Denmark strengthens section-level firepower with more Carl Gustaf M4 weapon systems.

Saab signed a roughly 46 million euros (SEK 510 million) contract with Denmark’s Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation for Carl-Gustaf M4 launchers, ammunition, and training equipment, with deliveries planned from 2026 to 2028. The deal extends a 2022 adoption and keeps a direct-fire option organic at the section level while smoothing logistics and training pipelines.

On 12 November 2025, Saab announced the signing of a contract with Denmark’s Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation for Carl-Gustaf M4 launchers, ammunition, and training equipment, for about SEK 510 million, with deliveries planned from 2026 to 2028. The agreement extends an allocation initiated in 2022 and continues a use pattern dating back to the 1970s, when the Danish Army adopted the first variants of this system, known locally as Dysekanon. The decision aims to maintain an organic direct-fire capability at the infantry section level without systematic reliance on indirect fire, while ensuring consistent logistics and training over time.
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For Denmark, adoption of the M4 in 2022 provides a training baseline onto which the new order is added. (Picture source: Saab)

The Carl-Gustaf M4 is a reusable 84 mm recoilless rifle designed for dismounted infantry. The tube is close to 1,000 mm in length and weighs under 7 kg, parameters that ease movement in urban areas or compartmented terrain under full load. The design emphasizes ergonomics, with an adjustable shoulder rest and foregrip, while the Picatinny rail enables integration of day optics, thermal imagers, and image intensifiers. The M4 is natively compatible with so-called intelligent sights that exchange basic firing data with programmable munitions, without excluding simpler optics when electromagnetic discretion is required.

In terms of effects, the ammunition range covers core tactical needs. HEAT 551 and 751 address armored threats; MT 756 and ASM 509 open breaches and neutralize fortified positions; HE 441D provides an antipersonnel effect, including airburst. Engagement envelopes vary with projectile and fuze: roughly 400 m for point engagement of armored vehicles, 700 m for static and built targets, and up to 1,000 m for certain rocket-assisted munitions. In close combat, the HEAT 655 CS uses a countermass to reduce overpressure and back-blast, allowing shots from confined spaces that would be unsafe with earlier generations. These characteristics translate into shorter time-to-effect and appropriate penetration or breaching capacity in dense environments.

Employment is deliberately straightforward. A two-person team switches warheads as contact evolves and maintains a practical rate of several rounds per minute. Integration of programmable sights enables timing an airburst over troops behind cover, setting a delay to fracture masonry, then switching immediately to a tandem HEAT against a vehicle fitted with reactive armor. The compact tube reduces movement penalties, improves transitions between covered positions, and supports exploitation of short firing windows within the Recognized Common Operational Picture (RMP/COP). Under electromagnetic emission control (EMCON), the unit retains credible options with non-networked optics and dumb rounds, without revealing its position in the electromagnetic spectrum.

In routine use, the M4 gives section leaders room to act in areas with dense population and infrastructure. Against armored reconnaissance elements, a HEAT 751 enables attrition at practical standoff while covering a disengagement; against a hardened machine-gun position, an ASM 509 creates an entry for the assault team; against fighters behind a wall, an HE 441D set for airburst reduces the assault group’s exposure time. Carrying the weapon loaded shortens the time to the first shot, and reversible effects limit the need for heavier support. In Baltic settings characterized by ports, chokepoints, and suburban waterfronts, this flexibility in kinetic effect influences combined-arms maneuver, especially in delaying actions or securing crossing points.

In Denmark, integration is already advanced. Adoption of the M4 in 2022 provides a training baseline onto which the new order is added. Training pipelines combine live fire, sub-calibre training rounds, and BT-type simulation to reproduce recoil and firing rhythm at controlled cost. Ammunition commonality within NATO simplifies pooled stockpiles, pre-positioning for multinational exercises and maintenance, while a single supplier provides a predictable chain for spares and refurbishment. In practice, Danish sections use the Dysekanon to secure alleys, neutralize strongpoints, hold an intersection, or support movement under smoke, integrating it with radios and thermal sights already fielded. Deliveries in 2026–2028 ensure availability, continuity, and the ramp-up of successive cohorts while smoothing training and maintenance loads.

For Sweden’s defence industrial and technological base (BITD), recurring European orders for the Carl-Gustaf family support steadier production and resilient ammunition lines, alongside framework contracts placed through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) between 2024 and 2027. For Copenhagen, expanding a system already in service reduces integration risk, accelerates training pathways, and strengthens interoperability with allies equipped with the same launchers and ammunition catalogue. In a Europe rebuilding land stockpiles and re-learning combined-arms tempo, Denmark’s choice adds near-term credibility to light infantry and indicates that dispersed, mobile firepower remains central to deterrence on NATO’s northern flank.