Army Discovers the Carl Gustaf Recoilless Rifle

[Jaywalker]

In September 2017, the Army revealed it was in the process of signing a deal with Swedish defense contractor Saab Bofors Dynamics for more than 1,100 M3E1 recoilless rifles, also known as the Carl Gustaf. In addition, the service was working on making sure that the weapons would get to units as quickly as possible thereafter.

There was no question that the Javelin could take out insurgents behind cover or inside caves, but every shot was costing the Army $80,000. The most expensive 84mm rounds for the Carl Gustaf cost approximately $3,000 each.

It only took a few decades...
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...-gustaf-anyway

[TGS]

It only took a few decades...
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...-gustaf-anyway

The Carl Gustav has been in service with the US Army for decades with the Rangers.

[schüler]

I'm pretty sure the Army has been fielding them for a good while, Rangers especially. But maybe not to regular line units?

Marines more recently adopted it.

[Clusterfrack]

Thermobaric and flechette anti-personnel rounds? Now that's a "weapon of war". Calling an AR-15 that is laughable.

[ranger]

I was talking to a GAARNG LT at the range this weekend and he said they just got some Carl Gustav in. The Army had 90mm recoilless rifles before the Dragon - I think Combat Engineer units had them as well as the Ranger BNs. The 90 RR fired HEAT and Flechette. I fired the 90 recoilless rifle with 1-75th Ranger BN at Ft Stewart GA as a Junior ROTC Cadet (along with lots of other Infantry weapons) one summer. I guess we kids were more mature back then.

[Wake27]

That’s a surprisingly good article. Rangers have had them for a while, in fact the article states since the mid-80s. Line units have been fielded them more recently.


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[Drang]

"The current system that the Army uses is the AT4, which only allows soldiers to fire one shot, and then they have to throw the system away,” Randy Everett, the project manager for Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) at the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, said at the time. “With the M3E1, soldiers can use different types of ammunition which gives them an increased capability on the battlefield.”

My platoon had (IIRC) two crates of AT4s per team. At 4 per crate, that was 40 AT4s. For MI geeks. Who never did a fam fire. ("If you need 'em you'll figure it out...") One AT4 per team, with a bunch of rounds would have been far more practical.

Considering our most likely targets were T62s, I think an 84mm AT round would have sufficed.

[Poconnor]

They never should have gotten rid of the recoiless rifle. I always thought they dumped them because they were too cheap and there wasn’t enough profit it them. I remember sitting in the defense and thinking “we are mechanized infantry” we could keep a a 90 or 105 in each track, a couple cases of ammo and really make some money” my PLT and squad leader were in the Berlin brigade and they loved the 90

[JHC]

I'm pretty sure the Army has been fielding them for a good while, Rangers especially. But maybe not to regular line units?

Marines more recently adopted it.

IDK the big picture but one of my 82nd lads had them on their outposts in AFG last year.

[Jaywalker]

I understand the Army finally buckled on general CG issue due to troops shooting the expensive Javelin at caves, bunkers, windows, etc. - a practice the Brits referred to as "Throwing a Porsche at them."