The RGN hand grenade (''Ruchnaya Granata Nastupatel'naya'', "Hand Grenade Offensive") is an offensive

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

fragmentation hand grenade. It consists of a single layered aluminium pre-fragmented body. It is very similar to the defensive

RGO hand grenade The RGO hand grenade (''Ruchnaya Granata Oboronitel'naya'', ("Hand Grenade Defensive")) is a defensive Soviet fragmentation hand grenade. It consists of a double layered steel pre-fragmented body. It is very similar to the single-layered offensive ...

. The grenade shell consists of two internally serrated

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

hemispheres. The UDZS fuze has both impact and time delay functions, the impact fuze arms after a pyrotechnic delay of 1 to 1.8 seconds. If the grenade strikes an object after this time a spherical lead shot filled impact weight will trigger detonation. If the grenade has not struck anything after 3.5 to 4 seconds the second pyrotechnic delay will detonate the grenade. The grenade has a stated lethal radius of 4 meters to a maximum of 10 meters, and a safety radius of 25 meters with the fragments quickly losing effectiveness past the lethal radius due to the aluminum pre-fragmented body, which was designed similarly to the RGN-86 (a variant of the

RGD-5 The RGD-5 (''Ruchnaya Granata Distantsionnaya'', English "Hand Grenade Remote") is a post–World War II Soviet anti-personnel fragmentation grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but ...

). It can be thrown 30 to 40 meters. The grenade is currently in production in Russia and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, and is in service with a number of other countries.

History

The RGN and RGO grenades were developed under Project BAZALT ("Basalt") during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Sovie ...

to supplement the

. When in combat in the mountains Russian troops found their grenades were less effective. The steep terrain often caused grenades to accidentally bounce or roll back towards the thrower's position and cause friendly casualties. The long fuse time allowed the enemy forces to get under cover - or even throw or knock the grenade back if they were lucky. The time delay fuze prevents friendly casualties if it impacts too soon or will air-burst over an enemy under cover if it hadn't impacted after 3.5 to 4 seconds. The impact fuze detonates when it hits any terrain - even sand, snow, or water.

References

* ''Janes Infantry Weapons 1991-1992'', {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Hand grenades of the Soviet Union Fragmentation grenades

History

See also

References