Table Of ContentGRENADE LAUNCHERS AND THEIR AMMUNITION: 
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
© Anthony G Williams 
 
This article is based on various presentations given in 2013-15 and on 
articles published in Jane's International Defence Review (November 
2013) and in Small Arms Defense Journal (Vol.7 No.1) 
 
Grenade launchers and their ammunition are currently experiencing the 
fastest and most dramatic period of development of any small arms. This 
article  will  provide  a  summary  of  shoulder-fired  and  crew-served 
grenade launchers, concentrating on developments in ammunition types. 
 
NATO 40mm Systems 
NATO  is  currently  focused  on  the  40mm  calibre  for  under-barrel  or 
stand-alone shoulder-fired launchers and also for crew-served automatic 
launchers. However, while the calibre is standard, there are now four 
different performance levels to choose from. Two are long-established, 
dating back to the Vietnam War: the 40mm Low Velocity (or LV) which 
uses  40  x  46SR  (Semi-Rimmed)  ammunition  in  shoulder-fired  or 
underbarrel launchers, and the 40mm High Velocity (or HV), which fires 
40 x 53SR rounds from crew-served automatic launchers.  
40mm LV ammunition is currently made by about 25 different companies 
in 18 countries, in a wide range of lethal, less-lethal and other natures. 
Apart from conventional HE and HEDP these include thermobaric HE, 
HE Jump (a low-cost airburst, in which a small nose charge fires on 
impact,  kicking  the  grenade  a  couple  of  metres  into  the  air  before  it 
explodes),  and  HE  anti-diver,  designed  to  explode  underwater.  Non-
explosive  loadings  include  shot  loads,  smoke,  illuminating  and  signal 
flares, a huge range of less-lethal ammunition matching that available in 
37mm riot guns and including both impact and chemical types (the latter 
for  non-military  use),  and  even  reconnaissance  projectiles  –  the 
SPARCS from STK has a parachute-borne camera.  
The  universality  of  the  ammunition  means  that  there  are  numerous 
stand-alone and underbarrel launchers made to fire it. The M79 was the 
classic single-barrel stand-alone type but this has largely been replaced 
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by  underbarrel  launchers  such  as  the  M203,  which  is  itself  being 
replaced  in  the  US  and  other  armies  by  more  modern  underbarrel 
launchers like the L123A1 and M320 from Heckler & Koch, which can 
fire a wider range of munitions and can be fitted with a stock and sights 
for  the  stand-alone  role.  When  more  firepower  is  required,  six-shot 
revolvers  such  as  the  USMC's  M32  are  also  available  from  several 
companies, at the cost of significant bulk and weight. 
 
40mm  HV  ammunition  is  made  by  some  15  companies  in  a  dozen 
countries. It fires grenades which are typically 30 percent heavier than 
the  LV  at  three  times  the  muzzle  velocity,  increasing  the  maximum 
ballistic  range  from  400  to  over  2000  metres  (although  the  effective 
maximum  is  significantly  less  in  both  cases).  Recoil  is  several  times 
greater, which means that attempts to design shoulder-fired weapons for 
this  cartridge  have  so  far  been  unsuccessful,  although  NORINCO  of 
China  recently  announced  one.  The  ammunition  is  therefore  used  in 
crew-served,  tripod-mounted,  belt-fed  launchers  generally  known  as 
automatic grenade launchers or AGLs. The original launcher was the 
MK19 which is still very much in use, although more recently a wide 
range  of  competitors  has  emerged,  most  notably  the  GMG  (Grenade 
Machine Gun) from Heckler & Koch, in service with fifteen countries. 
There  is  much  less  variety  than  with  LV  in  the  types  of  ammunition 
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available, owing to the requirement to fit into the ammunition feed and to 
develop  a  certain  level  of  recoil  to  operate  the  launcher,  so 
HE/fragmentation or HEDP are the standard natures. 
 
