RGD-5

The standard Soviet/Warsaw Pact offensive fragmentation hand grenade since 1954 — a lightweight, smooth-bodied anti-personnel weapon built for close combat, in continuous use from Afghanistan to Ukraine.

Overview

The RGD-5 (Ручная Граната Дистанционная, “hand grenade remote”) is the principal offensive fragmentation grenade of the former Soviet Union and its successor states. Designed for assault operations where the thrower can advance without cover, the grenade relies on blast and a moderate fragmentation effect rather than a heavy defensive fragmentation cloud. It entered Soviet service in 1954 and remains in production and widespread use more than seven decades later, with both Russia and Ukraine manufacturing identical or locally-adapted variants today.

Development

The RGD-5 was developed in the early 1950s as a lighter, cheaper replacement for the wartime RG-42 offensive grenade, using a two-piece thin sheet-steel ovoid body. First fielded in 1954, it rapidly became the standard offensive hand grenade of the Soviet Army and its Warsaw Pact allies. Bulgarian state plants at VMZ-Sopot and Arsenal obtained production licences and still manufacture the grenade in its original form, as detailed by VMZ-Sopot.

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