Land Warfare 2007: More firepower for the infantry

1 October 2007

By Tom Muir

Recent lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan have highlighted the value of both indirect and direct fire support weapons; Army’s next battlefield weapons purchase will be a new direct-fire 40mm weapon.

The Australian Army's ongoing quest for more firepower will see the introduction of more effective indirect fire capabilities under current plans to acquire new long range artillery systems.

But direct fire capabilities are also under the spotlight, encouraged by operational lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the need to equip combat manoeuvre support companies within infantry battalions under the Infantry 2012 concept.

The earlier acquisition of the Javelin direct fire guided missile (DFGM) and the current introduction into service of the lighter, harder hitting M3 version of the 84mm Carl Gustav anti-armour weapon, is soon to be followed by the planned acquisition of modern automatic grenade launchers to equip infantry battalions and some vehicles.

The procurement of Javelin was primarily designed to allow the Army to defeat a modern, well-equipped armoured threat and the system provides a credible and lethal stand-off 'fire-and-forget' technology.

For operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Australian Special Forces are equipped with Javelin, which has been described as an invaluable weapon in defeating armoured adversaries and reinforced positions.

While primarily designed for use against armour, Javelin is increasingly being employed in a direct-fire support or assault role in the urban battlespace.

However, due to the cost of the missile, the use of Javelin is reserved for high value targets such as MBTs and the weapon will not be issued as a matter of course to the manoeuvre support companies equipped with a range of direct and indirect fire support weapons.

An Australian SME has already won a contract under Project Land 40 Ph.1 to provide mobility support to Light Infantry Battalions that don’t have organic transport to move the Javelin crew, personal equipment, the Command Launch Unit and first line ammunition around.

The next Direct Fire Support Weapon (DFSW) layer of capability is provided by the 84mm Bofors Carl Gustav, a medium-range anti-armour weapon effective against light armour and fortified bunkers at ranges up to 700 metres.

The lighter (10.75 kg) M3 version, now being introduced, is capable of utilising a variety of ammunition types and it can also be fitted with an image intensifier providing night capability.

A good step below the Carl Gustav is the 66mm M72A6 LAW, now largely superseded by more modern and effective variants of the shoulder-fired ATW. However, even this largely superseded weapon is again finding favour for close-quarters combat in urban surroundings.

LWAGL requirement
Under Land 40 Phase 2 Defence is seeking to acquire a DFSW capability for each Australian Regular Army (ARA) infantry battalion (in addition to the Javelin DF Guided Missile system secured under Phase 1).

As part of this requirement, an RFT was recently released for the provision of 60 Lightweight Automatic Grenade Launchers (LWAGL) with an option to subsequently purchase up to 90 additional units.

The successful contractor will need to provide up to 10 years support for the weapon systems.

According to the RFT two short-listed tenderers will be required to provide four LWAGL as tender samples, including documentation and familiarisation training for purchase by Defence to enable technical and user evaluation of the tendered systems during the tender evaluation period.

The automatic grenade launcher, which has not been widely employed in the ADF, despite being a considerable weapon in its own right, is now likely to be adopted as the next, lower DFSW layer and issued to DFSW Platoons in manoeuvre support companies in all Regular Army infantry battalions.

According to the RFT, Land 40 Ph.2 will provide a LWAGL to enhance infantry battalions’ direct firepower in the conduct of close combat. Provision includes the ARA Light Infantry Battalions 1, 2 and 3 RAR, the ARA Mechanised Battalion 5/7 RAR and the ARA Motorised Battalion 6 RAR.

Direct fire support is the essential element in the effective prosecution of close combat operations. In the past there has been a lack of dedicated direct fire assets with the necessary range and effect to adequately support manoeuvre at infantry battalion and company group level.

A gap to be filled
To conduct effective close combat operations, direct fire weapon systems are required to neutralise, suppress or destroy designated targets to a range of at least 2,000m.

This is to allow manoeuvre groups to close with the enemy in the assault or to prevent the enemy from either closing with or standing off and engaging the company in defence.

Currently the Mk-19 Mod-3 automatic grenade launcher (AGL) a heavy (33 kg) but man-portable crew-served weapon, is in limited service with the ADF where it is employed by Special Forces.

