AGS-17

AGS-17 Plamya

AGS-17 mounted on tripod.
Type Automatic Grenade Launcher
Place of origin Soviet Union
Service history
In service 1970s-present
Used by See Users
Wars Soviet War in Afghanistan
First Chechen War
Second Chechen War
Syrian Civil War
War in Donbass
Production history
Designer KBP Instrument Design Bureau
Designed 1967
Manufacturer Molot plant
Variants AG-17A helicopter-mounted version
Specifications
Weight 31 kg
Length 840 mm
Cartridge 30×29mm grenade
Caliber 30 mm
Action Blowback
Rate of fire 400 round/min
Muzzle velocity 185 m/s
Effective firing range 1,700 m
Feed system 29 grenades belt
Sights Adjustable iron sights, optional mount required for optical sights
AGS-17 in Afghanistan. 1986

The AGS-17 Plamya (Russian: Пламя; Flame) is a Soviet-designed automatic grenade launcher in service worldwide.

Description

The AGS-17 is a heavy infantry support weapon designed to operate from a tripod or mounted on an installation or vehicle. The AGS-17 fires 30 mm grenades in either direct or indirect fire to provide suppressive and lethal fire support against soft skinned or fortified targets.

The weapon uses a blowback mechanism to sustain operation. Rounds are fired through a removable (to reduce barrel stress) rifled barrel.

The standard metal ammunition box contains 30 linked rounds.

The tripod is equipped with fine levelling gear for indirect fire trajectories.

Development

Development of the AGS-17 (Avtomaticheskiy Granatomyot Stankovyi - Automatic Grenade launcher, Mounted) started in the USSR in 1967 by the OKB-16 design bureau (now known as the KBP Instrument Design Bureau, located in the city of Tula). Most probably its development was inspired by the Sino-Soviet border conflict of the late 1960s, as well as initial experience with several US automatic grenade launchers, learned from Vietnamese troops who were often on the receiving end of these weapons.

It was thought that an automatic grenade launcher would be one of the most effective infantry support weapons against typical Chinese "human wave" attacks. This lightweight weapon was to provide infantry with close to medium range fire support against enemy personnel and unarmored targets. like trucks, half-tracks, jeeps and sandbag-protected machine-gun nests. The first prototypes of the new weapon entered trials in 1969, with mass production commencing in 1971. Never used against the Chinese, the AGS-17 was widely operated and well liked by Soviet troops in Afghanistan as a ground support weapon or as a vehicle weapon on improvised mounts installed on armored personnel carriers and trucks.

At the same time, a special airborne version of the AGS-17 was developed for installation on Mi-24 Hind gunship helicopters.

It is still in use with the Russian army as a direct fire support weapon for infantry troops; it is also installed in several vehicle mounts and turrets along with machine guns, guided rocket launchers and sighting equipment. A special airborne version, the AG-17A, was installed on the door mounts of several Mil Mi-8 Hip combat transport helicopters and on gun pods used in late model Mi-24 Hind gunships; this weapon had a thick aluminium jacket on the barrel and used a special mount and an electric remotely controlled trigger. It is being replaced by the AGS-30 launcher, (using the same ammunition, this weapon weighs only 16 kg unloaded on the tripod and has an upgraded blowback action).

Ammunition

The AGS-17 fires 30×29 caliber (belted) cartridges with a steel cartridge case. Two types of ammunition are commonly fired from the AGS-17. The VOG-17M is the version of the original 30 mm grenade ammunition, which is currently available and has a basic high explosive fragmentation warhead. The VOG-30 is similar, but contains a better explosive filling and an enhanced fragmentation design that greatly increases the effective blast radius.

The Bulgarian weapons manufacturer Arcus produces AR-ROG hand grenades based on VOG-17 cartridges and UZRGM (Russian: УЗРГМ), which is also a Soviet design of fuse.[1]

Users

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AGS-17.
  1. ↑ "Arcus AR-ROG defensive hand grenade (Bulgaria), Grenades - Hand". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). ISBN 978-0-7106-2869-5.
  3. 1 2 "A new generation of AGLs: within only a few decades the Automatic Grenade Launcher (AGL) has leapt from the concept stage to becoming a widely accepted and valued infantry support weapon, providing the foot soldier with a highly effective area fire suppression system.". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "Armament of the Georgian Army". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  6. ↑ https://fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/nkor.pdf
  7. ↑ На границе Джобара и Замальки | At the border of Jobar and Zamalka. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "Vcvikov tde v Prpore vcviku Martin". Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Vietnam made groove machine guns against the "wave people" (in Vietnamese)

Koll, Christian (2009). Soviet Cannon - A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm. Austria: Koll. p. 239. ISBN 978-3-200-01445-9. 

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