Automatic grenade launchers: new automatic 40 mm grenade launchers and ammunition are being produced as armies seek to bolster the firepower of infantry units deployed in the War on Terror. Much of this renewed interest results from experience gathered in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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Grenade launchers

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Automatic grenade launchers: new automatic 40 mm grenade launchers and ammunition are being produced as armies seek to bolster the firepower of infantry units deployed in the War on Terror. Much of this renewed interest results from experience gathered in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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The US Army and US Marine Corps have been equipped with a 40-mm automatic grenade launcher (AGL) since the Vietnam War and the Soviet Army introduced a 30-mm AGL in 1971. The 40-mm Mk 19 AGL was initially developed in the mid-1960s to arm US Navy patrol boats operating in the rivers of South Vietnam, but ground commanders soon came to appreciate the weapon's ability to spew up to 400 high-explosive (HE) rounds per minute out to 1500 metres. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has built almost 35,000 Mk 19 Mod 3 systems, the current production standard, for some 30 customers since 1984. The US Army bought 1243 weapons in fiscal year 2006 (FY06), 502 in FY07 and has re...

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