In recent years two new performance levels have been introduced for 
shoulder-fired launchers. The first of these is the Medium Velocity or MV 
ammunition, intended to provide a greater effective range than LV plus a 
larger and more destructive grenade. Cartridge case lengths vary from 
46 to 51mm. The first of these were from Martin Electronics (now part of 
the Chemring Group), with Rheinmetall also developing MV rounds. The 
heavier grenades fired at a higher muzzle velocity result in a maximum 
ballistic range in the region of 700-800 metres, and when fired at shorter 
ranges  have  a  much  flatter  trajectory  and  shorter  flight  time  than  LV 
rounds,  considerably  improving  their  hit  probability.  However,  the 
additional recoil can be considerable, especially in lighter weapons, so 
this ammunition is currently best suited to the solid and heavy six-barrel 
revolver type launchers; in fact, the Rheinmetall rounds have a modified 
case rim to prevent their use in unmodified LV launchers. 
As a result of the recoil problem, some manufacturers, namely Arcus of 
Bulgaria,  STK  of  Singapore  and  Rheinmetall  again,  have  introduced 
what is now usually called Low Velocity Extended Range ammunition 
(LV-ER), which sits in between the low and medium velocity types and is 
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specifically intended for under-barrel or single-barrel launchers.  These 
typically have maximum ballistic ranges of 600+ metres.  
While  the  performance  of  HV  and  to  some  extent  LV  rounds  is 
standardised, that's not the case with MV and LV-ER ammunition, to 
which different manufacturers have different approaches. The first MV 
rounds  used  new  grenade  designs  but  Rheinmetall  has  adopted  a 
simpler solution with their Velan range, which fires their standard HV 
grenades from a lower-powered cartridge. In contrast, all of the LV-ER 
makers  combine  their  standard  LV  grenades  with  higher-powered 
cartridges, but the muzzle velocity and range vary.  
 
The  table  above  summarises  some  typical  characteristics  of  40mm 
ammunition, but it should be borne in mind that the characteristics of MV 
and  LV-ER  ammunition  do  vary.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  weights 
quoted here are for the grenades only, not the complete rounds, and that 
ranges are maximum ballistic figures; the effective ranges against area 
targets would be around two-thirds of these figures, against point targets 
less than half. The two columns on the right indicate the relative recoil 
impulse of the four types, and their free recoil energy if the ammunition 
was fired in guns of the same type and weight. 
So far, there seems to have been much interest but few contracts for MV 
and LV-ER ammunition, but that may change in the future. 
 
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Other Grenade Systems 
Beyond  NATO,  the  main  supplier  of  grenade  launchers  is  Russia, 
although China is catching up. The Russian equivalent to the NATO low-
velocity  round  is  the  VOG-25  series,  another  40mm  of  similar 
performance, but differing technically in being caseless - the propellant 
is contained within a small element attached to the back of the grenade 
that travels with it. As with the NATO LV, a very wide range of munitions 
is  available  for  it.  The  muzzle-loading  GP-25  and  GP-30  are  the 
standard  launchers,  but  there  are  also  six-shot  revolvers  and  an 
interesting three shot Arcus repeater with the tubular magazine in the 
shoulder stock. 
 
