Rocket Launcher MK-3

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 (300 mil) field of view. The most modern variants fielded by Swedish rifle companies have been fitted with the Swedish Aim point 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.

                               Carl-Gustaf 84 mm Recoilless Rifle 

Type 

Shoulder-fired recoilless rifle

(crew-served multi-role infantry support gun)

Place of origin 

Sweden

                                  Production history 

Designer 

Hugo Abramson, Sigfrid Akselson and Harald Jentzen 

Designed 

• M1: 1946

• M2: 1964

• M3: 1986

• M4: 2014

Manufacturer 

Saab Bofors Dynamics (formerly Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori), Howa (license)

Unit cost 

• US$20,000

• Ammo cost=US$500 to
  US$3000 per round

                                          Specifications 

Mass 

M2: 14.2 kg (31 lb)

M3: 10 kg (22 lb)

M4/M3E1: 6.6 kg (15 lb)

Length 

(M2) 1,130 mm (44 in)

 (M4/M3E1) 950 mm (37 in)

Crew 

Two (gunner and loader), but may be used by a single operator at a reduced rate of fire. 

Cartridge

84 × 245 mm R RCL

Caliber 

84 mm (3.31 in)

Action 

Recoilless, single-shot, breechloader, laterally, percussion fired

Rate of fire 

6 rounds per minute 

Muzzle velocity 

230–255 m/s (750–840 ft/s)

Effective firing range 

• 350 to 400 m (1,150 to 1,310 ft) against moving vehicles

• 500 m (1,600 ft) against stationary vehicles

• 1,000 m (3,300 ft) using smoke and high explosive rounds

• 2,500 m (8,200 ft) using rocket-boosted laser guided ammunition

Feed system Sights 

Hinged breech Open (iron) sights; optical 3× laser rangefinder; image intensification system

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.

1986 – M3 in Sweden 

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 ("8,4 cm grenade rifle", model 1986). 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.

2024 – M4 in India

Saab announced in September 2022 that it would establish a manufacturing facility to produce the Carl-Gustaf M4 weapons system in India. It will be the company's first facility producing the M4 system outside Sweden. The facility is expected to open in 2024 and will produce weapons for the Indian Armed Forces as well as export components to users worldwide. Previous versions of the Carl Gustaf system have been in service with India since 1976.

Ammunition

The Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless gun fires a 84 × 245 mm rimmed recoilless (84×245R RCL) cartridge with a blowout base for propellant gas ventilation. Ammunition initially consisted of high-explosive (HE), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), airburst (HE-TF) and smoke shells, not counting target-practice (TP) ammunition, but improvements to the ammunition family have been continual. While the older HEAT rounds are not particularly effective against modern tank armor, the weapon has found new life as a bunker-buster with a high-explosive dual-purpose (HEDP) round. Also, improved HEAT, high explosive (HE), smoke and illumination (star shell or flare) ammunition is also available. For full effectiveness, illumination rounds must be fired at a very high angle, creating a danger for the gunner who can be burned from the backblast. For this reason, several armies have retired the illumination rounds, while the U.S. Army requires that they be fired from a standing position. AEI Systems Ltd., a British defence products manufacturer headquartered in Ascot, Berkshire, offers a variant of the platform dubbed the AE84-RCL designed to fire the M540/M550 line of 84×245 mm R ammunition manufactured in Belgium by Mecar.

2022–: Russo-Ukrainian War

Since 2022, the Carl Gustaf has been used in combat in the Russian invasion of Ukraine by Ukrainian forces, being used to target both tanks and infantry. According to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, a Carl Gustaf was used to destroy the first Russian T-90M main battle tank of the war.