Latest revision as of 02:40, 21 August 2023

Mk 19 Mod 3 grenade launcher on vehicle pintle mounting with 48-round belt box and older flash hider - 40x53mm

Mk 19 Mod 3 grenade launcher on M3 tripod with 32-round belt box and current production flash hider - 40x53mm

The Mk 19 Grenade Launcher is an American belt-fed, API blowback-operated open bolt 40mm automatic grenade launcher. It was developed as a weapon for riverline patrol craft during the Vietnam War by the US Navy's Naval Ordnance Station in Louisville, as a successor to the interesting but limited crank-operated Mk 18 40x46mm automatic grenade launcher (or "gun, rapid fire, 40mm" as it was classified at the time) and the blow-forward 40x46mm Mk 20. This is why it uses the Navy "Mk" prefix despite now being more commonly associated with the Army.

The new weapon used the more powerful 40x53mm cartridge developed in the late 1950s and first used with the Army's M75 grenade launcher. The initial Mod 0 variant produced in 1966 and first deployed in 1968 was incredibly crude and judged to be unreliable and unsafe, but several examples of the improved Mk 19 Mod 1 were successfully deployed on patrol boats in the Mekong Delta in 1972. A total of around 1,000 Mod 1s were produced or modified from existing Mod 0s. The Mod 2 was an experimental lightweight version from 1974 which never worked properly and was abandoned in the prototype stage.

The most recognised and widespread version is the Mod 3: work on this variant began in 1976 as a broad package to simplify and improve the robustness of the still quite finicky Mod 1, and it was type classified by the US Navy as the Mk 19 Mod 3 in 1981, with the improvement sufficient that the US Army adopted the weapon as well in 1983. It has been extensively exported with some 35,000 Mk 19 Mod 3s being produced for around 30 customers, and is a robust, powerful and reliable system. Since it fires grenades that use the high / low recoil mitigation principle and uses API (advanced primer ignition) blowback operation, it has relatively gentle recoil for its size, allowing it to be mounted on light vehicles. Cyclic rate of fire is 300-400 RPM, with a practical rate of 40 RPM during sustained fire and 60 RPM for rapid emergency fire.

Several plans to replace it have come and gone over the years, mostly trying to produce something a little lighter (an empty Mk 19 Mod 3 on an M3 tripod weighs 145 pounds) and designed to accept modern optics and fire control systems (the Mk 19 is only really compatible with the elderly AN/TVS-5 starlight scope). The XM307 ACSW (50 pounds empty with tripod and fire control system, 80 pounds loaded) was ultimately cancelled, while the Mk 47 Mod 0 Grenade Launcher (90 pounds empty with tripod and fire control system), at one point mooted to be the replacement for the Mk 19, has thus far only being purchased in limited numbers by USSOCOM and similar special operations groups.

The Mk 19 grenade launcher has appeared in the following films, television series, and video games used by the following actors:

Specifications

(Mk 19 Mod 0: 1966-1971)
(Mk 19 Mod 1: 1971-1981)
(Mk 19 Mod 3: 1981-present)

Type: Grenade machine gun / automatic grenade launcher

Caliber(s): 40x53mm high velocity

Weight: 77.6 lbs (35.2 kg) Mk 19 Mod 3 gun body + 0.4 lbs (0.2 kg) feed throat + 21 lbs (9.5 kg) for Mk 64 or Mk 93 gun cradle and 44 lbs (20 kg) for M3 tripod or 34 lbs (15.4 kg) for M205 tripod + 41.9 lbs (19 kg) for 32-round PA120 belt box or 59.5 lbs (27 kg) for 48-round M548 belt box

Length: 43.1 in (109.5 cm)

Barrel length(s): 16.3 in (41.3 cm)

Capacity: Belt-fed, usually 32- or 48-round belt box

Fire Modes: Auto only, 300-400 RPM: safe / fire selector at base of spade grips

Film

Title	Character	Note	Date
GoldenEye	Q-Lab Technicians	Mounted on All-Terrain Vehicle	1995
Jurassic Park III	U.S. Marines	Mounted on AAV7A1 APC's	2001
War of the Worlds	U.S. Army soldiers	Mounted on Humvee	2005
Jarhead	U.S. Marines	Mounted on Humvee	2005
Battle: Los Angeles	U.S. Marines	Mounted on Humvees and AAV7A1 APC's	2011
Johnny English Reborn		Mounted on vehicle	2011
The Avengers	National Guard	Mounted on Humvee	2012
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes	survivor colony		2014
Chappie		Mounted on MOOSE	2015

