Impaired version. As a Carl Gustaf grenade launcher proved efficiency in the Armed Forces
Western countries have exported many types of anti -tank weapons to Ukraine. One of the most famous is the free Carl Gustaf gun, developed by the Swedish company SAAB. The development of Carl Gustaf began immediately after the Second World War. During this conflict, the American Basket and the German "Panzershrek" showed how effective the light anti -tank weapons in the hands of infantry could be.
Saab developed a project of a non-exclusive grenade launcher capable of shooting 84 mm anti-tank ammunition. The action of non -exclusive guns is based on the principle of counteracting equal but mutually opposite forces. In this case, the weapon releases from its back a charge of gas at the time of departure of the projectile to significantly reduce the return. This allows small and lightweight weapons to shoot heavy shells.
Reducing the size and weight of the starting installation is extremely important for light infantry, and a large projectile makes it effective against modern armored vehicles. During the second half of the XX century, Saab continued to improve its original design, releasing the M2 model in 1964, and in the 1980s-M3. The grenade launcher was a great success during the crisis in the Congo in the 1960s and returned to life during the war in Afghanistan in the 2010s.
In the course of this conflict, US infantry commanders found that they could not adequately respond to the Taliban attacks with the RPG. These attacks often occurred when the infantry was out of transport and had no access to their support. Although the US special purpose forces have used Carl Gustaf M3 since the 1990s, the regular army needed something easier and cheaper than hand weapons such as M72 LAW and M136 AT4 that they have to damage the targets at a distance of shot with RPG.
In 2014, the purchase of M3 was funded from the budget, and by 2015 the Pentagon equipped all infantry platoons at least one M3. In 2017, the United States purchased a new M4 starting unit. It received the M3E1 designation, became 3. 4 kg lighter and almost a meter shorter, which greatly facilitates its use in limited space, such as in urban areas.
In addition to fugas anti-tank shells, Gustaf can shoot air-fugitive ammunition on the troops, which are in shelters, flashted troops in the open terrain, lighting shells for night operations and smoke for hidden movement. This set of ammunition makes the gun ideal for light infantry formations that perform many tasks. The latest iteration of these weapons is M4.
According to Army Technology, "Carl-Gustaf M4 is flexibly combined with various available and promising types of ammunition, including anti-tank, pugs, multifaceted, anti-duplic, as well as auxiliary shells, such as smoke. By giving the dealer soldiers expanded opportunities. Since the invasion of Russia in 2022, Ukrainian Armed Forces have successfully organized ambushes and attacks on Russian armored vehicles with light infantry with anti -tank weapons.
Western countries have sent several types of weapons to Ukraine, including US Javelin and British NLAW. Although both of these systems are very effective against tanks, Carl Gustaf has an additional advantage - a large selection of ammunition. Maya Carlin is the author of national security articles in The National Interest, the analytics of the Security Policy Center and a former Anna Sobol-Levi researcher at IDC Duchy in Israel.