AGS-17

The AGS-17 “Plamya” (Flame) is a Soviet-designed, crew-served automatic grenade launcher that fires 30×29mm high-explosive fragmentation projectiles from a tripod, providing long-range suppressive fire from the infantry squad to the vehicle platform.

Overview

The AGS-17 is a blowback-operated, belt-fed, fully automatic grenade launcher that was the Warsaw Pact’s answer to the heavy automatic weapon requirement. It entered service in 1971 and rapidly spread across the Soviet ground forces and client states, where it remains a staple of motor-rifle and airborne units. The system combines a nearly 18 kg gun with a 12 kg tripod, fed by a 29-round drum of linked 30×29mm ammunition, and is capable of both area suppression out to 1,700 m and point engagements with optical sights. Its low profile, reliability, and simple construction made it one of the most prolific automatic grenade launchers of the Cold War, with tens of thousands produced and a user list that mirrors the global distribution of Soviet weaponry Wikipedia.

Development

Development of the AGS-17 began in the late 1960s at OKB-16 (later absorbed into the KBP Instrument Design Bureau in Tula), aiming to give Soviet infantry a portable, sustained-fire grenade support weapon. The system was adopted in 1971, the same year the first production models left the factory, and was subsequently issued to motor-rifle, mountain, and airborne units. By the late 1970s the Plamya was in full-rate production and was also license-built in Bulgaria by the state-owned Arcus company, a channel that further expanded its global footprint Wikipedia. The launcher’s first large-scale combat exposure came with the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, cementing its reputation for ruggedness in high-altitude and dusty environments.

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