GM-94
GM-94
Pump action grenade launcher
The GM-94 (Гранатомет Магазинный образца 1994 Granatomet Magazinnyy obraztsa 1994, lit. "magazine-fed grenade launcher, model of 1994") is a pump action grenade launcher for use by Russian special and security forces. Development of the GM-94 grenade launcher began in 1993, under the guidance of Vasilij Gryazev, chief designer of the KBP design bureau (Konstruktorskoye Byuro Priborostroyeniya; (Конструкторское Бюро Приборостроения; KBP), in Tula, Russia. [3]
| GM-94 | |
|---|---|
GM-94 | |
| Type | Pump action grenade launcher |
| Place of origin | Russia |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Spetsnaz, FSB, MVD and National Guard |
| Wars | 2005 raid on Nalchik[1] Libyan Civil War[2] Crimean Crisis 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine[2] |
| Production history | |
| Designer | KBP |
| Manufacturer | KBP |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 4.8 kg (10.6 lb) unloaded 5.8 kg (12.8 lb) loaded |
| Length | 810 mm (31.9 in) stock extended 540 mm (21.3 in) stock folded |
| Cartridge | 43×30mm |
| Action | Double action |
| Muzzle velocity | 85 m/s (280 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 300 m (330 yd) |
| Maximum firing range | 500 m (550 yd) |
| Feed system | 3 round pump action above-barrel tubular magazine |
| Sights | Iron sights |
The GM-94 is a short range weapon, allowing it to be used in close urban environments. With a minimum safe distance of only 10 meters,[4][5] the GM-94 is well suited to close, room-to-room fighting. Its simple design and operation allows it to operate in dusty and dirty environments and even after being immersed in water.
The launcher is capable of firing VGM-93.900 high explosive fragmentation, VGM-93.100 thermobaric, VGM-93.300 smoke and VGM-93.200 tear gas canisters, VGM-93.600 rubber slugs and other non-lethal payloads.[4]
The VGM-93.100 thermobaric grenade contains around 160 grams of explosive filler. It can penetrate up to 8 mm of mild steel or interior wall with its blast, while producing minimal primary fragmentation.[4]
In June 2005, GM-94 with thermobaric VGM-93.100 ammunition was adopted by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.[6] In October 2007, the Russian armed forces adopted the launcher designated as LPO-97 (Legkiy Pekhotnyy Ognemet; Легкий Пехотный Огнемет; ‘light infantry flamethrower’)[3] developed in the KBP Instrument Design Bureau on the basis of the GM-94 with a thermobaric grenade,[3][7] in 2008 GM-94 was adopted for the branches of the Federal Security Service.[8] The weapon was used in the battle of Nalchik in 2005 and in Crimea 2014.[9] Though the launcher was initially intended for use by Russian security forces, the GM-94 has been spotted as far afield as Kazakhstan, where it is in service with the Kazakhstani paramilitary police tactical unit Sunkar ("Hawk") and in the hands of non-state combatants during the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in Libya 2011.[2]
Russian forces have used this weapon to fire non-lethal tear gas grenades on protesters in Ukraine in March 2022.[10]
- Popenker & Jenzen-Jones 2015, p. 16.
- Popenker & Jenzen-Jones 2015, p. 17.
- ""Arms & Munitions Brief No. 2: The Russian GM-94 Grenade Launcher"". ARES Armament Research Services. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- "VGM93.100". roe.ru. Rosoboronexport.
- "ГМ-94 - ручной гранатомёт". army.lv. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
- "ОАО "Конструкторское бюро приборостроения" - 10 лет ГМ-94". kbptula.ru. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
- Maxim Popenker and NR Jenzen-Jones, The Russian GM-94 Grenade Launcher, ARES Armament Research Services, Munitions Brief No. 2, September 2015
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker [@UAWeapons] (22 March 2022). "#Ukraine: A little insight on what kind of munitions were used by the Russian forces to disperse the pro-Ukrainian rally in #Kherson - an empty VGM93.200 CS irritant round for the GM-94 grenade launcher was found on the ground. https://t.co/h79lv3KmRd" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022 – via Twitter.
- "Рассказываем, что за гранатомет был замечен вчера у спецназовца «Алмаза» в Минске". Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- Ferguson, Jonathan; Jenzen-Jones, N.R. (November 2014). Raising Red Flags: An Examination of Arms & Munitions in the Ongoing Conflict in Ukraine, 2014. Research Report 3. Armament Research Services. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-9924624-3-7.
Bibliography
- Popenker, Maxim; Jenzen-Jones, N.R. (September 2015). The Russian GM-94 Grenade Launcher (PDF). Arms & Munitions Brief. Armament Research. ISBN 978-0-9924624-5-1.