The Turkish production RDS40-MGL 40-mm multiple grenade launchers have been noticed in service with the Ukrainian military.
Photos of these weapons were shared on social media.
Neither side had previously reported Turkey’s transfer of the weapons. It is also unknown whether these weapons were acquired or transferred as part of military assistance.
The published photo portrays a soldier of the Defense Forces holding one of the transmitted grenade launchers of this model.
RDS40-MGL
RDS40-MGL is a six-rounds 40mm grenade launcher manufactured by Repkon Defence defence division of the Turkish company Repkon.
The RDS40-MGL grenade launcher is a recently developed weapon, testing of which was to be completed in 2022 with the adoption into service by the Turkish Armed Forces. Their serial delivery to the Turkish army has not been reported.
According to the manufacturer, the grenade launcher is lighter by 1.5 kg for analogues of its class, and also has an increased life cycle due to the use of Flow Forming technology for precision casting and extracting metal into molds.
The peculiarity of this grenade launcher is the possibility of using 40×46mm reduced ballistics ammunition, which are standard for infantry weapons, as well as 40×53mm medium ballistics grenades used in easel grenade launchers.
RDS40-MGL is equipped with several Picatinny rails for mounting optical sights for more accurate targeting, although by default it is equipped with a mechanical sight.
A 5.4 kg grenade launcher is capable of precision fire at a distance of 400 meters with ammunition of 40×46mm caliber, and up to 800 meters with ammunition of 40×53mm caliber.
Both calibers are standard for NATO countries and have been distributed in the Ukrainian army since 2022. Among the varieties of grenades are debris and debris-shaped ammunition. The latter are capable of penetrating up to 70 mm of armor depending on the model.
In addition to Western-made ammunition, the grenade launcher is also capable of using Ukrainian ammunition PGOF-40 40×53 mm caliber. They are supplied to the Ukrainian army, and their batch has recently been transferred to one of the brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Source: https://mil.in.ua/en/news/the-armed-forces-of-ukraine-use-rare-turkish-rds40-multiple-grenade-launchers/
