AGS-17

The AGS-17 Plamya^[8] (Russian: Пламя; Flame) is a Soviet-designed automatic grenade launcher in service worldwide.

AGS-17 Plamya
AGS-17 mounted on tripod.
Type	Automatic grenade launcher
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1970–present
Used by	See Users
Wars	Soviet–Afghan War[1] South African Border War[1][2] Gulf War Somali Civil War First Chechen War Cenepa War Second Chechen War War in Afghanistan Iraq War Ivorian Civil Wars[3] Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile[4] Syrian Civil War[5] War in Iraq (2013–2017) Russo-Ukrainian War[6] Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)[7] Second Nagorno-Karabakh War Russian invasion of Ukraine
Production history
Designer	KB Tochmash
Designed	1967
Manufacturer	Molot Plant
Produced	1967
Variants	AG-17A helicopter-mounted version
Specifications
Mass	31 kg
Length	840 mm
Cartridge	30×29mm grenade [ru]
Caliber	30 mm
Action	Blowback
Rate of fire	400 round/min
Muzzle velocity	185 m/s
Effective firing range	800 to 1,700 m
Feed system	29 grenades belt
Sights	Adjustable iron sights, optional mount required for optical sights

AGS-17 in Afghanistan. 1986

Description

The AGS-17 is a heavy infantry support weapon designed to operate from a tripod or mounted on an installation or vehicle. The AGS-17 fires 30 mm grenades in either direct or indirect fire to provide suppressive and lethal fire support against soft-skinned or fortified targets.

The weapon uses a blowback mechanism to sustain operation. Rounds are fired through a removable (to reduce barrel stress) rifled barrel.

The standard metal ammunition drum contains 29 linked rounds.^[9][10]

The tripod is equipped with fine levelling gear for indirect fire trajectories.

Development

Development of the AGS-17 (Avtomaticheskiy Granatomyot Stankovyi—Automatic Grenade launcher, Mounted) started in the USSR in 1965 by the OKB-16 design bureau (now known as the KB Tochmash), under the leadership of Alexander F. Kornyakov.^[11]

This lightweight weapon was to provide infantry with close to medium range fire support against enemy personnel and unarmored targets, like trucks, half-tracks, jeeps and sandbag-protected machine-gun nests. The first prototypes of the new weapon entered trials in 1969, with mass production commencing in 1971.^[11] The AGS-17 was widely operated and well-liked by Soviet troops in Afghanistan as a ground support weapon or as a vehicle weapon on improvised mounts installed on armoured personnel carriers and trucks.^[1]

A special airborne version of the AGS-17, the AG-17A, was developed for installation on helicopters, including the Mi-24 Hind in gun pods and the Mil Mi-8 on door mounts. This weapon had a thick aluminium jacket on the barrel and used a special mount and an electric remotely controlled trigger.^[11][12]

It is still in use with the Russian army as a direct fire support weapon for infantry troops; it is also installed in several vehicle mounts and turrets along with machine guns, guided rocket launchers and sighting equipment. It is being replaced by the AGS-30 launcher, which fires the same ammunition, but weighs only 16 kg unloaded on the tripod and has an upgraded blowback action.

Variants

• AG-17A - remotely controlled aircraft-mounted version with an electric trigger mechanism.
• AGS-17D - remotely controlled vehicle-mounted version with an electric trigger mechanism.

Ammunition

The AGS-17 fires 30×29 mm [ru] belted cartridges with a steel cartridge case.^[13] Two types of ammunition are commonly fired from the AGS-17. The VOG-17M is the version of the original 30 mm grenade ammunition, which is currently available and has a basic high explosive fragmentation warhead. The VOG-30 is similar, but contains a better explosive filling and an enhanced fragmentation design that greatly increases the effective blast radius. New improved VOG-30D grenade was taken into service in 2013 for use with AGS-17 and AGS-30 grenade launchers.^[14][15] It was ordered by the Russian Defense Ministry in August 2023.^[16] The same month, the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine begun to receive VOG-17 grenades, factory modified for use by commercial drones.^[17]

The Bulgarian weapons manufacturer Arcus produces AR-ROG hand grenades based on VOG-17 cartridges and UZRGM [ru] (Russian: УЗРГМ), which is also a Soviet design of fuse.^[18] Similar improvised grenades are known as "khattabkas".^[19]

• VOG-17M (HE)
• IO-30 (HE)
• IO-30TP (Practice)
• VOG-30 (HE)
• VOG-30D (HE)
• VUS-30 (Smoke)

Users

Map with AGS-17 Plamya users in blue and former users in red

Current

•  Afghanistan^[20][21]
• Angola^[20][2]
• Armenia: Imported^{[citation needed]}
•  Azerbaijan^[22][23]
• Bulgaria: A modernized version, the AGL-30M, produced locally by Arsenal AD with documentation from DSO Metalhim .^[24]
• Chad^[20]
• China: Produced by Norinco based on captured examples from Mujahideen groups.^[25][20][26]
• Cuba^[20]
• Czech Republic
• Ecuador: Used during Cenepa War 1995.^[27]
• Georgia^[28]
• Iraq: Produced under license.^[20][26]
• Islamic State^[29]
• Ivory Coast^[30]
• Montenegro: Designated the M93.^[20]
• Mozambique^[20]
• Myanmar^[31]
• Nicaragua^[20]
• North Korea^[32]
• Russia^[33]
• Serbia: Designated the M93^[20] Produced under license.^[34]
• Sierra Leone^[35]
• Slovakia^[36]
• Somalia^[20]
• Sudan: Used by the Sudanese Armed Forces, some captured by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North^[4]
• Syria^[37]
•  Turkey^[38]
• Vietnam: Made under license in Z125 Factory.^[39][40] Known under the Vietnamese industrial name of SPL-17.^[41]

Former

• Czechoslovakia^[42]
• Finland: designated 30 KrKK AGS-17, replaced by the HK GMG in 2005.^[43]
• Latvia: Used in the 1990s, now replaced by the HK GMG.^[20]
• Soviet Union: Passed on to successor states.

See also

• AGS-30, first successor
• AGS‑40 Balkan, second successor using caseless high-explosive 40mm 7P39 grenades.
• Daewoo Precision Industries K4, South Korean 40 mm grenade launcher
• GA-40 similar weapon (in Polish)
• HK GMG, similar weapon
• Howa Type 96, similar weapon
• Milkor MGL, another South African 40 mm grenade launcher
• Mk 19 grenade launcher, similar weapon
• SB LAG 40
• Type 87 grenade launcher, used by the People's Liberation Army
• Vektor Y3 AGL
• XM174 grenade launcher, similar weapon