After three decades of development, the Russian army may receive a new automatic grenade launcher. Yesterday, on January 25, the TASS news agency reported that the first serial batch of new Balkan anti-personnel grenade launchers was manufactured in Russia.
"The design documentation for the Balkan complex has been issued and accepted by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for serial production. The first serial batch was made," the Rostec press service reported.
Automatic grenade launcher "Balkan"
Image source: ria.ru
The NGO "Device" named after S.S. Golembiovsky, which is the developer of the grenade launcher, reported that now the Balkan complex is undergoing extended checks for experimental military operation. Based on the results of the work, a decision will be made on the adoption of the complex into service and the deployment of large-scale serial production.
The development of the "Balkan" began back in the 90s. The Balkan looks similar to its predecessor, the AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher, also known as the Flame. It has about the same mass, but a longer firing range (2.5 km versus 2.3 km) - this is achieved due to a new design of ammunition with a flying sleeve. "Balkan" can fire bursts of 5 and 10 shots, as well as in continuous mode.