Posted on 10/31/2017 5:37:35 PM PDT by Simon Green
The U.S. Army is rushing 1,000 new M3E1 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon Systems, or MAAWS, to Afghanistan, according to Scout Warrior.
The M3E1 is the latest version of the 84mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle that special operations forces have been using since the early 1990s. It’s lighter, shorter and more ergonomically designed.
The Army is fast-tracking acquisition of more than 1,000 upgraded, lightweight shoulder-fired weapons able to destroy enemy targets hidden behind rocks, trees and buildings, service officials told Scout Warrior.
As KitUp previously reported, the Army has approved a requirement for 1,111 M3E1 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon Systems, or MAAWS.
The M3E1 is part of the Product Manager Crew Served Weapons portfolio, which is processing a contract to procure 1,111 M3E1s and an Urgent Material Release to field them as soon as possible.
The service announced in May of 2016 that it planned to permanently assign the devastating anti-armor weapon to infantry platoons.
Army light infantry units began using the M3 in Afghanistan in 2011 when the AT4 proved ineffective. The breech-loading weapon, made by Saab North America, can reach out and hit enemy targets up to 1,000 meters away. The M3 offers the units various types of ammunition, ranging from armor penetration and anti-personnel, to ammunition for built-up areas, as well as special features like smoke and illumination.
I’m pretty sure they could be mounted on a jeep.
“I guess I really am getting old.....”
Me, too. I fired that thing about 47 years ago.
Thanks, I suspected there was a connection.
You know...there are idiots who probably think that’s true.
(I understand you were being sarcastic.)
I was a bubble-bouncer, but lived downstairs from the “Nut Squad”!
I’m pretty sure they could be mounted on a jeep.
“I guess I really am getting old.....”
Me, too. I fired that thing about 47 years ago.
My God I used to hate humpin that old 90 around...
I Agree!
Support your local militia!!!
M3E1 MAAWS: Weight 15 lbs, effective range 1000 meters, penetrates up to 400mm of armor.
Time marches on....
The one I was thinking of was the M40 - 106mm.
It HAD to be on a Jeep.
I thought they had abandon that type of weapon for the sake of all gunners and surrounding friendlies.
I sure wish I could have latched onto an 81mm mortar, on the other hand.
Nothing says peace more than an 84mm recoiless round.
My encounter was familiarization only.
For the field I was issued the usual.
An M16 Mattel Toy and a 1911 sidearm.
Lost hearing for a week after firing 3.5 rocket launcher.
http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/antiarmor/M20.html
Yep! Must have a "No Raghead" button that causes self destructon...
Fired the 90mm RR in 1976 when they were basically being shot out of the inventory as they’d already been pronounced antique.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Gustaf_recoilless_rifle
My Father was a early trainer for this weapon.
He was a member of the 29th Infantry Regiment, originally a training regiment.
When the Korean war started they put them all on a boat and shipped them from Okinawa to Korea and they were the very first reinforcements to land there.
Within the first couple of days, and before they could even sight in their rifles (they were still in cosmoline when issued) they suffered the Hadong Ambush.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadong_Ambush
My Father turned 18 on August 2nd that very same summer, just a little less than a week afterward. In Korea.
According to him, it was the M-1 Garand and the Gustaf Recoiless Rifle that won that conflict and kept them all from dying.
That must have been a real beast. When were you in the Army?
Did you like firing it?
I fired it in 1970 and I think it was on the way out.
The LAW was fun to fire.
All stuff that was once ours and is now killing our warriors.
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