A story about the best automatic grenade launchers would be incomplete without mentioning Russian weapons. At one time, the Soviet automatic easel grenade launcher AGS-17 "Flame" was sold all over the planet in huge numbers. This model was in service with the armies of most post-Soviet countries, as well as the DPRK, India, Serbia, Cuba, Iran, Finland and other states. The successor to the renowned automatic grenade launcher is the second generation Russian automatic grenade launcher AGS-30.
AGS-30 is the development of specialists of the Instrument-Making Design Bureau (KBP), famous in our country and in the world, from Tula. It was created in the first half of the 90s of the last century. The grenade launcher was put into service in 1995.
Like its foreign "colleagues", this grenade launcher is intended for direct fire support of infantry, airborne units and army special forces units directly on the battlefield. AGS-30 easily copes with enemy manpower and various types of unarmored equipment located in open positions, including in trenches and open trenches, and it can also be used to effectively hit the enemy, hiding on the opposite slopes of heights or in the folds of the terrain.
In the army of the Russian Federation, AGS-30 replaced the Soviet automatic grenade launcher AGS-17 "Flame", which was created in the late 1960s and in 1971 was officially adopted by the Soviet Army. Serial production of a new 30-mm automatic grenade launcher for a 30x29 mm grenade launcher was carried out in the Kirov region at the Vyatka-Polyanskiy machine-building plant "Molot". The development of the grenade launcher began after the Soviet Union received a sufficient amount of intelligence information and data on the use of such weapons by the Americans in Vietnam. It was during the Vietnam War that the combat debut of the 40-mm automatic Mk.19 mod.0 automatic grenade launcher took place. At the same time, in the West, without much enthusiasm, they received the information that automatic grenade launchers AGS-17 began to enter the armament of Soviet motorized rifle units in the 1970s. The full-fledged combat debut of this Soviet weapon novelty fell on the Afghan war.
AGS-17 in Afghanistan
Despite the fact that the novelty from the Tula gunsmiths satisfied the demands of the military, the automatic grenade launcher had its own obvious drawbacks. The main one was its weight, which limited the mobility of the crew and the mobility of grenade launchers in combat conditions. It was the tasks of weight loss that were considered as priorities when modernizing weapons that were generally successful. The work, begun in the second half of the 1980s, logically ended in 1995, when a new automatic heavy-duty grenade launcher AGS-30 was adopted by the Russian army, which, according to the assurances of KBP representatives, stands out among competitors with a record low weight along with the machine.
Indeed, the automatic grenade launcher of the second generation AGS-30 together with the machine weighs only 16.5 kg (without sight and box with shots), which makes it more mobile and more effective in real combat conditions. Due to the reduction in body weight of the grenade launcher and the machine, it became possible to transport it with just one number of the crew. Small dimensions, low weight, a specially developed design of the tripod machine - this is what provides the grenade launcher not only with a high level of mobility and the ability to quickly change the calculation of the firing position, but also the secrecy of placing the grenade launcher on the ground. If necessary, the shooter can easily independently move the grenade launcher in a combat position to a new position and immediately open fire, this is especially important when conducting mobile street battles to provide constant fire support for forward units.
As the developers note, the decrease in the mass of the complex did not entail any deterioration in performance, the grenade launcher became only more convenient and easier to operate. The lightweight tripod machine developed for it allows achieving good stability of the weapon when firing from any ground, which allows you to effectively use the grenade launcher when firing at the enemy even from unprepared positions. On the tripod machine itself, the designers placed the mechanisms responsible for the vertical and horizontal guidance of the weapon. Fire control from AGS-30 is carried out using two horizontal handles and a trigger. The grenade launcher is cocked using a lever mechanism and is provided at all elevation angles of the weapon without changing the position of the shooter.
Automatic easel grenade launcher of the second generation AGS-30
The key to the success of Russian weapons is often simple design. This statement is also true for the AGS-30 grenade launcher. The work of its automation is based on the principle of using the energy of the rollback of the free shutter. The power of the automatic grenade launcher is tape, shots of 30x29 mm caliber are loaded into a cartridge tape, which is placed in a cartridge box, the latter is attached to the body of the grenade launcher on the right side of the receiver. With intensive firing, the shooter can fire up to 180 shots without any consequences, after which the rifled barrel of the grenade launcher needs to be cooled, or it is replaced with a spare barrel. The barrel is cooled by air, if necessary, the barrel can be cooled by pouring water over it. Standard sighting devices AGS-30 are optical and mechanical, for firing it is the PAG-17 optical sight with a magnification of 2, 7 that is most often used. The optical sight, which is suitable for firing at long distances, is mounted on the receiver of the grenade launcher on its left side. In addition, a radar sight can be used to conduct aimed fire from weapons in the absence of optical visibility, as well as to monitor the situation and the battlefield with the AGS-30.
For firing from the AGS-30 grenade launcher, the crew can use both ammunition from the previous grenade launcher - VOG-17 and VOG-17M, as well as new VOG-30 and GPD-30 grenades specially designed for it, which are distinguished by increased combat effectiveness. New shots are certainly an important feature of this grenade launcher. The second generation grenade VOG-30 was created by the specialists of the FSUE FNPC "Pribor". The technology for the production of the body of the new ammunition, in which the cold deformation method is used, makes it possible to form a grid of semi-finished rectangular striking elements on the inner surface of the grenade. According to the developers' assurances, the use of a new design of the grenade body makes it possible to press the explosives directly into the ammunition body, increasing the filling factor by 1, 1 times. At the same time, in the aggregate, the effective area of fragmentation damage was increased by more than 1.5 times compared to the first generation ammunition, including the standard NATO M384 fragmentation ammunition of 40x53 mm caliber. With a shot mass of 350 grams, VOG-30 provides an effective area of damage of 110 square meters.
