Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle


The Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle is a Swedish-developed caliber shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration during the second half of the 1940s as a crew-served man-portable infantry support gun for close-range multi-role anti-armour, anti-personnel, battlefield illumination, smoke screening and marking fire, which has seen great export success around the globe and continues to be a popular multi-purpose support weapon in use by many nations. The Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle is a lightweight, low-cost weapon that uses a wide range of ammunition, which makes it extremely flexible and suitable for a wide variety of roles.
Development of the initial model started from 1946 as one of the many recoilless rifle designs of that era, based on the experience from the earlier Carl Gustaf 20 mm recoilless rifle and the success of man-portable rocket launchers during World War II, such as the bazooka and Panzerschreck. Production of the initial model was handled by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori led by Försvarets Fabriksverk and the weapon received the designation 8,4 cm granatgevär m/48, in Swedish service. FFV would continue to further develop the weapon for the international market, later being merged into Saab Bofors Dynamics which handles development and export today. While similar weapons have generally disappeared from service, the Carl Gustaf is still in production and remains in widespread use.

Name

The weapon goes under many names around the globe. It is most frequently called the "Carl Gustaf" or similar for short. British troops, for example, refer to it as the "Charlie G", while Canadian troops often refer to it as "Carl G". In Australia, it is irreverently known as "Charlie Gutsache", or "Charlie Swede".
In US military service, it is officially known as the M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System or Ranger Antitank Weapons System, but is often simply called the "M3 Carl Gustaf" or just "Gustaf".
In Swedish military service, it is officially known as the 8,4 cm granatgevär m/48, m/86 and m/18, depending on the model, but is often simply referred to as the "GRG" after their type designation abbreviation, since all models fire the same general ammunition and are used in much the same way.

Description

The basic weapon consists of the main tube with the breech-mounted Venturi recoil damper, with two grips near the front and a shoulder mount. The weapon is fitted with iron sights, but is normally aimed with the attached 3× optical sight with a 17 degree field of view. The most modern variants fielded by Swedish rifle companies have been fitted with the Swedish Aimpoint sighting system. Luminous front and rear sight inserts are available for the iron sights when aiming at night, and an image intensification system may also be used.
The Gustaf can be fired from the standing, kneeling, sitting or prone positions, and a bipod may be attached in front of the shoulder piece. An operating handle called the "Venturi lock" is used to move the hinged breech to one side for reloading.

Operation

The weapon is normally operated by a two-man crew, a gunner who carries and fires the weapon and a loader, carrying two canisters for a total of four rounds of ammunition. One or two extra ammunition carriers can be assigned if heavy use is expected.
In the firing procedure it is the loader's responsibility to check the area behind the weapon for people and for obstacles that can interfere with the back-blast; this is needed due to the inherent dangers of the back-blast. Any person within the back-blast cone can suffer severe burn injuries and solid objects closely behind can reflect the blast back onto the crew.

Safety precautions

The overpressure, or blast wave, generated by the Gustaf will cause blast- and burn-related injuries to those behind the weapon, and is dangerous to and hazardous to about. Repeatedly firing the Gustaf can also cause related shock wave injuries to gunners and those nearby.
Gunners are only allowed to fire six rounds a day during training. The assistant gunners would also often move away from the overpressure zone, so that they too can fire six rounds a day. Sweden, the first user of Carl-Gustaf, has the regulation that gunner and assistant gunner are allowed to be exposed to 20 full-caliber rounds each day.

Development history

1946 – M1 in Sweden (8,4 cm grg m/48)

The Carl Gustaf M1 was developed around 1946 by Hugo Abramson and Harald Jentzen at the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration and produced at Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori from where it derives its name. Development of the weapons system was preceded by a line of other recoilless developments between 1940 and 1946, featuring relatively small-bore ammunition:
  • Carl Gustaf 20 mm recoilless rifle – 1942
  • Carl Gustaf 37 mm recoilless rifle – 1943
  • Carl Gustaf 47 mm recoilless rifle – 1945
  • Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle – 1948
Despite advances in recoilless rifle technology introduced by the development family, it was quickly discovered that small-bore solid steel penetrators were obsolete for shoulder-fired antitank weapons, thus caliber was gradually increased to focus on multirole shell-type ammunition and the recent advances in shaped charge projectiles. By 1946 a caliber of 84 mm was decided upon.
The 84 mm weapon was first introduced into Swedish service in 1948 as the 8,4 cm granatgevär m/48, filling a similar role as the US Army's bazooka, British PIAT and German Panzerschreck, albeit with a higher focus on multirole and fire support than pure anti-tank warfare. Unlike the aforementioned weapons, however, the 84 mm Carl Gustaf used a rifled barrel for spin-stabilising its rounds, as opposed to fins used by the other systems. Sweden did, however, also adopt a true man-portable anti-tank system around the same time, the 8 cm raketgevär m/49 and 8 cm raketgevär m/51 rocket launchers, only featuring anti-tank ammunition.
The use of the recoilless firing system allowed the Gustaf to use ammunition containing considerably more propellant, firing its rounds at, as opposed to about for the Panzerschreck and bazooka and about for the PIAT. The result was superior accuracy at longer ranges. The Gustaf can be used to attack larger stationary targets at up to, but the relatively low speed of the projectile restricts attacks on moving targets to a range of or less.
The Gustaf was soon sold around the world and became one of the primary squad-level anti-tank weapons for many West European armies.