Television

Title	Character	Note/Episode	Date
seaQuest DSV	UEO Marines	Mounted on Humvee; "Dagger Redux"	1995
CSI: NY	U.S. Marine	Mounted on M113 APC;"Heroes" (S2E23)	2006
Generation Kill	U.S. Marines	Mounted on Humvee	2007
Secret Invasion - Season 1	US Soldier	Mounted on Humvee; "Home" (S1E06)	2023

Anime

Title	Character	Note	Date
Cat Planet Cuties	soldiers	Mounted on Humvee	2010

Video Games

Game Title	Appears As	Notes	Date
Delta Force: Land Warrior	Auto-Grenade		2000
Conflict: Desert Storm II			2003
Far Cry	Mortar	Shown as very slow-firing weapon with a computerised rangefinder	2004
Project Reality		Mounted on AAV7A1 & M1126 Stryker APC's	2005
Conflict: Global Terror			2005
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter		on M3 tripod	2006
Alliance of Valiant Arms		Mounted on MOWAG Piranha, unusable	2007
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare		Mounted on CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter	2007
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames	Emplaced GL	w/ gun shield	2008
Far Cry 2		Mounted on Assault Trucks	2008
America's Army 3		Seen on loading screen, unusable	2009
ArmA II		Tripod and vehicle-mounted	2009
Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising		Static, turret-mounted on M1025 Humvee, stern-mounted on Small Unit Riverine Craft (SURC), coaxially-mounted on AAV7A1 Amtrac	2009
Terminator Salvation		mounted on APCs	2009
Battlefield 3	Mk 19	Mounted on USMC Humvees	2011
Counter-Strike Online	"Mounted Machine Gun"	Appears as a mounted weapon which fire non-explosive rounds	2012
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance		Custom version mounted on Grad, Mastiff and Slider unmanned vehicles	2013
Battlefield 4	Mk 19	Mounted on AAVP7A1, and USMC Desert Patrol Vehicles exclusive to Second Assault DLC	2014
Rainbow Six Siege		Unusable; seen in cutscene	2015
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades		Fictional man-portable version	2016
Call to Arms			2018
Fallout 76	"Auto Grenade Launcher"	Man-portable, incorrectly chambers low-velocity 40mm grenades, barrel modifications change flash hider appearance	2018