Automatic easel grenade launcher of the second generation AGS-30
Especially for the AGS-30 automatic grenade launcher, the GPD-30 high-explosive fragmentation round of increased efficiency was created, this grenade differs in a slightly lower weight - 340 grams, but at the same time the area of fragmentation of targets was brought to 130.5 square meters. The designers have successfully solved the problem of increasing the area of fragmentation damage to enemy infantry, including in bulletproof vests, modern helmets and other personal protective equipment, comprehensively due to the optimization of the average mass of fragments formed during the explosion, increasing the angles and speed of their dispersal, using explosives in ammunition in a larger volume and with a more pronounced high-explosive effect. At the same time, the drag coefficient of the grenade and its ballistic coefficient were significantly improved (reduced by 1, 8 times). This made it possible to bring the maximum firing range to the required 2200 meters (for VOG-17 and VOG-30 shots - no more than 1700 meters). At the same time, it was also possible to achieve an increase in the accuracy of fire at once by 1, 4 times both in range and in lateral deviation. Both types of shots are equipped with reliable instantaneous fuses. Fuses are responsible for the guaranteed operation of ammunition when meeting with any obstacles, including on the water surface and on the snow. For the safety of the shooter, all VOG grenades are cocked at a distance of 10-60 meters from the AGS-30 muzzle.
Compared to the previous generation AGS-17 grenade launcher, the new AGS-30 automatic grenade launcher has really grown significantly. AGS-17 together with the machine weighed almost twice as much - 30 kg. In this regard, the Russian easel automatic grenade launcher is really unique. But here we should not forget that all modern automatic grenade launchers in service with NATO countries are designed for more powerful ammunition - 40x53 mm. This standardized pomegranate is produced today in at least 12 countries around the world. At the same time, the most advanced MK47 mod.0 automatic grenade launcher of American production weighs 41 kg with a machine tool and an aiming system, it is at least twice as heavy as the AGS-30 with a machine tool, but at the same time it has great power (in comparison with the VOG-17 and VOG -17M) and a wide variety of rounds of shots, which additionally includes not only armor-piercing grenades that can hit lightly armored targets, but also modern programmable ammunition with remote detonation in the air.
Advantages of the GPD-30 shot over the VOG-30
At the same time, the 40-mm automatic grenade launcher itself could appear in the USSR even before the start of World War II. Prototypes of a magazine-fed automatic grenade launcher (for 5 shots) designed by Yakov Grigorievich Taubin were tested in the second half of the 1930s. For firing, grenades of 40, 8 mm caliber were used, created on the basis of a standard rifle grenade of the Dyakonov system. Of the positive aspects during the tests, the military highlighted the fact that at a distance of 1100-1200 meters, such a grenade provided shrapnel covering two recumbent and six standing targets at once. At the same time, 2-3 lethal fragments fell into each of the targets. On this, the positive moments from acquaintance with the miracle weapon ended. The automatic grenade launcher was damp, not reliable enough, gave very frequent misfires, which caused rejection from the leadership of the Red Army. In fairness, it is worth noting that the level of Soviet industry at the end of the 1930s would hardly have allowed such weapons to be brought to mind and put into production. It is no coincidence that the first automatic grenade launchers appeared in the United States only 30 years later, while humanity had already flown into space and the level of development of industrial production was at a completely different level.
At the same time, Russia has its own 40-mm automatic grenade launcher, this is the AGS-40 "Balkan", which was developed by the specialists of the FSUE GNPP "Pribor". The weapon has gone through a difficult and painful development path; work has been going on since the early 1990s. The model is produced in small batches, but has not been officially adopted into service. The use of new 40-mm caseless ammunition allowed the designers to achieve a maximum firing range of up to 2500 meters, while, according to the developers, the effectiveness of hitting targets using the new grenade launcher system is twice as high as the existing AGS-17 "Flame" and AGS-30 systems. If we talk about the weight of the new automatic grenade launcher, then it is comparable to foreign counterparts: the body of a grenade launcher with a sight and a tripod is 32 kg, a box for 20 shots is 14 kg. It only remains to hope that soon the line of Russian automatic grenade launchers in service will be replenished with the AGS-40 model. In the meantime, the military, most likely, are fully satisfied with the existing grenade launcher systems.
Automatic easel grenade launcher of the second generation AGS-30
The performance characteristics of AGS-30:
Caliber - 30 mm.
Grenade - 30x29 mm.
Overall dimensions (with a tripod machine) - 1165x735x490 mm.
Weight without ammunition box and sight - 16, 5 kg.
Rate of fire - up to 400 rds / min.
The initial speed of the grenade is 185 m / s.
The capacity of the ammunition box is 30 shots.
Sighting range - up to 1700 m (shots VOG-17, VOG-17M and VOG-30), up to 2200 m (shots GPD-30).
Calculation - two people.