The Russian equivalent to the high-velocity round is the VOG-17 series 
which uses a conventional cartridge but differs in being of only 30mm 
calibre. However, the projectile is unusually long and similar in weight to 
the NATO 40mm HV. The maximum ballistic range was originally a few 
hundred  metres  less  than  the  NATO  HV,  but  recent  ammunition 
developments have seen this increase to more than 2,000 metres. Apart 
from the automatic belt-fed AGS-17 and AGS-30 launchers from Russia, 
Slovakia  offers  a  shoulder-fired  magazine-fed  bipod-mounted  weapon 
using  this  30  x  29B  (Belted)  round,  the  RAG-30,  which  offers  an 
interesting level of portable firepower as it weighs only 12 kg (26½ lbs).  
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Russia  also  produces  some  oddities,  including  two  different  30mm 
captive-piston under-barrel systems for special forces which are virtually 
silent when fired. The BS-1 uses a conventional blank cartridge to drive 
a captive piston forwards in the launcher (the trapped gases need to be 
bled off before the launcher can be reloaded). The BMYa-31 uses a 
special blank round that incorporates its own captive piston (the blank 
containing the sealed-in gases can be ejected and the launcher reloaded 
immediately). Maximum ranges are 300-400 metres.  
Also in use in Russia is the 43mm GM-94 stand-alone launcher that 
resembles  an  oversized  pump-action  shotgun  and  fires  VGM-93 
ammunition at ranges of up to 600 metres. The ammunition is mostly 
less-lethal  but  includes  a  thermobaric  HE  round,  presumably  for  the 
more emphatic dispersal of rioting crowds. 
Russia  has  reportedly  introduced  into  service,  apparently  for  special 
forces,  the  40mm  Balkan  AGL  that  fires  unique  caseless  grenades, 
much bigger and heavier than the VOG-25 series. These rounds weigh 
450  g  and  contain  90g  HE  which,  in  conjunction  with  the  2,500m 
maximum range, amounts to a better on-paper performance than the 
NATO AGLs. 
 
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China initially adopted Russian equipment but has now developed its 
own in 35mm calibre. There are three different, incompatible series of 
35mm grenades and associated launchers. Two of them are low-velocity 
types  for  underbarrel  grenade  launchers:  the  caseless  low-velocity 
35mm  DFS10  round  for  the  army's  QLG10  launcher,  which  is  like  a 
slimmed down VOG-25 and has a similar performance, and the Type 91 
UBGL firing plastic-cased ammunition, which is mainly used with less-
lethal grenades for riot control. 
 
The best-known Chinese grenade is the conventional 35 x 32SR high-
velocity DF87 series ammunition which has a ballistic range of 1,750 
metres.  The  HEDP  grenade,  which  is  slightly  heavier  than  NATO's 
40mm HV, is claimed to penetrate 80mm armour plate as well as having 
a lethal radius of 11 metres. It is used in a pair of automatic launchers, 
the belt-fed, tripod mounted QLZ04 which weighs 55 lbs including tripod 
(about half that of the MK19) and the even lighter, magazine-fed QLZ87 
which is available bipod or tripod mounted and weighs only 44 lbs with a 
tripod, 26½ lbs on a bipod.  
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The  most  interesting  weapon  using  the  35  x  32SR  round  is  the 
lightweight semi-automatic QLZ87B (now known as QLB06), which has 
a 1,000m range against area targets and 600m against point targets. 
This offers a combination of firepower, range and light weight (only 9.1 
kg  -  20  lbs  empty)  not  approached  by  anything  except  the  RAG-30. 
Much is said about achieving "overmatch" over potential opponents, and 
this  weapon  provides  an  example  of  what  that  means  in  portable 
grenade launchers. The QLZ87 and QLB06 seem to have been widely 
distributed to third-world countries since they have been spotted in Africa 
(in  Sudan,  Chad  and  Uganda)  and  the  Middle  East  (in  the  hands  of 
Syrian insurgents) as well as South America, so NATO troops may well 
be on the receiving end of their fire in future conflicts.  
 
The table above provides the basic data for the Russian 40mm low-
velocity caseless VOG-25, the high-velocity 30mm VOG-17, the Chinese 
35mm low-velocity DFS10 and their 35mm high-velocity DF87 series. 
The recoil figures quoted are calculated on the same basis as for the 
NATO grenades in the table shown earlier, in which you may recall that 
the  40mm  HV  round  developed  a  recoil  energy  figure  of  17.6, 
significantly  greater  than  either  the  Russian  or  Chinese  high-velocity 
rounds, which makes it much more difficult for shoulder-fired launchers 
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Description:Anthony G Williams. This article is based on various presentations given in 2013-15 and on articles published in Jane's International Defence Review (November. 2013) and in Small Arms Defense Journal (Vol.7 No.1). Grenade launchers and their ammunition are currently experiencing the fastest and