Automatic grenade launcher

An automatic grenade launcher (AGL) or grenade machine gun is a grenade launcher that is capable of fully automatic fire,[1] and is typically loaded with either an ammunition belt or magazine.[2][3][4][5]

These weapons are often mounted on vehicles or helicopters, as when these weapons are moved by infantry the weapon, its tripod, and ammunition, are a heavy load, requiring a small team.[2] Other types of grenade launchers are typically much lighter and can easily be carried by just a single soldier. The Mark 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher, first fielded by the United States in 1966, and still widely used today, weighs 62.5 kg (137.58 lb) when attached to its tripod, and loaded with a box of ammunition.[3] For comparison, the single-shot M79 grenade launcher weighs 2.93 kg (6.45 lb). Regardless of their weight, AGLs are still highly effective, and the Mark 19 is capable of indirect fire up to 2,200 metres, a role traditionally reserved for mortars. Even though the round carries less explosive than a 60mm mortar shell, this is thought to be counterbalanced by its much higher volume of fire.

The most popular caliber for automatic grenade launchers in Western nations has been 40mm.[2][3] The Soviet Union successfully fielded a 30mm grenade launcher, the AGS-17, during its war in Afghanistan. In 2002, Russia introduced a successor weapon, the AGS-30, and in 2017, the AGS-40 Balkan.[6] Traditional munitions for automatic grenade launchers include high explosive, fragmentation, and shaped charge for attacking light armored vehicles. Less lethal rounds, like tear gas and sponge rounds, for crowd control, have also been made. In the 21st century, AGLs have been made with integrated sight/range systems which can set a fused round to detonate precisely on, above, or behind a designated target.[6][7]

Different weapons use different methods of operation, with blowback and long recoil being two common choices.[2] In all these weapons, the energy released by firing a round loads the next round into the weapon's breech. The Mark 19 is automatically reloaded through the blowback method, where expanding gases blow back the firing bolt.

In the long recoil method the bolt is fixed to the firing chamber, and the whole firing chamber is blown back. These weapons are slightly less accurate, but weigh less than blowback weapons.[8] General Dynamics manufactures a long recoil weapon, the Mark 47 Automatic Grenade Launcher, as does the Spanish firm Santa Bárbara. The LAG-40 manufactured by Santa Bárbara has a relatively low rate of fire of 215 rounds per minute.

Comparison

Name Country Year Image Caliber Effective Range Muzzle
velocity
Rate of
fire, rpm
Approx.
weight[upper-alpha 1]
Feed,
rounds
Sights[upper-alpha 2]
Mk 19 Mod 3
[9]
 United States 1966

40×53mm1,500 m (4,900 ft)241 m/s (790 ft/s)325‑37535.2 kg (78 lb)Belt, 32, 48Night vision
Mk 47 Striker
[10][11]
 United States 2005

40x53mm1,700 m (5,600 ft)225‑30018 kg (40 lb)Belt, 32, 48FCS, Thermal
HK GMG
[12]
 Germany 1992

40x53mm1,500 m (4,900 ft)241 m/s (790 ft/s)34029 kg (64 lb)Belt, 32Reflex, "Various"
SB-40 LAG
 Spain 1984

40x53mm1,500 m (4,900 ft)240 m/s (790 ft/s)21534 kg (75 lb)Belt, 24, 32Night vision
STK 40 AGL
[13]
 Singapore 1986 40x53mm1,500 m (4,900 ft)242 m/s (790 ft/s)350‑50033 kg[14]Belt, 32Reflex, FCS, Thermal
Daewoo K4
[15]
 South Korea 1985 40x53mm1,500 m (4,900 ft)241 m/s (790 ft/s)325-37534.4 kg (76 lb)Belt, 24, 48KAN/TVS-5 night vision scope can be attached
Howa Type 96
[16]
 Japan 1996

40x56mm1,500 m (4,900 ft)250‑35024.5 kg (54 lb)Belt, 50Ladder sights
Denel Y3 AGL
[17]
 South Africa 1992 40x53mm2,176 m

(7,100 ft)

