REMINGTON 870

GRENADES & MINES

M203

The M203 was designed after the tactical limitations of the M79 had become apparent, and was therefore conceived for attachment under the barrel of the M16 assault rifle (see picture), although the current M203PI can be fitted under the barrel of any assault rifle. The effect of this installation feature is that the operator of the M203 has a weapon that can be used between the firing of 40mm grenades, and that larger numbers of men within each squad can be equipped with this weapon without detriment to the squad´s firepower. The M203 is light, and can fire an assortment of grenades, including high explosive, anti-armour, anti-personnel and buckshot. The last is perhaps the most important sigle round, for it provides the relatively inaccurate M203 with an effective capability against personnel and other "soft-skinned" targets. The M203 will remain in SAS service for many years to come because it substantially increases the firepower of small-sized teams to operating in hostile territory, and also gives them an anti-armour capability.

CLAYMORE AP MINE

The Claymore mine was used by SAS troopers in the Indonesian Confrontation (1963-66) and still in the SAS inventory. Initiated electrically or mechanically (by hand or tripwires), the Claymore is an oblong weapon that is located on the ground with its face towards the enemy. When fired, the weapon hurls some 350 metal balls outward in a fan shape to a range of 100m (328ft), the size and velocity of these metal balls ensuring that anyone in the way is shredded.

FLASH/STUN GRENADE

ANTI-TANK WEAPONS

CARL GUSTAV

It was the hollow-charge warhead, relying on chemical factors rather than kinetic energy for the penetration of armour, that emerged from WWII as the lightest and therefore the best way of infantry to be provided with an anti-armour capability and it later become clear that such warheads also had a devastating effect on field fortifications and other obstacles. Considerable development has since gone into evolution of such weapons, which today provide the infantrymen, and for that matter the SAS trooper, with a formidable if somewhat short-range capability against all but the most heavily armoured tanks. The weapon of this type most generally associated with the SAS since the later 1950s has been the Swedish Carl-Gustav M2-550 recoilless gun. This is sturdy, reliable, accurate and versatile, the last factor being generated by the Carl-Gustav´s ability to fire an anti-personel round as well as an anti-tank round. Some indication of the weapon´s tactical flexibility is provided by the fact that during the Falklands War a Royal Marine used his Carl-Gustav first to shoot down a Argentine helicopter, and then put a hole trough the side plate of an Argentine desroyer!

With their low velocities, such rockets are highly susceptible to atmosperic conditions such as crosswinds, and being unguided, they can also be defeated, or at least degrated in effect, by any sudden change in course by the target vehicle after the rocket has been fired. It si for this reason that guided missiles were developed for use in the surface-to-surface role agains tanks. The sophistication and capabilities of these weapons have increased in the 1950s, but the size and the weight of such systems generally precludes thier use by-fast moving. lightly equipped units such as SAS patrols, hwo would run rather than stand in the face of main battle tank oppositon.

The one weapon of this type that has been used by the SAS is the Euromissile Milan (Missile d´Infanterie Léger Anti-char, or light infantry anti-tank missile). It was fired in small numbers during the Falklands War while the SAS provided a diversion for the main British amphibious landing on the eastern side of San Carlos Water. During the Gulf War however SAS Land Rover columns would often engage Iraqi targets with their vehicle-mounted Milans. The great advantage with the system is that it is difficult to detect in battle because of its reduced noise and flash compared with other systems. In addition, the fact that the missile are wire-guided means that they are not vunerable to electronic countermeasures. The Milan is launched from a ground-based firing unit that can be reloaded without difficulty, and uses semi-automatic command to line-of-sight guidance: the operator has merely to keep the target in his sight and the launcher´s fire-control subsystem tracks the missile and generates guidance commands that are transmitted to the missile via trailing wire system. The Milan is widely used and has been developed trough three main variants with longer range and improved range.

EUROMISSILE MILAN