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[Image:US Mk. 19 40mm grenade machine-gun.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Mk 19 Mod 3 grenade launcher on vehicle pintle mounting with 48-round belt box and older flash hider - 40x53mm]]
+[[Image:MK19-02.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Mk 19 Mod 3 grenade launcher on M3 tripod with 32-round belt box and current production flash hider - 40x53mm]]
+The '''Mk 19 Grenade Launcher''' is an American belt-fed, API blowback-operated open bolt 40mm automatic grenade launcher. It was developed as a weapon for riverline patrol craft during the Vietnam War by the US Navy's Naval Ordnance Station in Louisville, as a successor to the interesting but limited crank-operated Mk 18 40x46mm automatic grenade launcher (or "gun, rapid fire, 40mm" as it was classified at the time) and the blow-forward 40x46mm Mk 20. This is why it uses the Navy "Mk" prefix despite now being more commonly associated with the Army.
+The new weapon used the more powerful 40x53mm cartridge developed in the late 1950s and first used with the Army's M75 grenade launcher. The initial Mod 0 variant produced in 1966 and first deployed in 1968 was incredibly crude and judged to be unreliable and unsafe, but several examples of the improved Mk 19 Mod 1 were successfully deployed on patrol boats in the Mekong Delta in 1972. A total of around 1,000 Mod 1s were produced or modified from existing Mod 0s. The Mod 2 was an experimental lightweight version from 1974 which never worked properly and was abandoned in the prototype stage.
+The most recognised and widespread version is the Mod 3: work on this variant began in 1976 as a broad package to simplify and improve the robustness of the still quite finicky Mod 1, and it was type classified by the US Navy as the Mk 19 Mod 3 in 1981, with the improvement sufficient that the US Army adopted the weapon as well in 1983. It has been extensively exported with some 35,000 Mk 19 Mod 3s being produced for around 30 customers, and is a robust, powerful and reliable system. Since it fires grenades that use the high / low recoil mitigation principle and uses API (advanced primer ignition) blowback operation, it has relatively gentle recoil for its size, allowing it to be mounted on light vehicles. Cyclic rate of fire is 300-400 RPM, with a practical rate of 40 RPM during sustained fire and 60 RPM for rapid emergency fire.
+Several plans to replace it have come and gone over the years, mostly trying to produce something a little lighter (an empty Mk 19 Mod 3 on an M3 tripod weighs 145 pounds) and designed to accept modern optics and fire control systems (the Mk 19 is only really compatible with the elderly AN/TVS-5 starlight scope). The [[XM307 ACSW]] (50 pounds empty with tripod and fire control system, 80 pounds loaded) was ultimately cancelled, while the [[Mk 47 Mod 0 Grenade Launcher]] (90 pounds empty with tripod and fire control system), at one point mooted to be the replacement for the Mk 19, has thus far only being purchased in limited numbers by USSOCOM and similar special operations groups.
 '''The Mk 19 grenade launcher has appeared in the following films, television series, and video games used by the following actors:'''
-[[Image:MK19-02.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Mk 19 grenade launcher 40mm with ammo box on M3 tripod]]
-=== Film ===
-* U.S. Army soldiers in ''[[War of the Worlds]]''
+=Specifications=
+(Mk 19 Mod 0: 1966-1971)<br>(Mk 19 Mod 1: 1971-1981)<br>(Mk 19 Mod 3: 1981-present)
-* U.S. Marines in ''[[Jarhead]]''
+* '''Type:'''  Grenade machine gun / automatic grenade launcher
-* Mounted on U.S.M.C. Amphibious Assault Vehicles in ''[[Jurassic Park III]]''
+* '''Caliber(s):''' 40x53mm high velocity
-* Seen in Q's lab in ''[[GoldenEye]]''
+* '''Weight:'''  {{convert|lbs|77.6}} Mk 19 Mod 3 gun body + {{convert|lbs|0.4}} feed throat + {{convert|lbs|21}} for Mk 64 or Mk 93 gun cradle and {{convert|lbs|44}} for M3 tripod or {{convert|lbs|34}} for M205 tripod + {{convert|kg|19}} for 32-round PA120 belt box or {{convert|kg|27}} for 48-round M548 belt box
-=== Television ===
+* '''Length:''' {{convert|in|43.1}}
-* U.S Marines in ''[[Generation Kill]]''
+* '''Barrel length(s):''' {{convert|in|16.25}}
-=== Video Games ===
+* '''Capacity:''' Belt-fed, usually 32- or 48-round belt box
-* ''[[Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare]]''
+* '''Fire Modes:''' Auto only, 300-400 RPM: safe / fire selector at base of spade grips
-* ''[[Conflict: Desert Storm 2 Back to Baghdad]]''
+== Film ==
+{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#ffffff; font-size: 95%"
+|-
+!width="300"|Title
+!width="150"|Actor
+!width="200"|Character
+!width="250"|Note
+!width="50"|Date
+|-