1964 – M2 export

The Carl Gustaf M2 was introduced in 1964 as an improved, lighter and slightly shorter version of the original M1 for the export market. It quickly replaced the original version.

1986 – M3 in Sweden (8,4 cm grg m/86)

The Carl Gustaf M3 started development in the 1980s and initially entered service with the Swedish Armed Forces as the 8,4 cm granatgevär m/86. While similar to the export M3, it shares some spare parts with the original 1948 M1 model. It reduced the weight even further by replacing the forged steel tube with a thin steel liner containing the rifling, strengthened by a carbon fibre outer sleeve. The external steel parts were also replaced with plastics and aluminium alloys.

1991 – M3 export

The current export Carl-Gustaf M3 version was introduced in 1991. In recent years, the M3 has found new life in a variety of roles. The British Special Air Service, United States Army Special Forces and United States Army Rangers use M3s in bunker-busting and anti-vehicle roles. Many armies continue to use it as a viable anti-armour weapon, especially against 1950s- and 1960s-era tanks and other armoured vehicles still in use worldwide.

2011 – M3 in US (M3 MAAWS)

In the late 1980s, the US Army sought to replace the M67 recoilless rifle in use by the 75th Ranger Regiment. Testing by the army's Benét Laboratories in 1993 determined that the Carl Gustaf M3 had a service lifetime more than four times the contractor's claims, which drew interest from the US Navy, and a joint services team moved forward with a purchase order under the US military designation MAAWS M3.
The MAAWS M3 is primarily used by United States Special Operations Command such as the Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, Marine Raiders, Navy SEALs, and JSOC operators. When used by the Rangers, the M3 may be referred to as the Ranger Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System. Army Rangers found the M3 was best employed using a two-man team. One person would carry the launcher and be armed with a pistol for personal protection, and the other would carry 5–6 rounds of ammunition and act as a spotter for the gunner. Although the single-shot AT4 is lighter and can be carried by one person, a Gustaf team with the heavier recoilless rifle can reload and fire more rounds.
U.S. Army light infantry units began using the M3 MAAWS in Afghanistan in 2011, but only when commanders submitted operational needs statements for the weapon. The M3 became an official program of record in the conventional Army in 2014. Then in 2015, U.S. Army officials completed a conditional material release authorization, making the M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System an organic weapon system within each infantry platoon.
The standard optic for the M3 MAAWS is a telescopic sight featuring 3x magnification and a 12-degree field of view. To enhance the M3's targeting capabilities, the U.S. Army developed the Integrated Thermal Weapons Sight as an advanced system for the M3 MAAWS. The ITWS integrates the AN/PAS-13E Thermal Weapons Sight and the AN/PSQ-23A Small Tactical Optical Rifle Mounted Laser Range Finder. The thermal imaging capability of the AN/PAS-13E allows soldiers to detect and identify targets obscured by environmental factors such as darkness, fog, or dense vegetation, significantly improving situational awareness. While the AN/PSQ-23A STORM laser range finder ensures precise targeting by accurately calculating the distance to the target, thereby increasing hit probability. Despite these improvements, beginning in 2019, the U.S. Army opted to upgrade to the M3A1 MAAWS, which also has an advanced sight with an integrated laser range finder and a modular ballistic computer; however, the M3A1 offered further improvements over the ITWS, such as reduced weight and the ability to fire programmable ammunition.The M3 MAAWS fires the following ammunition:
  • HE 441D RS: High explosive round with air burst capability, 800 6 mm steel pellets, and reduced sensitivity explosives
  • HE 441E: High explosive with programmable air burst and 4000 3 mm tungsten pellets
  • HEDP 502 RS: High-explosive dual-purpose round that has impact and delay modes, with reduced sensitivity explosives
  • HEAT 551: High-explosive anti-tank – rocket-assisted projectile
  • HEAT 551C RS: High-explosive anti-tank – rocket-assisted projectile, with reduced sensitivity explosives
  • TP 552: Target practice – rocket-assisted projectile
  • HEAT 751: High-explosive anti-tank – rocket-assisted projectile, with tandem warhead to defeat ERA
  • ADM 401: Area defense munition – ADM 401 has 1100 flechettes and ADM 401B has ball bearings
  • ASM 509: Anti-structure munition, with impact and delay modes
  • MT 756: Multi-target – rocket-assisted projectile, with a tandem warhead to defeat buildings, bunkers, and light armor
  • SMOKE 469B: Smoke round
  • ILLUM 545C: Illumination round
  • TPT 141: Target practice, tracer round
  • SCA 553B: Adapter to fire 7.62 mm tracer ammunition for training