AGS-40 grenade launcher - Oboronexpo2014part4-46

AGS‑40 Balkan is a Russian 40 mm

caseless Caseless ammunition (CL), or rather caseless cartridge, is a configuration of weapon-cartridge that eliminates the cartridge case that typically holds the primer, propellant and projectile together as a unit. Instead, the propellant and primer ...

automatic grenade launcher and successor to

AGS-17 The AGS-17 Plamya (Russian: Пламя; ''Flame'') is a Soviet-designed automatic grenade launcher in service worldwide. Description The AGS-17 is a heavy infantry support weapon designed to operate from a tripod or mounted on an installation or ...

and

AGS-30 The AGS-30 ''Atlant'' is a Russian automatic grenade launcher currently in production in Russia and in service with the Russian armed forces. Description Designed on the basis of AGS-17, the AGS-30 provides better mobility, longer range and be ...

, introduced and adopted by the Russian military.

Design

The AGS-40 uses 40 mm CL (

) grenades with a range of 2,500 m (compared to the 30 mm grenades with range 1,700 for AGS-17 and 2,100 for AGS-30) and a rate of fire of 400 rounds per minute, with short burst (5 rounds), long burst (10 rounds), and continuous fire modes. The weapon is usually equipped with a

tripod A tripod is a portable three-legged frame or stand, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. The three-legged (triangular stance) design provides good stability against gravitational loads ...

and a PAG-17 2.7×

telescopic sight A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope informally, is an optical sighting device based on a refracting telescope. It is equipped with some form of a referencing pattern – known as a ''reticle'' – mounted in a focally appropriate po ...

; it can also have back-up

iron sights Iron sights are a system of physical alignment markers (usually made of metallic material) used as a sighting device to assist the accurate aiming of ranged weapons (such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow or even compound bow), or less commonly ...

installed. A unique feature of the AGS-40 is a detachable seat that allows for more stable shooting using the weight of an operator.

Ammunition

Caseless Caseless ammunition (CL), or rather caseless cartridge, is a configuration of weapon-cartridge that eliminates the cartridge case that typically holds the primer, propellant and projectile together as a unit. Instead, the propellant and primer ...

high-explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

-fragmentation 40 mm 7P39 grenades. * 7P39P and 7P39U practice rounds

Development

Development of the AGS-40 started in 1980 but stalled after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and the subsequent economic decline in Russia. However, the project was revived in the early 1990s under the codename "Balkan", and was put into operational evaluation in 2018. State tests were successfully completed and the weapon was recommended for introduction into service as of March 2021. The first serial batch was delivered in January 2022. AGS-40 can be installed on armored vehicles. The AGS-40 can be integrated with Kalashnikov MBDU

remote weapon station A remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), or remote weapon station (RWS), also known as a remote weapon system (RWS), is a remotely operated weaponized system often equipped with fire-control system for light and medium- caliber weapons which c ...

Users

References

{{Reflist Grenade launchers of Russia Automatic grenade launchers Caseless firearms Tecmash Military equipment introduced in the 2010s

Design

Ammunition

Development

Users

See also

References