Arms manufacturer Nammo is looking to increase the Marines’ flexibility when it comes to next-generation hand grenades. Currently, many branches of the military are open to suggestions on the subject of better hand grenades, and Nammo’s MK21 Mod0 solution is modular.
The Marine Corps largely relies on the M67 Fragmentation Grenade, which is very effective as a “defensive grenade,” but it can be too much when working in close quarters. Nammo’s modular grenade is an “offensive grenade” which relies more on concussion rather than fragmentation for effect.
The benefit of a concussion grenade’s limited reach is also its major drawback. To get around this limitation Nammo’s design can be stacked or daisy-chained into much larger, more powerful explosives.
By using one charge the grenade works like a concussion grenade with very light fragmentation. Two charges provide a more standard “defensive” grenade explosive, and three — and even potentially more — grenades can be linked together “to destroy structures,” writes the Marine Corps Times.
Of course the primary purpose of carrying a smaller charge is to reduce collateral damage. By relying primarily on concussive force, the risk to nearby Marines, and in some cases civilians, is reduced.
The modular design gives the Marines who carry these the option of going bigger if needed, without having to carry different grenades for different roles.
“If you throw an M67 into a room it doesn’t discriminate,” said Pat Woellhof, Director of Marine Corps Operations for Nammo to the Times. He explained that a person exposed to a single charge will be concussed.
“And you know, they’ll wake up with a bad hangover,” Woellhof said. He added that two grenades tied together “Will kill anything in a room.”
This is not a guarantee that the Marines will adopt, or even begin testing the new explosives. But it signals the Corps’ serious interest in new options.
See Also: The Army’s Developing a 21st Century Hand Grenade
A few years ago the Army with the Marines started looking at a new binary grenade with an electronic fuse. In development at the Picatinny Arsenal, the idea is to have a single grenade with two charges, a concussive charge and a fragmenting charge.
Depending on how the grenade is armed, the soldier has the option of setting one type of explosive or the other.
Stacking explosives is not a new idea. During World Wars I and II German soldiers would wire the charges of multiple stielhandgranates together to tremendous effect. What’s old is new again.
Send a couple cases to my house and ill test and evaluate.
Disclaimer,multiple anti American socialist dirtbags will
Be harmed in the testing of these products! But our kids must
Have the best gear for defending freedom!
Sooo- after adopting a less than lethal rifle (m-16, m-4, whatever they are calling it now); then a less lethal pistol- 92 frank; they want a non-lethal grenade?
How handicapped do liberals need to make defending this country?
When do people stop supporting a country that does not support them in return?
How many vets commit suicide a day now?
If you need to stack these things, how many will you need to carry? What will you do with the detonators leftover after stacking? How far can the average person throw two? three?
Civilian oversight IS necessary, but let the people you send out there have some chance of success.
Another decade and every platoon will have to have a jag assigned just to say whether a firefight goes to far!!! politicians should never have a say over anything the military does or carries!!!!
Wasn’t this literally a concept in those crappy Starship Troopers movies? (that had nothing to do with the book)
The interesting part being that West Point students used to be required to read that book and that whole exoskeleton robot thing DARPA developed was a direct result of the concept of “powered suits” in that book… the fact that reality is coming out of ideas from science fiction isn’t a new concept but it sure is weird to watch over the years … fantasy becoming reality with the craziest concepts.
Hmmm… So as a Marine, I guess I can say this: it’s only a matter of time til some brilliant Pfc. stacks enough of these that he can’t throw it far enough for his own safety.
Yes, I saw at least 2 goofballs voluntarily eliminate themselves from the gene pool by unthinking misuse of explosive devices. We all know that qualifications to be a Marine do not include any IQ tests.
All Marine recruits are tested before entering boot camp. Poor judgment has nothing to do w/ IQ. It is a factor of age & genetics, Mike. Your comments are not funny.
The remedy to some of the antics you describe is to raise the age requirement to 20 yrs. old. Also, teach military sciences, including safety, in grades three through twelve. Drum safety & judgment into the kids so it’s second nature to think before acting, esp. around war materiel.
Just because recruits are tested, doesn’t mean there is a minimum score requirement.
I don’t know where you live, but there is no way U.S. school systems, where children are arrested for making “finger guns”, are ever going to teach military science. Too scary for the liberal administration.
You start teaching safety and judgement to kids, nobody will ever join the military.
Mike is a Marine. His comments are both factual and entertaining.
Lighten up
Yep! -& for some reason your comment made me think of the “Davey Crocket” (nuclear recoilless gun)
I guess it would be ok for crowd control,but the object when it comes to the enemy is to kill people and break things .
These just look like Lego heads you can stack together and make a whittle bit of pink mist all the way up to a paint can full of pink mists.
Need a link to GA for buying one asap thanks!