Marine and Army squads to get laser directed 40MM grenade rounds

[Peter1469]

Marine and Army squads to get laser directed 40MM grenade rounds

This will greatly increase the lethality of the infantry squad. Standard infantry tactics call for a support element to suppress an enemy while another element assaults the position. With laser directed 40MM grenades (fired from the M-203) the assault element will have a much easier job to do.

Marines and soldiers will no longer need to use “Kentucky windage” to put 40 mm grenades on target if the two branches field Raytheon’s laser guided Pike munition.

The new 40 mm round is guided by semi-active laser designators, meaning the munition will home in on a target that has been lased and destroy it with precision, according to Townsend Blanchard, a senior manager with Raytheon’s land warfare systems.



The Pike is an anti-personnel and anti-light skinned vehicle precision munition that boasts an extended range of nearly 2 km — far surpassing the roughly 300–400 meter range of standard unguided 40 mm grenades, Blanchard told Marine Corps Times. The round also has counter-defilade capabilities.

“Our goal is to bring that precision lethality down to the lowest level, which is the squad,” Blanchard said.

Cool stuff. Read the rest at the link.

[MisterVeritis]

Marine and Army squads to get laser directed 40MM grenade rounds

This will greatly increase the lethality of the infantry squad. Standard infantry tactics call for a support element to suppress an enemy while another element assaults the position. With laser directed 40MM grenades (fired from the M-203) the assault element will have a much easier job to do.
Cool stuff. Read the rest at the link.

Indirect fire support at the squad level? This sounds dumb.

[Tahuyaman]

Marine and Army squads to get laser directed 40MM grenade rounds

This will greatly increase the lethality of the infantry squad. Standard infantry tactics call for a support element to suppress an enemy while another element assaults the position. With laser directed 40MM grenades (fired from the M-203) the assault element will have a much easier job to do.



Cool stuff. Read the rest at the link.

The assault assault element's job will remain the same. The support element, where these grenadiers will be located will be more effective, but I don't think it will make the assault element's job "much" easier.

[Tahuyaman]

Indirect fire support at the squad level? This sounds dumb.

Infantry squads have had this type of firepower for decades.

[MisterVeritis]

Infantry squads have had this type of firepower for decades.

Out to 2KM?

I love the accuracy. Maybe I spent too much time with the clearance of fires issue.

Perhaps it is a matter of ROE and training.

[Tahuyaman]

Out to 2KM?

I love the accuracy. Maybe I spent too much time with the clearance of fires issue.

Perhaps it is a matter of ROE and training.

The current range of the M203 is not nearly 2k, but this new weapon system does have its place in an infantry platoon.

[MisterVeritis]

The current range of the M203 is not nearly 2k, but this new weapon system does have its place in an infantry platoon.

I completely agree. I am only concerned about the indirect fire aspect. As long as friendly eyes are on the target I have no issues.

[Tahuyaman]

I completely agree. I am only concerned about the indirect fire aspect. As long as friendly eyes are on the target I have no issues.

At the platoon and squad level the occasions where that type of range is needed would be fairly infrequent.

[Peter1469]

Indirect fire support at the squad level? This sounds dumb.

That sounds awesome to me. I was a 203 gunner during Desert Storm. The laser would have been a great addition. And it will clearly increase the lethality of the infantry squad.

[Peter1469]

The assault assault element's job will remain the same. The support element, where these grenadiers will be located will be more effective, but I don't think it will make the assault element's job "much" easier.

It will make the assault elements job easier if the grenades kill the target.