#Recoilless

The United States Marine Corps is following in the US Army in the procurement of the Saab M3A1 MAAWS (Multi-Role Anti-Armor/Anti-Personnel Weapon System) recoilless rifle. The M3A1 is a lightweight multipurpose explosive projector weapon which can engage targets at much longer ranges than weapons currently in service with the USMC. The previous MAAWS version, the heavier M3, has been in US Army service since 2011, and was approved for general issue to Army platoons in early 2016.  Military.com’s Hope Hodge Seck reports:

US Army infantry platoons will be getting a little more “boom” very soon. Jane’s, among other news outlets, report that the US Army has finally approved the M3 Carl Gustav 84mm recoilless rifle for general issue to the infantry platoon. From IHS Jane’s:

I thought they just made jets and discontinued automobiles. Saab Defense just unveiled their updated Carl Gustaf 84mm weapon system at AUSA 2014. It is called the M4 Multipurpose Weapon. It is to replace the more commonly known M3 Multi-role Anti-armor Anti-tank Weapon System (MAAWS). The M4 will be known as the M3A1 MAAWS.

Arms historian Max Popenker read my blog post about the Australian company that claims to have produced recoilless firearms and immediately came up with three patents for recoiless guns going back to 1908.

This video is a few years old, but a reader who was there and treated the injured soldier told me about the situation and the outcome.