+| ''[[GoldenEye (1995)|GoldenEye]]'' ||  || Q-Lab Technicians || Mounted on All-Terrain Vehicle || 1995
+|-
+| ''[[Jurassic Park III]]'' ||  || U.S. Marines || Mounted on AAV7A1 APC's || 2001
+|-
+| ''[[War of the Worlds (2005)|War of the Worlds]]'' ||  || U.S. Army soldiers || Mounted on Humvee || 2005
+|-
+| ''[[Jarhead]]'' ||  || U.S. Marines || Mounted on Humvee || 2005
+|-
+| ''[[Battle: Los Angeles]] ||  || U.S. Marines || Mounted on Humvees and AAV7A1 APC's || 2011
+|-
+| ''[[Johnny English Reborn]]'' ||  ||  || Mounted on vehicle || 2011
+|-
+| ''[[The Avengers (2012)|The Avengers]]'' ||  || National Guard || Mounted on Humvee || 2012
+|-
+|''[[Dawn of the Planet of the Apes]]''||||survivor colony||||2014
+|-
+| ''[[Chappie]]'' ||  ||  || Mounted on MOOSE || 2015
+|-
+|}
-* ''[[Far Cry]]'' (as the "mortar")
+== Television ==
+{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#ffffff; font-size: 95%"
+|-
+!width="300"|Title
+!width="150"|Actor
+!width="200"|Character
+!width="250"|Note/Episode
+!width="50"|Date
+|-
+| ''[[seaQuest DSV]]'' ||  || UEO Marines || Mounted on Humvee; "Dagger Redux"|| 1995
+|-
+| ''[[CSI: NY - Season 2|CSI: NY]]'' ||  || U.S. Marine || Mounted on M113 APC;"Heroes" (S2E23) || 2006
+|-
+| ''[[Generation Kill]]'' ||  || U.S. Marines || Mounted on Humvee || 2007
+|-
+|''[[Secret Invasion - Season 1]]'' || || US Soldier||Mounted on Humvee; "Home" (S1E06)||2023
+|-
+|}
-* ''[[Far Cry 2]]''
+==Anime==
+{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#ffffff; font-size: 95%"
+|-
+!width="300"|Title
+!width="200"|Character
+!width="250"|Note
+!width="100"|Date
+|-
+| ''[[Cat Planet Cuties]]'' || soldiers|| Mounted on Humvee || 2010
+|-
+|}
+==Video Games==
+{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#ffffff; font-size: 95%"
+|-
+!width="300"|Game Title
+!width="250"|Appears As
+!width="350"|Notes
+!width="50"|Date
+|-
+| ''[[Delta Force: Land Warrior]]'' || Auto-Grenade ||  || 2000
+|-
+|''[[Conflict: Desert Storm II]]''|||||| 2003
+|-
+| ''[[Far Cry]]'' || Mortar || Shown as very slow-firing weapon with a computerised rangefinder || 2004
+|-
+| ''[[Project Reality]]'' ||  || Mounted on AAV7A1 & M1126 Stryker APC's || 2005
+|-
+| ''[[Conflict: Global Terror]]'' ||  || || 2005
+|-
+| ''[[Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter]]'' ||  || on M3 tripod || 2006
+|-
+| ''[[Alliance of Valiant Arms]]'' ||  || Mounted on MOWAG Piranha, unusable || 2007
+|-
+| ''[[Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare]]'' ||  || Mounted on CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter || 2007
+|-
+| ''[[Mercenaries 2: World in Flames]]'' || Emplaced GL || w/ gun shield || 2008
+|-
+| ''[[Far Cry 2]]'' ||  || Mounted on Assault Trucks || 2008
+|-
+| ''[[America's Army 3]]'' ||  || Seen on loading screen, unusable || 2009
+|-
+| ''[[ArmA II]]'' ||  || Tripod and vehicle-mounted || 2009
+|-
+| ''[[Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising]]'' ||  || Static, turret-mounted on M1025 Humvee, stern-mounted on Small Unit Riverine Craft (SURC), coaxially-mounted on AAV7A1 Amtrac || 2009
+|-
+| ''[[Terminator Salvation (VG)|Terminator Salvation]]'' ||  ||  mounted on APCs|| 2009
+|-
+| ''[[Battlefield 3]]'' || Mk 19 || Mounted on USMC Humvees || 2011
+|-
+| ''[[Counter-Strike Online]]'' || "Mounted Machine Gun" ||Appears as a mounted weapon which fire non-explosive rounds || 2012
+|-
+| ''[[Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance]]'' || || Custom version mounted on Grad, Mastiff and Slider unmanned vehicles || 2013
+|-
+| ''[[Battlefield 4]]'' || Mk 19 || Mounted on AAVP7A1, and USMC Desert Patrol Vehicles exclusive to ''Second Assault DLC''|| 2014
+|-
+| ''[[Rainbow Six Siege]]'' ||  ||Unusable; seen in cutscene || 2015
+|-
+| ''[[Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades]]'' ||  || Fictional man-portable version || 2016
+|-
+| ''[[Call to Arms]]'' ||  || || 2018
+|-
+| [[Fallout 76]] || "Auto Grenade Launcher" || Man-portable, incorrectly chambers low-velocity 40mm grenades, barrel modifications change flash hider appearance || 2018
+|-
+|}
-* ''[[Battlefield 2: Modern Combat]]''
+=See Also=
+*[[Alliant Techsystems]] - A list of all firearms manufactured by Alliant Techsystems.
+*[[U.S. Ordnance]] - A list of all firearms manufactured by U.S. Ordnance.
 [[Category:Gun]]
 [[Category:Grenade Launcher]]
-[[Category:Machine Gun]]

Mk 19 Grenade Launcher: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 02:40, 21 August 2023

Contents

Specifications

Film

Television

Anime

Video Games

See Also

Navigation menu

Mk 19 Grenade Launcher: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 02:40, 21 August 2023

Specifications

Film

Television

Anime

Video Games

See Also

Navigation menu

Search