FN USA is a phase two finalist for the xTechSoldier Lethality Precision Grenadier System.
According to the Army’s vision for the system, PGS:
The PGS shall be a Soldier portable, flat trajectory, semi-automatic, magazine fed, integrated armament system that enables precision engagements to destroy personnel targets in defilade and in the open with increased lethality and precision compared to legacy grenade launchers. The PGS is anticipated to be deployed as a Soldier’s primary weapon system and provide organic close-quarters combat and counter-defilade capabilities through a family of ammunition, providing overmatch to comparable threat grenade launchers in near-peer formations in future operating environments to include urban, woodland, subterranean, and desert, in day, night, or obscured conditions.
At AUSA FN displayed a 3D model of their PGS-001 candidate which is said to fire 30mm projectiles.
It is a box fed, semiautomatic weapon with fire control.
That’s cool – I’ve been waiting to see what their offering looked like. What’s the mag capacity? It looks like about 3 rounds by my reckoning…
It’s very cool to see the mock-up, I wonder if we’ll see anymore information come out prior to the next part of the demonstration.
I’m particularly curious to know what the construction and features of the FN bid will be.
It’ll also be very interesting to see if any information about MARS’ submission is released.
5 rounds for the model you see here. But this is basically a 3D drawing.
Ah, I was thinking that 5 rounds would be good. That’s cool.
With modern ‘smart scopes’ that correct for trajectory, it seems the focus of PGS should be more tailored to grenade lethality rather than flatter trajectory.
To my mind that was the weakness of the 25mm XM25.
The ~250g grenade weight of the Rheinmetall 40×51 medium velocity / 40x53mm HV, or ~275g weight of the Russian 30mm used in the AGS-17 grenade launcher, seems like a good size.
Curious what grenade weight FN is pursuing with their 30mm.
The design of our current crop of 40mm high-low projectiles has always been a sore point. Modern incarnations would allow greater lethality, I totally agree.
But, with “Precision” baked right into the name, you can’t have a projectile with a ton of hang-time, since we’ve all seen those things getting pushed left and right as they sail down range at a lumbering speed.
Modern wind-sensing lasers can compensate in ballistic solutions, but in order to read the wind the laser must gather info from the entire wind field, which a high angle system makes difficult.
So, trajectory flatness takes a front seat and payload weight takes a hit.
It really comes down to a three-way game of musical chairs, with just two chairs:
– Light weapon weight
– Low recoil
– Large projectile weight
…can’t have all three.
Since this is a shoulder-launched system with max recoil limitations, and you need higher velocity to achieve a flatter trajectory (which comes with higher recoil) to reach out there, the winning players are light weapon weight and low recoil to ensure the requisite precision that comes with a faster and flatter delivery.
[Haven’t had my coffee yet, but I think all of that was coherent.]
I wouldn’t envision the PGS replacing the entire inventory of current GLs, instead they would supplement and be employed as the mission requires.
But, I’m with you on the grenade design. Let’s hope they bring some secret sauce to it.
Everything old is new again. Both AAI and Honeywell (later ATK) were working on 30x55mm replacements for the 40x46mm grenade all the way the way back in the 1970s. The US Army played with single-shot and semi-auto underbarrel variants for the Future Rifle Program. George Reynolds was responsible for some of the Army’s own in-house launcher designs. After retirement, Reynolds formed Knox Engineering and began working on a ten-shot, semi-auto 30mm stand-alone launcher, in concert with ATK. “Jane’s Infantry Weapons” kept a listing for the 30mm Individual Grenade Launcher System (IGLS) well into the 1990s.
This is very cool it looks just like the semi-auto 26.5mm signal device designed by Danny Meatball and even has the acr style stock that was designed for that platform by Rusty Shackleford. Was that were the inspiration came from for this? If you are not familiar look them up or AWCY? dev team on instagram or twitter for pictures.