GP-25
The GP-30 Obuvka, GP-25 Kostyor and BG-15 Mukha are Russian under barrel grenade launchers for the AK- series assault rifle. They were first seen by the west in 1984 during the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. The initial version was designated BG-15 and was fitted under the barrel of AK-74 assault rifles. The main production version, the GP-25 has a different sighting system. The latest version, the GP-30 is an evolved version of the GP-25, being lighteer, easier to make, and easier to use.
Development[]
Development of the weapon began in 1966 at the Sporting and Hunting Armys Central Design and Research Bureau. Development continued into the 1970s, and in 1978 it was accepted into service. The GP-30 first entered service in 1989, and is intended for use with the AK-100 series of assault rifles. The newest version is now the GP-34.
An AN-94 equipped with a GP-25 grenade launcher.
Description[]
The grenade launchers are similar in appearance and fire the same 40mm diameter ammunition and use the same High-Low System developed by Germany in late World War II to keep recoil forces low without a rocket or other type of recoilless weapon backblast.
The GP-30 is a stripped-down model grenade launcher, consisting of a very short, 40mm rifled barrel in front of a basic trigger mechanism with minimal hand grip. On top of the barrel is mounting gear to attach the weapon under the barrel of an AK-series assault rifle, where it is designed to be fired from.
A grenade is first muzzle loaded into the barrel, the weapon is aimed, and then the self cocking trigger is pulled to fire the weapon. This fires the percussion cap at the base of the grenade which triggers the nitrocellulose propellant inside the body of the grenade. The hot expanding gases from the propellant is foced through the vents in the base of the grenade that move the grenade along the barrel, and at the same time force the driving band to engage with the twelve rifling grooves. The rifling imparts stabilizing spin to the projectile.
The barrel has a life of about 400 rounds.
Ammunition[]
The grenade launchers fire a series of special 40mm grenades. Originally the main grenade was the VOG-15 fragmentation grenade. This was superceded by the steel cased VOG-25 fragmentation grenade.The VOG-25 has a 6 meter lethality radius.
A bouncing grenade, the VOG-25P, is also available. On impact a small charge in the nose of the grenade is detonated which raises the grenade 0.5 to 1.5 meters in the air, before an impact delay fuse detonates it. The VOG-25P also has a 6 meter lethality radius.
Smoke grenades are also available-initially a grenade called GRD-40. This has been replaced by a series of smoke grenades designed for use at different ranges called GRD-50, GRD-100 and GRD-200 for use at 50, 100, and 200 meters respectively. They are capable of producing a 20 square meter cloud of smoke that lasts for one minute in winds up to five meters per second.
A CS gas grenade called the Gvozd and a baton grenade are also available.