It is a modification of the United States Marine Corps Mk 153 shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapon (SMAW) and is also called the SMAW-D (where D is for disposable).

It was designed to fill the void in the United States Army inventory of a "bunker buster" weapon.

The SMAW-D operates on the principle that the recoil created by launching the rocket is counteracted by a "backblast" of gases fired from the rear of the weapon.

[4] The conferees of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 agreed that the US Army's BDM and the Marine Corps' short-range assault weapon (SRAW) were too similar to justify separate long-term projects, and that the Army should pursue an interim BDM program.

A candidate from McDonnell-Douglas (later Talley Defense Systems) used the same warhead as the Marine Corps SMAW, but with a rocket motor with a shorter burn time.