SERVICES: Army, Marine Corps (The Marine Corps has designed this weapon MK-19 40mm Machine Gun, MOD 3)
DESCRIPTION: The MK-19 Grenade Launcher is a fully automatic weapon that fires 40mm grenades.
FEATURES:
The MK19-3 can be mounted on a tripod or a vehicle swivel point. The weapon delivers accurate, intense, decisive firepower against personnel and lightly armored vehicles by shooting a variety of 40mm grenades. Because of its weight, it is crew transportable only over short distances with limited amounts of ammunition. The MK19-3 shoots a 40mm grenade, which can kill in a 32-foot (5-meter) circle and wound in a 100-foot (30-meter) circle (48 feet). The grenade can penetrate two inches of armor.BACKGROUND:
The earliest version of this weapon was used by the U.S. Navy aboard its river patrol boats in Vietnam. The Army was first equipped with this weapon in 1989. By October 1993, the Army will have 5,005 MK19-3s in its inventory.
