AGS-17

The AGS-17 Plamya[8] (Russian: Пламя; Flame) is a Soviet-designed automatic grenade launcher in service worldwide.

AGS-17 Plamya
AGS-17 mounted on tripod.
TypeAutomatic Grenade Launcher
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In service1970–present
Used bySee Users
Wars
Production history
DesignerKBP Instrument Design Bureau
Designed1967
ManufacturerMolot Plant
VariantsAG-17A helicopter-mounted version
Specifications
Mass31 kg
Length840 mm
Cartridge30×29mm grenade
Caliber30 mm
ActionBlowback
Rate of fire400 round/min
Muzzle velocity185 m/s
Effective firing range800 to 1,700 m
Feed system29 grenades belt
SightsAdjustable iron sights, optional mount required for optical sights
AGS-17 in Afghanistan. 1986

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 drum contains 29 linked rounds.[9][10]

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 1965 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.[1]

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).

Variants
  • AGS-17A-remotely controlled aircraft mounted version with electric trigger mechanism.
  • AGS-17D-remotely controlled vehicle mounted version with electric trigger mechanism.

RGSh-30

Ukrainian company Precision Systems developed a miniaturized handheld version of AGS-17 called RGSh-30[11] "in order to create a grenade launcher that could respond to the needs of Ukrainian units and special forces operating in the Donbass". RGSh-30 is designed to disable armored vehicles.[12][13][14] that can be carried like an assault rifle. RGSh-30 uses magazines with five 30mm VOG-17 grenades.

Precision Systems plans to develop versions using 20mm, 25mm, and 40mm grenades.

Ammunition

The AGS-17 fires 30×29 mm belted cartridges with a steel cartridge case.[15] 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. New improved VOG-30D grenade was taken into service in 2013 for use with AGS-17 and AGS-30 grenade launchers.[16][17]

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.[18]

  • VOG-17M (HE)
  • IO-30 (HE)
  • IO-30TP (Practice)
  • VOG-30 (HE)
  • VOG-30D (HE)
  • VUS-30 (Smoke)

Users
gollark: You want it to sound an alarm if someone doesn't input the authorization in time, right?
gollark: <@186486131565527040> You could probably just multithread it.
gollark: I can help a bit I guess...
gollark: Stuff runs at those frequencies because the electromagnetic spectrum is pretty heavily government-regulated, with governments actually selling off access to most of it to companies, but most places allow use of 2.4 and 5GHz or so.
gollark: There are also different WiFi standards for packing higher data rates into whatever frequency range, some of which work, I think, by using several streams at different frequencies combined.

See also

References
  • 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.
  1. "AGS-17 en Afghanistan". Encyclopédie des armes : Les forces armées du monde (in French). IX. Atlas. 1986. pp. 2017–2019.
  2. André Du Pisani (1988). "Beyond the Barracks: Reflections on the Role of the SADF in the Region". The South African Institute of International Affairs: 12. Near Cuvelai and Cahama the SADF for the first time encountered the considerable firepower of the Soviet-made 30mm AGS-17 grenade launcher [during Operation Askari] - its first use outside the Afghanistan theatre. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. de Tessières 2012, p. 74.
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