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Russian army will be equipped with new 40mm grenade launcher 6G27 before the end of this year TASS 11309161

Military Defense Industry Technology - 6G27 Balkan

Russian army will be equipped with new 40mm grenade launcher 6G27 before the end of this year.

The TekhMash Concern (a subsidiary of the Rostec state corporation) will finish the state trials of the newest 40mm 6G27 Balkan automatic grenade launcher (AGL) intended for the Russian Armed Forces before the year-end, according to a source in the indigenous defense industry.

Russian-made 40mm 6G27 Balkan automatic grenade launcher

"The 40mm Balkan AGL will be brought into service with Russia's armed forces in 2016. The military will receive the tripod-mounted modification of the weapon. TekhMash is also integrating the Balkan AGL with the MBDU remote controlled weapon station (RCWS) developed by the Kalashnikov Group (Concern Kalashnikov, a subsidiary of the Rostec state corporation).

Balkan has a firing range of 2,500 m - about 500-600 m over its Western analogues. The 40mm grenade used by Balkan is 30% more effective than the 30mm VOG-17 munition of the AGS-17 Plamya AGL," the source said.

The Balkan automatic grenade launcher fires 40mm 7P39 caseless high-explosive grenades. The AGL was developed by the Pribor scientific-research institute (a subsidiary of TekhMash). It has a combat weight of 46 kg (including an AGL of 32 kg and a drum box magazine of 14 kg), a barrel length of 400 mm, a muzzle velocity of 240 m/s, a firing rate of 400 rds/min, a firing range of 2,500 m, and a magazine capacity of 20 grenades. Balkan is equipped with a PAG-17 2.7x optical sight that can be replaced by a night vision device.