Video of New Breaching Tool

[tomahawk6]

http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/articles/military_photos_2006414222232.asp

Good stuff breaching doors from a distance is the way to go.

 

[AmmoTech90]

Also called the Simon grenade, designed by Rafael in Israel.  Used the same fuze as the L85 rifle grenade, different warhead.  Shaped charge with a good standoff.

Here's the US manufacturer's info sheet-
http://www.gdatp.com/products/PDFs/GREM.pdf

 

[Synthos]

I love how at the very end of the video the US soldier is fiddling with his weapon, hits his mag release button and his magazine falls out

Cracked me up

 

[Centurian1985]

Call me a Luddite BUT I see it as impractical;

- weapon needs continued practice to hit the target over a long distance and if the target is only an arms throw away, why dont i just throw it? duh! the weapon is blunt and only works if you are directly in front of the door.  Most streets are less than 20 feet wide in BUA's so where should i shoot from, across the street? Why not just use a M79 or M203?

- who's the poor sucker willing to get into a firefight while holding a round full of blanks? If I have to change mags to feed in a blank mag, who's going to hear me call out for help in covering my butt? Oh wait that will be at the commanders order and he is WHERE? And you want me to stand 90 degrees in front of the enemy door and fire at it, exposing myslef to hostile fire? Why not use an M79 or M203 with a lower HE content if they want to blow down doors? Plus based on the low power, it might go through wood and plywood but what about metal or armour? why would I want to carry around a mag of blanks that in an emergecny would be mistaken for real rounds?

 

[AmmoTech90]

Call me a Luddite BUT I see it as impractical;

Ok you're a Luddite

- weapon needs continued practice to hit the target over a long distance and if the target is only an arms throw away, why dont i just throw it? duh! the weapon is blunt and only works if you are directly in front of the door.  Most streets are less than 20 feet wide in BUA's so where should i shoot from, across the street? Why not just use a M79 or M203?

It requires very little practice to become accurate with it, less than with the M203.  Where did you get your info that it only works from 90 degrees?  Not everyone has a M203, but everyone should have a rifle/carbine.  Therefore instead of needing a specific weapon to effectively breach a door you can carry a rifle grenade.  As well there is very little collateral damage.  I wont say its non-lethal, but it is less like to cause death than than 40mm HEDP.  Different tools, different jobs.

- who's the poor sucker willing to get into a firefight while holding a round full of blanks? If I have to change mags to feed in a blank mag, who's going to hear me call out for help in covering my butt? Oh wait that will be at the commanders order and he is WHERE? And you want me to stand 90 degrees in front of the enemy door and fire at it, exposing myslef to hostile fire? Why not use an M79 or M203 with a lower HE content if they want to blow down doors? Plus based on the low power, it might go through wood and plywood but what about metal or armour? why would I want to carry around a mag of blanks that in an emergecny would be mistaken for real rounds?

It doesn't use blanks, it is a bullet trap rifle grenade.  This means the grenade traps the  bullet.  Slip the grenade over the muzzle, aim, and fire.  Thats it.  It doesn't have to go through the target, thats the whole point of the stand off.  Metal, wood doesn't matter.  If your dealing with an armoured door, it may or may not work.  The door material is pretty much irrelevent, the frame, hinges, and lock are what it defeats.  Think of it as a battering ram that'll knock down most any door without the user having to be on top of the door.

D

 

[Centurian1985]

Ah, bullet trap...my error, pardon my rant!

As for the rest, every weapon requires practice to maintain proficiency, especially at longer distances.  Thats why we have annual quals for our soldiers, and also why very few of them shoot from longer distances; because not everyone is accurate.   

Ref the 90 degrees and penetration, this is basic ballistics and penetration theory - unless an object travels at a sufficiently high speed, and has a sufficiently strong or sharp penetration ability, it will not penetrate a hard object, but will instead glance off.  Try throwing a lawn dart at an object and the same principal applies.  And if the device doesnt penetrate, instead landing on the ground, the whole purpose of the device is nullified, not to mention that the resulting ineffective explosion will let all the bad guys on the other side know someone is knocking.  I would be much more impressed if the tape showed the weaponin actual use, not on a firing range. 

Part of my disbelief is that this weapon technology has been around for over thirty years. If it is so effective, why is it used so rarely?

 

[GO!!!]

Part of my disbelief is that this weapon technology has been around for over thirty years. If it is so effective, why is it used so rarely?

This is a shaped charge munition - it is frequently used in a variety of anti armour applications.

As for the rifle grenade part, I have been told that these went out of style when we went to 5.56 personal weapons instead of 7.62. The smaller round can only propel a one pound grenade 50-80 feet, so it was better to throw the bomb than shoot it. This (supposedly) was one of the driving features behind the purchase of the M-203.

 

[AmmoTech90]

Ref the penetration- The munition does not go through the door, at least not until after it's functioned.  The blast outside the door is what opens the door, it doesn't have to penetrate.  Of course it will be most effective at 90 degrees, but it will still work at other angles.  The tape does show it in use, from the inside of a room being breached actually.

Ref 5.56mm rifle grenades.  Bullet Trap Rifle Grenades (BTRG) work just fine with 5.56 out to a couple of hundred metres.  As far as why 40mm has become more popular, dunno, better marketing, the US uses it (commonality)?  The 40mm will go further (350m) and new rounds are more accurate, but not everyone has one.  I guess you could have a mix of BTRG and UGLs, but I would ask, has there been a requirement from the field for troops to be armed with 40mm and HE/HEAT/Illum/Smk BTRGs?  Apparently not, but there has been a requirement for a better, more reliable breaching munition and thats where Simon/GREM/RLEM whatever you want to call it comes into play.

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Is this thing too powerful or unpredictable for police use?  Explosive entry is not very common for us, but it does happen, and having a nice weapon to be a distance back would be great.  Our guys do use a C-8 from time to time, so it looks like it would fit, or is a long barrel necessary?

 

[MG34]

It will fit on a C8 barrel ,but I doubt the public would stand for police using "rifle grenades" in city streets. Although they may have some use in conducting dynamic entry. A few of these thgings would be handy to have around but not everyman needs them. MECAR bullet trap rifle grenades on the other hand would be a good addition to the Rifle Sections kit, and would complement the M203 nicely.

 

[zipperhead_cop]

It will fit on a C8 barrel ,but I doubt the public would stand for police using "rifle grenades" in city streets. Although they may have some use in conducting dynamic entry. A few of these thgings would be handy to have around but not everyman needs them. MECAR bullet trap rifle grenades on the other hand would be a good addition to the Rifle Sections kit, and would complement the M203 nicely.

Beyond tickets and donuts, the public doesn't have much of an overall view of how things work for us.  I was just curious if the force used on the door was the same as a door popping placed charge like civilian police units use.  For us, we have to be worried about fragging the tool on the other side of the door.  I wasn't sure if that was much of a priority for military ops.  It would be very handy in that many biker and drug houses use hardended steel doors and have surveillance cameras, so if you are sneaking up to place a charge, you will at least be seen and you will loose some element of surprise.  I like the "reach out and touch someone" approach.  What was the effective/accurate range of those things?

 

[COBRA-6]

It would be very handy in that many biker and drug houses use hardended steel doors and have surveillance cameras, so if you are sneaking up to place a charge, you will at least be seen and you will loose some element of surprise. 

Jeez, for that I would go with an Israeli remote-controlled armoured bulldozer... shock and awe 

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Jeez, for that I would go with an Israeli remote-controlled armoured bulldozer... shock and awe 

As I am not familiar with the specs for that, I am wondering what kind of stealth techniques it employs?