AGS-17
The AGS-17 Plamya<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (Russian: Пламя; Flame) is a Soviet-designed automatic grenade launcher in service worldwide.
Description
The AGS-17 is a heavy infantry support weapon designed to operate from a tripod or mounted on an installation or vehicle. The AGS-17 fires 30 mm grenades in either direct or indirect fire to provide suppressive and lethal fire support against soft-skinned or fortified targets.
The weapon uses a blowback mechanism to sustain operation. Rounds are fired through a removable (to reduce barrel stress) rifled barrel.
The standard metal ammunition drum contains 29 linked rounds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The tripod is equipped with fine levelling gear for indirect fire trajectories.
Development
Development of the AGS-17 (Avtomaticheskiy Granatomyot Stankovyi—Automatic Grenade launcher, Mounted) started in the USSR in 1965 by the OKB-16 design bureau (now known as the KB Tochmash), under the leadership of Alexander F. Kornyakov.<ref name = redstar/>
This lightweight weapon was to provide infantry with close to medium range fire support against enemy personnel and unarmored targets, like trucks, half-tracks, jeeps and sandbag-protected machine-gun nests. The first prototypes of the new weapon entered trials in 1969, with mass production commencing in 1971.<ref name = redstar/> The AGS-17 was widely operated and well-liked by Soviet troops in Afghanistan as a ground support weapon or as a vehicle weapon on improvised mounts installed on armoured personnel carriers and trucks.<ref name="Encyclopedie"/>
A special airborne version of the AGS-17, the AG-17A, was developed for installation on helicopters, including the Mi-24 Hind in gun pods and the Mil Mi-8 on door mounts. This weapon had a thick aluminium jacket on the barrel and used a special mount and an electric remotely controlled trigger.<ref name = redstar/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
It is still in use with the Russian army as a direct fire support weapon for infantry troops; it is also installed in several vehicle mounts and turrets along with machine guns, guided rocket launchers and sighting equipment. It is being replaced by the AGS-30 launcher, which fires the same ammunition, but weighs only 16 kg unloaded on the tripod and has an upgraded blowback action.
Variants
- AG-17A - remotely controlled aircraft-mounted version with an electric trigger mechanism.
- AGS-17D - remotely controlled vehicle-mounted version with an electric trigger mechanism.
Ammunition
The AGS-17 fires Template:Ill belted cartridges with a steel cartridge case.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Two types of ammunition are commonly fired from the AGS-17. The VOG-17M is the version of the original 30 mm grenade ammunition, which is currently available and has a basic high explosive fragmentation warhead. The VOG-30 is similar, but contains a better explosive filling and an enhanced fragmentation design that greatly increases the effective blast radius. New improved VOG-30D grenade was taken into service in 2013 for use with AGS-17 and AGS-30 grenade launchers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was ordered by the Russian Defense Ministry in August 2023.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The same month, the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine begun to receive VOG-17 grenades, factory modified for use by commercial drones.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Bulgarian weapons manufacturer Arcus produces AR-ROG hand grenades based on VOG-17 cartridges and Template:Ill (Russian: УЗРГМ), which is also a Soviet design of fuse.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Similar improvised grenades are known as "khattabkas".<ref name=hrg>Template:Cite book</ref>
- VOG-17M (HE)
- IO-30 (HE)
- IO-30TP (Practice)
- VOG-30 (HE)
- VOG-30D (HE)
- VUS-30 (Smoke)
Users
Current
- Template:Flagcountry<ref name="jones2009">Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Template:Flag: A modernized version, the AGL-30M, produced locally by Arsenal AD with documentation from DSO Metalhim .<ref>30 mm ARSENAL Automatic Grenade Launcher AGL-30M Template:Webarchive</ref>
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- Template:Flag: Produced by Norinco based on captured examples from Mujahideen groups.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Template:Flag: Used during Cenepa War 1995.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Template:Flag: Produced under license.<ref name="jones2009" /><ref name="armadaint2002" />
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- Template:Flag: Designated the M93.<ref name="jones2009" />
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- Template:Flag<ref>Мотострелки ЦВО уничтожили условного противника в ходе практических занятий по боевой подготовке на полигоне в Кузбассе // официальный интернет-сайт министерства обороны РФ от 30 сентября 2025</ref>
- Template:Flag: Designated the M93<ref name="jones2009" /> Produced under license.<ref name ='SAS 2008 1'>Template:Cite book</ref>
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- Template:Flag: Used by the Sudanese Armed Forces, some captured by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North<ref name="Kordofan">Template:Cite book</ref>
- Template:Flag<ref>На границе Джобара и Замальки | At the border of Jobar and Zamalka. Template:Webarchive 16 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.</ref>
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Former
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- Template:Flag: Used in the 1990s, now replaced by the HK GMG.<ref name="jones2009" />
- Template:Flag: Passed on to successor states.
See also
- AGS-30, first successor
- AGS‑40 Balkan, second successor using caseless high-explosive 40mm 7P39 grenades.
- Daewoo Precision Industries K4, South Korean 40 mm grenade launcher
- GA-40 similar weapon Template:In lang
- HK GMG, similar weapon
- Howa Type 96, similar weapon
- Milkor MGL, another South African 40 mm grenade launcher
- Mk 19 grenade launcher, similar weapon
- SB LAG 40
- Type 87 grenade launcher, used by the People's Liberation Army
- Vektor Y3 AGL
- XM174 grenade launcher, similar weapon