AGS- 17Plamya (Russian, meaning flame) is a 30mm automatic Grenade launcher designed, produced and equipped by the former Soviet Union. The launcher was developed by Soviet OKB- 16 Design Bureau (now Tula KBP Instrument Design Bureau) in 1967.
It is said that its development was inspired by the Sino-Soviet border conflict in the late 1960s, and the US military's experience in using automatic Grenade launchers in Vietnam War. At that time, Soviet advisers learned from the North Vietnamese troops that these weapons were terrible, and they also found that automatic Grenade launchers were quite effective when infantry troops defended against typical naval tactics. The first prototype of this new weapon was provided to the army for testing and evaluation in 1969. 197 1 started mass production, and the Soviet army was formally equipped around 1975.
AGS is the English letter corresponding to the abbreviation "AC" of "base automatic Grenade launcher". Like American automatic Grenade launcher, AGS- 17 is a heavy-duty infantry weapons used by teams, so it can only be used on tripods or mounts.
It is mainly used to attack enemy fire support personnel and unprotected targets, such as trucks and other equipment at medium and close range. Although the development of AGS- 17 is aimed at China, it has never been used in China after being equipped with troops, but it has been widely used by Soviet troops in Afghanistan and exerted great power. Soviet soldiers not only put it on the ground for use, but also installed it on vehicles. Because the original AGS- 17 did not have a special vehicle-mounted model, some Soviet soldiers directly put their tripods on the roof of armored transport vehicles or trucks.
In addition to the standard infantry AGS- 17, there is also an airborne AGS- 17A, which is mainly installed on the gun rack of Mi -8 helicopter or on the machine gun pod of later Mi -24 models. The airborne AGS- 17A has an aluminum sheath outside the barrel and adopts an electric long-range firing mechanism. Today, AGS- 17 is still a fire support weapon officially equipped by the Russian army, and some light armored vehicles are also equipped with turret weapon systems integrated with AGS- 17, machine guns, missiles and sight-seeing equipment.
At present, AGS- 17 is produced by Russian company MolotEngineeringPlantJSC, and it is also copied in Serbia (former Yugoslavia) and other countries, and also exported from China.
AGS- 17 adopts the working principle of bolt recoil, that is, it opens the hit chamber, hits the hammer and supplies ammunition with a chain. In the process of recoil and reentry, the arc guide rail of the automaton drives the slide plate to move to complete the ammunition feeding action, and the empty shells are thrown from the bottom. In order to reduce the firing rate and jumping during shooting, the bolt of AGS- 17 is equipped with hydraulic recoil buffer. The elastic chain is an inseparable steel link and is packed in a special drum-shaped elastic box. When in use, the elastic drum hook is hung on the right side of the box. The drum has a capacity of 30 rounds (it is reported that it is 29 rounds) and weighs about 14 kg when fully loaded with live ammunition.
When used by infantry, the shooter is controlled by two side handles at the back of the box, and the trigger button controlled by thumb is between the two handles. The handle of the T-shaped puller is located at the back of the chassis and connected with the bolt machine through the steel cable and the frame.
Shooter can choose single shot or continuous shot as needed. The standard sight is a PAG- 17 (паг- 17) optical sight with a magnification of 2.7 times, which can be disassembled and put into a special carrying bag. There is also a spare mechanical sight. There is a trajectory table on the top cover of the chassis, which contains trajectory data of direct shooting and indirect shooting.
The standard tripod is SAG- 17 (manufacturer's name is 6T8), which consists of tripod, shelf and height-adjustable cradle. When transporting and carrying, the tripod can be folded and carried on the body through the strap.
AGS- 17 launcher itself can also be carried in a special backpack, which makes the whole set of weapons can be transported by only two people on foot. After entering the battlefield, weapons can be quickly assembled and used. As well as flat or curved shooting, it is a powerful point-to-point killing weapon for infantry units.
At present, AGS- 17 is mainly equipped with VOG- 17 and improved VOG-30. The main competitor of AGS- 17 is Mk 19 mod3 Grenade launcher from the United States. In contrast, the Grenade launched by AGS- 17 is lighter and smaller, with a killing radius of about 7 ~ 9 meters, an initial velocity of 185m/s and a range of1700 m m. In contrast, the initial velocity of Mk 19 mod3 is 2200m/s.
However, the weight of AGS- 17 is half that of Mk 19 mod3, so it can reduce the number of operators, and it also has the advantages of flexible use and convenient carrying, making it easier to transfer shooting positions in combat.
In addition, the weight of VOG-30 Grenade is 60% of that of M384 Grenade, and the effective kill zone is slightly more than 50% of that of M384 Grenade, so AGS- 17 and Mk 19 mod3 have their own advantages.