242 m/s (790 ft/s)280‑32053 kg (117 lb)Belt, 20Optical, Indirect electronic sight
UAG-40
[18]
 Ukraine 2016

40x53mm240 m/s (790 ft/s)40031 kg (68 lb)Belt, 32Optical, Infrared, Photo‑Visual, Electronic[19]
AGA‑40 Md.85
[20][upper-alpha 3]
 Romania 1985 40x74.5mm1,400 m (4,600 ft)216 m/s (710 ft/s)380‑45033 kg (73 lb)Mag., 10
AGS‑30 Atlant
[21][22][23]
 Russia 1990

30x29mm2,100 m

(6,900 ft)

185 m/s (610 ft/s)40017.5 kg (39 lb)Belt, 29Optical, Day‑Night, Radar sight
AGS‑40 Balkan
[24][25][26]
 Russia 2017

40x53mm
(caseless)
2,500 m

(8,200 ft)

40032 kg (71 lb)Belt, 20Optical
Type 87
[upper-alpha 4][27][28]
 China 1987

35x32mm600 m (2,000 ft)200 m/s (660 ft/s)50020 kg (44 lb)Mag., 6, 9, 12, 15Optical
  1. Without ammo, with default sights.
  2. Normally includes iron sights.
  3. Production status is unclear.
  4. Can be fired from bipod.

Ammunition

40×74.5mm [20] 30×29mm 40mm "Balkan" 35×32mm [28]
HE HEAT VOG-30 [29][30] GPD-30 [23][31] 7P39 [25][32] HE HEAT
Max. range 1,550 m (5,090 ft)1,700 m (5,600 ft)2,100 m (6,900 ft)2,500 m (8,200 ft)1,750 m (5,740 ft)
Muzzle velocity 223 m/s (730 ft/s)185 m/s (610 ft/s)200 m/s (660 ft/s)
Weight 490 g (1.08 lb)348 g (0.767 lb)340 g (0.75 lb)430 g (0.95 lb)
Shell weight 260 g (0.57 lb)275 g (0.606 lb)
Filling 47 g (1.7 oz)90 g (3.2 oz)
Kill radius/area 10 m (33 ft)90 m2 (970 sq ft)120 m2 (1,300 sq ft)
Penetration 50 mm (2.0 in)80 mm (3.1 in)

See also

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2017-08-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "CASW (Close Area Suppression Weapon System) Automatic Grenade Launcher — MERX Notice of Proposed Procurement". Canadian American Strategic Review. August 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-06-05. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  3. "Background – CASW Project – Company Area Suppression Weapon". Canadian American Strategic Review. December 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-08-08. Retrieved 2015-03-09. In its current form, the Mk19 mod 3, this AGL has become the weapon of choice among US ground troops in Iraq – primarily because the AGL offers both direct (to 1,600 meters) and indirect fire (to 2,200 meters).
  4. Spencer C. Tucker (20 May 2011). The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. ABC-CLIO. p. 431. ISBN 978-1-85109-961-0. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
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  8. "Background — CASW Candidates Operating Systems – Long Recoil". Canadian American Strategic Review. December 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-08-08. Retrieved 2015-03-09. The long recoil operating system’s obvious advantage is the compact gun body. While this compensates for the weapon’s internal complications, that moving barrel might also result in first-round aiming inaccuracies. The AGL designers are willing to overlook this in exchange for reduced weight (in comparison to a blowback design) and for the portability inherent in a smaller weapon (even if weight reduction is modest). In any case, great accuracy is not the forte of the AGLs.
  9. "Mk47 Striker40: GD's Auto-Programmed 40mm GMG". Defense Industry Daily. 9 August 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
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  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2017-08-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  27. "QLZ87 35mm Automatic Grenade Launcher". Archived from the original on February 12, 2013. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  28. "Выстрел ВОГ-17 (ВОГ-17А) / ВОГ-17М / ВОГ-30 / ГПД-30". Weapon.at.au. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  29. Книга: Боевое стрелковое оружие России (in Russian). E-reading-lib.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  30. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20090306043430/http://www.tulatskib.ru/patr_pdf/GPD30.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  31. Russian Close Combat Weapon, pp. 496–497.
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