Grenade launcher
A grenade launcher[1][2][3] is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke, or gas warhead.
[4] Grenade launchers are produced in the form of standalone weapons (either single-shot or repeating) or as attachments mounted to a parent firearm, usually a rifle.
Some armored fighting vehicles also mount fixed arrays of short-range, single-shot grenade launchers as a means of defense.
During the First World War, several novel crew-served launchers designed to increase the range of infantry hand grenades were developed, such as the Sauterelle crossbow, the West spring gun, and the Leach trench catapult devices.
The principle was to use the soldier's standard rifle as an ersatz mortar[clarification needed], mounting a grenade (in many older cases an infantry hand grenade) fitted with a propelling charge, using an adaptor or socket on the weapon's muzzle or inside a mounted launching cup, and usually firing with the weapon's stock resting on the ground.
Due to the lack of a barrel, rifle grenades also tend to be more difficult to fire accurately compared to under-barrel or stand-alone designs.
[9] Such single-shot devices were largely replaced in military service with underbarrel grenade launchers, removing the need for a dedicated grenadier with a special weapon.
One AAI submission for SPIW mounted a "simple" single-action, single-shot breech-loading underbarrel grenade launcher in lieu of the required semi-automatic multi-shot device.
More modern Western grenade launchers address some of the shortcomings of the M203, such as the sliding breech limiting the weapon's ability to load outsize projectiles and the lack of factory-fitted sight mounts, with designs like FN Herstal's ELGM and Heckler & Koch's AG36 featuring a swing-out breech to provide better access, integral sight mounts, and built-in support for standalone conversion.
[14] Soviet development of an underbarrel launcher for the AK rifle series began in 1966 and in 1978 produced the GP-25, a muzzle-loading device for the AK-74 rifle using a mortar-like grenade round which functions by venting its propellant through holes in the base; this is a variation of the high-low system used by Western rounds, with the base of the projectile acting as the high-pressure chamber and the launcher's barrel acting as the low-pressure chamber.
Some armored fighting vehicles also mount fixed arrays of short range, single-shot grenade launchers as a means of defense.
Lethal rounds are usually fitted with an inertial fuzing system which arms the warhead after it has rotated a set number of times, in order to prevent the user from harming themselves if a grenade encounters a nearby obstruction.
The reverse is not true; a full range of less-lethal ammunition is available in 40 mm caliber, and an increasing number of law enforcement launchers not intended for the civilian market are chambered for 40×46mm rounds.
[26] Following the failure of the SAMP weapon programs, the United States developed 40 mm grenades incorporating similar technology, including the 40×53mm MK285 Programmable Prefragmented High Explosive/Self-Destructible (PPHE/SD) round for the Mk 47 Striker AGL[27] and more recently the SAGM round for 40×46mm underbarrel launchers, an airburst-only computerized grenade which does not require an integrated sighting system.
In the U.S., under the National Firearms Act of 1934, breech-loading firearms with a barrel diameter of greater than .50 inches (12.7 mm) and no practical sporting use are classified as Title II "destructive devices", with ownership heavily restricted and banned entirely in some states; in addition, each individual round of explosive ammunition for a grenade launcher is also classified as a destructive device and subject to the same restrictions.
