. The round is compatible with many NATO 40x46mm grenade launchers including the popular 6-shot Milkor MGL (some older launchers with short chambers could have problems chambering the longer exotic rounds).

The NZ Army emailed me this video of their new 40mm H&K Grenade Machine Guns (H&K GMG).

Earlier this year Chuckyzord guest blogged about his DIY replica SKS. Yesterday he emailed me a video of a replica China Lake (40mm pump action) grenade launcher he has just finished making. The replica is very impressive. It loads, fires and cycles just like the real China Lake.

Matthew Cox reports that the USMC like the XM-25 semi-automatic air burst grenade concept but would prefer it in 40mm instead of 25mm.