Denel Y3 AGL

Denel Y3 AGL History

All major modern militaries rely on some form of automatic grenade launcher: for the US and its allies, it's the 40mm Mk 19 series. For the Russian army and its global customers, it is the 30 AGS-17 "Plamya" mm. It comes in the form of the Denel Y3 AGL (Automatic Grenade Launcher) for the South African country that has been building a respected defence industry since the 1980s. The Y3 was first born as the AS88 under the Aram Ltd (Pretoria) brand label before its rights were acquired by the arms group Vector. When Vector was incorporated into Denel Limited (Denel Land Systems), the product was given the Denel label.

Design work on the weapon began in 1992, followed by trials and eventual production, which began in 2003. It is currently in service with the South African Defence Force (SANDF).

Automatic grenade launchers have greatly expanded the Feldgrenadier since World War II, when there was an option to throw grenades or rifle grenades fired from the muzzle of a service rifle. Modern automatic grenade launcher systems allow offensive and defensive action against enemy infantry, vehicles and fortifications with varying degrees of direct and indirect fire, while also providing a suppressive effect.

In addition, modern automatic grenade launchers can be carried into combat by simple infantrymen, mounted on vehicles to provide on-demand mobile firepower, or mounted on helicopters to deter enemy ground forces from the air.

TheY3 AGL is a large and heavy system, its dimensions include a barrel length of 33 inches, a width of 11 inches, and a height of 10.5 inches. The weapon has a total weight of 70.5 pounds, which only increases when used with the available 40-pound tripod mount. The unit is usually mounted on a sturdy, adjustable tripod and comes in the same tactical matte black finish as the weapon.

The weapon section itself consists of a large rectangular frame that houses the open bolt/long recoil, feed mechanism (mounted left or right as required), charging handle and jacketed barrel. The barrel assembly is 11.8 inches long. The barrel cover is ventilated at its front, and no part of the barrel assembly protrudes beyond its cover plate. The operator manages the weapon through a shovel-like grip assembly on the rear of the receiver.

The charging handle with the buckle is attached to the side of the fuselage for easy access. Optics (including ballistic computer) can be mounted on top of the frame for accurate long-range shooting. Due to its size and weight, a typical operator consists of three people.

The weapon is loaded with 40x53mm high velocity shells fed via 20 or 32 round link belts. The belt itself is contained in a hardened casing located on the left or right side of the weapon (in addition, two casings can be mounted on either side of the receiver, each with a different shell type and fired separately as needed). The Y3 AGL can support a cyclic rate of fire of 425 rounds per minute and a muzzle velocity of 795 feet per second.

The used case is ejected from the bottom of the gun. The standard grenade of the Y3 AGL series is the base High Explosive (HE) model. A high-explosive dual-purpose (HEDP) type has since been added, which can be used against lightly armored vehicles or vehicles under hardened construction.

In addition, the weapon collection offers a range of training and practice grenades.

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