Army unveils its first new offensive hand grenade in nearly 60 years

The U.S. Army has approved the new M111 Offensive Hand Grenade, its first new offensive hand grenade since the now-retired Mk3A2 entered service in 1968.

The new M111 resembles a small water bottle rather than a traditional round grenade. It causes casualties because of blast overpressure (BOE) and not fragmentation. In contrast to a frag grenade, the M111 has a plastic body that is consumed entirely by the explosion and does not turn into fragmented projectiles.

The M111 won’t replace the M67 – the Army’s current grenade, which was also introduced in 1968 – but supplement it. Specifically, the M67, which is a fragmentation grenade, will be used in open terrain, and the M111 in urban environments, bunkers, and similar environments.

”One of the key lessons learned from the door-to-door urban fighting in Iraq was the M67 grenade wasn’t always the right tool for the job. The risk of fratricide on the other side of the wall was too high,” said Col. Vince Morris, Project Manager Close Combat Systems, Capabilities Program Executive Ammunition and Energetics.

Fragmentation greatly risks harming friendly forces when used in closed spaces because a grenade’s fragments can be deflected by objects in the space, whereas BOE cannot. It is likely that future conflicts will include urban combat, and being able to clear a room effectively with a grenade will save soldiers’ lives.

“But a grenade utilizing [blast overpressure] can clear a room of enemy combatants quickly, leaving nowhere to hide while ensuring the safety of friendly forces,” Morris added.

The M111 was developed by the Capabilities Program Executive Ammunition and Energetics along with the the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Armaments Center at Picatinny Arsenal.

As great as fragmentation grenades are, they don’t work as popular media portrays them. They don’t explode in a massive ball of fire; instead, they create a fairly small explosion and rely on fragmentation to cause casualties. Yet, even furniture can disrupt that fragmentation.

The M111 was designed to have the same five-step arming process as the M67 in order to standardize training and simplify swapping between the two grenades. To make this possible, the M111 uses the same fuze as the M67, which also aims to make its production easier and cheaper.

The M111 will also have a training variant, the M112. Training variants are commonly called “blue bodies” and are usually a bit thicker than the combat variant so they can be repeatedly used with training fuzes.

The Army’s previous blast overpressure grenade, the Mk3A2 was likewise designed to be thrown into confined spaces, however, it was retired mainly due to its asbestos body.

When I went through the Infantry Training Battalion at the Camp Geiger School of Infantry, one of the first things we learned was how to throw frag grenades, and we practiced long into the evenings in preparation for the live throw.

My class was on a compressed schedule so we were scheduled to throw frag grenades at the end of Week One. When day finally came, everyone felt some anxiety.

We were told stories of students who dropped the grenade or threw it short. We even had a student from a different company who had dropped the grenade in the pit and was saved by his instructor. Caution was the word of the day. But the day went off without a hitch and we all threw one M67. That was the first and last fragmentation grenade I ever threw during my Marine Corps career.

Throwing grenades isn’t as simple as it may seem. Besides underhand tossing a grenade into a room, Soldiers and Marines are trained to throw them from multiple positions, including the prone. Each of these positions takes a little practice to master, and practice is important when throwing a bomb.

With all that said, it’s important to remember that we got a new hand grenade before GTA 6.

Feature Image: The M111 (right) next to the M112 training variant. (Photo by Eric Kowal/Picatinny Arsenal)

Read more from Sandboxx News

• American and Israeli forces have struck more than 6,400 targets across Iran
• How have four years of war impacted the Russian military
• DARPA and SOCOM unveil X-76, their newest X-Plane designed to transport operators much faster than before
• A tactical victory on the field does not mean victory against Iran
• What is America’s Tanker Security Program that saw one of its ships getting hit by Iran?