It can be fired from a tripod but, due to its weight, it is more usually fired from a vehicle mount. In current service, it is mounted on some ASLAVS and Perenties as alternatives to the M2A2 .50 cal heavy machine gun (which has a similar effective range).

The Mk 19 fires 40mm grenades at up to 375 rounds a minute, giving a rapid fire rate of 60 rounds a minute. The weapon has a maximum range of 2km and in addition to its anti-armour and anti-vehicle capabilities, it is especially lethal against enemy troops in the open.

Operation from vehicles
According to the Land 40 RFT requirements, the grenade launcher must be suitable for integration onto military vehicles with the following listed as under consideration for such integration:
• M113 AS4 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC)
• Land 121 Direct Fire Support Weapon (DFSW) variant (not yet selected)
• Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicle (IMV) - Direct Fire Support Weapon (DFSW) version
• Project REDFIN patrol vehicle

Importantly, the LWAGL will need to be operated from a Remote Weapon Station (RWS) and tenderers will need to provide evidence of any LWAGL integration with remote weapon stations.

The LWAGL (with suitable modifications) will have to provide safe operation when fitted to a Kongsberg (Protector) Remote Weapon Station and installed on the Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAV) without degradation in weapon performance.

Likely contenders
There are a number of 40mm AGL systems of various weights on the market and it’s possible that one of the principal contenders for the Land 40 Ph.2 requirement will be the lightweight successor to the in-service Mk-19, produced by General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products.

General Dynamics Mk-47 LAGL
The Mk-47 is a lightweight (18 kg) portable, 40mm grenade machine gun with an advanced sight and fire control system that combine to give the gunner a high probability of first round target hits. Unlike the Mk-19, which achieves a higher rate of fire through its simple blow-back operation, the Mk-47 employs a long recoil operating system which provides for the compact gun body, lighter weight and better portability.

With a firing rate of 225 - 300 rpm the Mk-47 is claimed to achieve a 90 per cent hit rate on the first round. Some of the weapon’s features include a video-sighting system, laser range finder and electronic elevation mechanism.

Due to its closed bolt operation the Mk-47 would seem to have an advantage in desert-type operations particularly when mounted on open vehicles favoured by Australian Special Forces such as the Perenties or the soon-to-be introduced Narys from Supacat. The weapon is already integrated into the Kongsberg and Recon Optical remote weapon systems.

Heckler & Koch 40mm GMG
Another contender is sure to be Heckler & Koch's automatic grenade launcher, or grenade machine gun (GMG), developed for the German Army. It fires 40mm grenades at a rate of about 360 rounds per minute.

The GMG is belt-fed and can be loaded from either side, making it ambidextrous. With a variety of sights available (including night-vision and infra red types) the GMG can be used for accurate, long range bombardments in a large number and types of situations.

The HK GMG is in wide use with a number of European forces and US Special Forces, partly replaced their Mk19s with GMGs. Late last year, the British MOD ordered an initial 40 GMGs to be fitted on Land Rovers used by the Royal Marines operating in Afghanistan.

Denel Vektor Y3 AGL
The Vektor Y3 AGL is a South African automatic grenade launcher manufactured by Vektor, a subsidiary of Denel. It fires standard 40 mm grenades at a rate of 280 - 320 rounds per minute.

It can be vehicle mounted using a special bracket or used with a tripod. The weapon (with tripod) is man-portable and operated by a three-man team. It includes both optical and electronic sights, the last incorporating a ballistic computer to determine the launcher's aim taking its position and tilt into account.

Singapore Technologies LWAGL
Designed to meet rapid deployment and quick insertion requirements the new crew-served weapon from ST Kinetics, the 40mm LWAGL, weighs only 14 kilograms, which makes it the lightest 40 mm automatic grenade launcher available. The reduction in weight is due to its thin walled structure based upon durable, lightweight materials such as titanium and others.

It differs also from other AGLs in the design of its low impulse recoil system. Also offered with the LWAGL is a fire control system which combines a 3X optical scope, day and night camera and laser range finder with an ammunition programmer.