The M79 Thumper is probably one of the weird looking yet effective nade launchers out there but I doubt the one lugging that around can carry an M16 since the pouches should mostly be occupied by the 40mm nades.
The M79 Thumper is probably one of the weird looking yet effective nade launchers out there but I doubt the one lugging that around can carry an M16 since the pouches should mostly be occupied by the 40mm nades.
I found a picture of the loadout of a soldier who had been assigned the grenade launcher in the Vietnam war. It is pretty much all grenades and not much else. If this girl wanted to carry anything else, it'd have to be on a shoulder sling or something.
I imagine that's kind of why grenade launcher rifles were slowly filtered out by rifles with grenade attachments: So you have a rifleman who can cough out the artillery as needed and still do his job supporting the team in a fight.
I found a picture of the loadout of a soldier who had been assigned the grenade launcher in the Vietnam war. It is pretty much all grenades and not much else. If this girl wanted to carry anything else, it'd have to be on a shoulder sling or something.
I imagine that's kind of why grenade launcher rifles were slowly filtered out by rifles with grenade attachments: So you have a rifleman who can cough out the artillery as needed and still do his job supporting the team in a fight.
Interestingly it also reversed back later with the establishment of the M320. 40mm grenades are a love hate relationship. On one hand they provide that indirect fire in a situation where direct fire isn't effective, but the other hand they have such a small effective kill radius that it practically is a like a direct fire weapon. Compact stand alone devices makes sense as a force multiplier than a primary. Personally, I am in the camp that a 60mm mortar worth lugging than a 40mm grenade, but you cant beat the reactionary speed of a 40mm. I sometimes wish they expanded the diameter to 50mm to pack more compound and improve the effectiveness. At least they have a wide variety of chemical agents available for LE.
Interestingly it also reversed back later with the establishment of the M320. 40mm grenades are a love hate relationship. On one hand they provide that indirect fire in a situation where direct fire isn't effective, but the other hand they have such a small effective kill radius that it practically is a like a direct fire weapon. Compact stand alone devices makes sense as a force multiplier than a primary. Personally, I am in the camp that a 60mm mortar worth lugging than a 40mm grenade, but you cant beat the reactionary speed of a 40mm. I sometimes wish they expanded the diameter to 50mm to pack more compound and improve the effectiveness. At least they have a wide variety of chemical agents available for LE.
Yeah... the weight is not going to help.
Right now, a M433 HEDP grenade is about half-a-pound a piece, and IIRC grenadier carries at least 10 of 'em. Then, there is the M320 GLM, which is 1.5 kg. Added together that's around 4 kg of encumbrance.
A 2007 study shows a marine rifleman carries an assault load of 97 lb, against a recommended load of 50 lb. That is, they are already overloaded, adding more weight would only lower their combat effectiveness.
Now before you complain about how marines don't use M320, I will say that Army rifleman carries similar load, so it stands.
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