New Grenades
The Army has officially adopted the M111 (and it’s practice counterpart the M112). May not sound terribly significant, but they are the first lethal hand grenades adopted since 1968.
As many know, our standard M67 grenade works pretty well as a fragmentation grenade. Pull the pin, four-ish seconds later it goes ‘splodey, and sends out shards of metal in pretty much every direction. Basic, simple stuff. Unless you have to use it indoors, within the blast radius of the fragments. Fragments can get deflected, go in odd directions, through thin walls – not as much fun, right?
“One of the key lessons learned from the door-to-door urban fighting in Iraq was that the M67 grenade wasn’t always the right tool for the job,” said Col. Vince Morris, project manager for Close Combat Systems at the Capabilities Program Executive Ammunition and Energetics. “The risk of fratricide on the other side of the wall was too high.”
The M111 addresses that problem head-on. Blast overpressure radiates through enclosed space and cannot be stopped by interior walls the way fragmentation can, creating lethal effects that reach every corner of a room. The M67 is not going away, Morris said. In open terrain, soldiers will continue to use it to maximize lethal fragment effects. The two grenades are designed to complement each other.
Probably my favorite paragraph from the article follows:
The M111 formally replaces the Mk3A2 offensive hand grenade, a concussion-type weapon that entered service alongside the M67 in 1968. Unlike the M67, which remains in the active inventory, the Mk3A2 was long ago restricted from use because its body contains asbestos. The M111 uses a plastic body that is fully consumed during detonation, eliminating the health hazard.
Has there ever been a case of mesothelioma reported in someone sharing a room with an exploding grenade? (“Call Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe for action!”)
Okay, I know, walking into a cloud of asbestos particles to confirm cleared rooms repeatedly won’t do anyone any good… but it still sounds like an odd worry.
Back to the M-67, it replaced the M-33 and M-26 predecessors and has been in constant use since 1968, an eternity in weaponry terms.
Its steel body contains 6.5 ounces of Composition B explosive, a mixture of RDX and TNT. It has a lethal radius of 5 meters, a casualty-producing radius of 15 meters and fragments capable of reaching 230 meters. In more than 55 years of continuous service it has been used in every major American conflict from Southeast Asia through Afghanistan and Iraq.
230 meters? Yeah, that sheet rock wall is not going to provide much peace of mind. At least the training curve should be short – the M-111 uses the same 5 step arming process, so in theory any trained soldier can use one or the other without having to remember which is which.
This was a lesson the Russians learned over forty years ago, and they adopted different grenades in the mid ’80s.
The RGN offensive grenade kept the fragmentation radius limited, protecting the assaulting soldier. The RGO defensive grenade was built to saturate open ground with fragments from a covered position. Both used the same dual-function fuze that could detonate on contact or trigger automatically at four seconds, eliminating the delay problem entirely. Military.com
Note the M-111 supplements the M-67, not replaces it. Think of them as – well, using your indoor voice or your outdoor voice. Indoor grenades vs. outdoor grenades.
Category: Army, Science and Technology
It soothes my heart to know that hand grenades are being developed that are eliminating HEALTH HAZARDS!
The Healthy hand grenade goes above or below the Holy hand grenade of Antioch on the list of splodey things?
Below. Nothing goes above the Holy hand grenade of Antioch, except those whom the Lord decides should snuff it when it ‘splodes.
I don’t know. M67s, flashbangs, and ninebangers did the job well enough.
I am not sure the new M111 is a good idea.
But ok.
Would be cool if a standard frag had a removable frag sleeve. Soldiers assemble boom or boom plus shred depending on mission. Maybe with a dual time-impact selectable fuse.
Legoboom. Build your excitement.
Nah. Makes too much sense.
Well, it doesn’t have asbestos in it, so it’s a lot safer.
Yup!
Apparently after he started shooting, an ROTC student in the class stabbed him top death… BZ Cadet!
Ah, todays news on the radio that the surviving students jumped the perp and took care of business but a knife wasn’t mentioned. I figured that they kicked the shit out of him untill he was at room temp.
Side note, I woudn’t be suprised if the Virginia A-Hole gov. Jails the student for not having a knife and an excesive use of force charge /SARC
NOT having a knife?
(oh-dark-too-damn-early, not finished caffeine imbibement yet. what am I missing?)
I made the not having a knife correction right above your reply T D B W, Don’t know how I did that, Maybe age generated.
Side note, I woudn’t be suprised if the Virginia A-Hole gov. Jails the student for USING a knife and an excesive use of force charge /SARC
Get some!
Aloha wormfood
Prepare.
Time to make sure you are always strapped and maintaining awareness of your surroundings. Especially near Synogues and Churches.
and schools and colleges. It is our future they wish to kill; because they have none.
In colonial times Massachusetts it was mandatory to carry a weapon (including to church) unless one was a slave, a native, or a Catholic. The last time I was in the Bay State, I amazed my old friends by mentioning I own rifles. Any talk of hand guns would have had them clutching their pearls and catching the vapors.
Smith & Wesson needs to move the last of their operations outta that state. I think they still have their revolver production there.
When we switched over to the S&W Mod 4046 .40, 2 of our gun custodians and trainers went up to S&W to learn how to deal with our new model which we received right after 9/11, and our gun custodian goes up to S&W for a week if I remember and after coming back, he tells me that it was a learning experiance with “students” with hands inside carboard boxes working on their handguns and springs flying all over the place. I think Remington Arms have moved from NY State to a gun friendly state of Georgaor half of the company moved. I didn’t check it out on the PC.
I’m gonna guess the M112 practice grenade is the blue one.
But hey, it’s just a guess….
Pull the pin and drop it at your feet. It’s the only way to be sure.
If you blow up the photo they are labeled for your convenience. Very considerate of ’em.
Looks like an old cone-top beer can that I used to collect as a kid….
Who da f*ck decided to make a hand grenade body with asbestos?!
They look like some stylized can for an energy drink some vet bro drink company would make.
Fun story, I took part in the invasion waaaaaay back in 2003. We were all issued 2 grenades. Didn’t have a opportunity to throw one, but saw my fellow team leader throw one into a buried connex at the airport. I watched him pop the spoon, count three and toss it in. I was still counting in my head and I got to 10 and no boom. I turned to my squad leader and he had this confused look on his face. Right about then it blew. Turns out, all the grenades we had been issued from the prepo stock had looooooong fuses. Day or two later, they came around and took all of our grenades away from us. Well, better than short fuses I guess.
same reasoning as eliminating lead from road use paint. No one licks it. It doesnt become airborn. And the paint lasts and is more reflective
both of my sons were in Basic Training with women who could not throw a hand grenade far enough to keep from killing themselves.