An authoritative military publication devoted to light weapons
The first part of this article introduces 7 types of grenades, 2 types of grenade packs and 3 types of grenade vests used by shooters used by US military grenade launchers, and the next part continues to present you with grenade jackets worn by US Navy SEALs during the Vietnam War, various grenade carriers used after the 1980s, and other accessories used in grenade launchers.
Grenade tops during the Vietnam War During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army's Green Berets and Navy SEALs participated in many battles, and because there was no special carrying equipment designed for special operations at that time, special forces members were usually assigned equipment modified from the Army's portable equipment, but the convenience and performance of use were not as good as special carrying equipment.
The ammunition vest has a waistcoat design and a jungle camouflage style. There are several small pockets on the chest, abdomen, and back of the shoulder and waist that can be used to hold magazines and grenades In order to solve this problem, the U.S. Special Forces and the Army Research and Development Technology Center began to jointly develop various accessories and portable equipment for special operations based on the needs of the U.S. special operations forces, the most famous of which is the ammunition vest developed for Navy SEALs. The vest has a waistcoat-like design with a jungle camouflage design, and has multiple small pockets on the chest and abdomen in the front, shoulders and waist on the back, and a magazine for the firearm and grenades for the grenade launcher. On the basis of the ammunition vest, the U.S. military has developed an ammunition jacket with a short jacket design and a jungle camouflage style, which has been distributed to Navy SEALs since 1968. Depending on the weapon used and the task performed, there are three types of ammunition jackets for riflemen, grenade launchers, and radio station operators, each for different ammunition and equipment. Among them, the grenade launcher is called a grenade jacket, which is used to hold the grenades used by the M79 and M203 grenade launchers.
A grenade jacket developed on the basis of an ammunition vest with buttons on the front, left and right sides of the front. There are two small pockets on the left and right sides of the chest for grenades, and these two small pockets are arranged in a staggered way (top). There are 3 small pockets on the back of the tunic side by side at the waist that are also used for grenades. In addition, there are 2 small pockets for the M16 rifle magazine on the left and right sides of the shoulders (bottom) The grenade jacket is buttoned on the left and right sides of the front, and there are 2 small pockets for grenades on the front chest and 2 small pockets for grenades on the left and right sides of the front chest. The two pockets are arranged in a staggered manner, and each pocket can hold three grenades. The small pocket flap has a triangular design and fastens with a velcro fastening. There is one small hole on the left and right sides of the bottom of the small pocket for drainage. The back of the grenade jacket has 3 small pockets side by side at the waist that are also used to hold grenades. In addition, there are two small pockets on the left and right sides of the shoulders for the magazine for the M16 rifle. The pocket flap has a semi-circular design and is also fastened with hook and cro, and there is a small hole for drainage on the left and right sides of the bottom of the small pocket. In the middle of the four magazine pockets on the shoulders is a small pocket, and the pocket cover is printed with "U.S." lettering, with two snap fastenings on the left and right. Usually, team members carry a first-aid kit in this small pocket. Since the grenade jacket has small pockets for grenades and magazines on the chest, shoulders, and waist, it is inconvenient for players wearing grenade jackets to carry weapons with gun straps that straddle their shoulders. To solve this problem, belt loops were set at the waist of the grenade jacket for wearing the belt to hang equipment such as pistol holsters. The belt loops are provided on the left and right sides of the front, one under the two small grenade pockets. There are 3 belt loops at equal distances at the back waist, located below the 3 small grenade pockets. In addition, there are large pockets on the left and right sides under the front belt loops to hold various items used by the team members on a daily basis.
A snap ring is provided on the upper left side of the front inside of the grenade jacket to secure the emergency balloon inflatable tube
A transverse lanyard is provided on the inside of the pocket liner under the emergency airbag snap ring, which can be used to hang a carbon dioxide high-pressure gas cylinder that inflats the emergency airbag A snap ring is provided on the upper left side of the front inside of the grenade jacket to secure the emergency airbag inflation tube. Emergency airbags are essential life-saving equipment used by SEALs in the event of an emergency such as overboard. It uses carbon dioxide high-pressure gas cylinders for inflation, and the airbag is equipped with an air pressure valve, which can be used to adjust the expansion of the airbag; If the airbag is too inflated, the air pressure valve can be used to deflate the right amount. On the inside of the pocket liner under the emergency airbag snap ring, there is a horizontal lanyard that can be used to attach the CO2 high-pressure gas cylinder that inflats the emergency airbag. A label is sewn directly below the middle of the inside collar of the grenade jacket, on which the product name, size, number, and year of production are printed. Various grenade carrying equipment used after the 1980s Grenade vests in IIFS mounts At the end of the 1980s, the U.S. military paid more attention to mobility, using vehicles and aircraft to transport troops. For this purpose, a more mobile IIFS (Personal Integrated Combat Carrying System) has been developed especially for soldiers. The main vest of the IIFS rig is made of corduroy nylon with a jungle camouflage pattern, which is both durable and easy to carry. It mainly consists of the left chest, right chest, back, and strap. The left and right chests are symmetrical and have multiple small pockets on them, which can be divided into two types: riflemen and M203 grenade launchers. Among them, the former is equipped with 2 M16 magazine pouches and 1 grenade pouch on the left and right chests, respectively; The latter is known as a grenade vest, and its left chest and right chest are divided into three layers, upper, middle and lower, with 9 small pockets for grenades. The two small pockets on the upper layer are longer in size and can be used to hold longer grenades such as flares and smoke bombs; The middle layer is equipped with 1 small pocket arranged horizontally and vertically; There are 5 small pockets on each of the lower floors. The entire grenade tank has a total of 18 small pockets for 18 grenades. All small pockets containing grenades are fastened with snap buttons, and a piece of velcro is also provided under the snap buckle to make the pocket flaps more tightly fastened.
The front of the IIFS grenade vest has a symmetrical design on the left and right chest, and there are multiple small pockets on it, which are divided into two types according to the small pockets: for rifle shooters and M203 grenade launchers
The left and right chests of the IFS grenade vest are divided into three layers, upper, middle and lower, and each has 9 small pockets for grenades. Among them, the two small pockets in the middle layer are horizontally and vertically respectively
The 2 small pockets on the upper layer of the IIFS grenade tank are long enough to store long grenades such as flares and smoke grenades
There is a lanyard on the left and right sides of the back of the IIFS grenade vest, which is connected to the metal card behind the left and right strap respectively, and can be adjusted in length. The label of the grenade vest is sewn on the inside of the back of the vest, and the label is divided into two parts, the product name, contract number, year of production, materials used and other information are printed on the top, and the precautions for cleaning are printed on the bottom. Grenade Bag in the MOLLE Mounting System The U.S. military began using the MOLLE Loading System (Modular Lightweight Load Carrying Equipment) in 1997. The MOLLE mounting system is mainly composed of a vest and a variety of small pockets for mounting, which can be freely added to the MOLLE vest according to the different needs of the task.
The state of the grenade pouch attached to the MOLLE vest The various small pockets in the MOLLE loading system include magazine pouches, grenade pouches, grenade pouches, etc. Among them, grenade bags are divided into single bags and double bags according to the number of grenades; The single and double pouches are also divided into shorter high-explosive grenade pouches and longer illuminated and smoked grenade pouches according to the size of the grenade. A single grenade bag can hold 1 grenade, and the pocket flap is fastened with a snap fastening, and there is also a nylon hook and loop under the snap button to make the buckle tighter. The left and right sides of the pocket and the bottom of the pocket are double-edged for greater durability. For attaching to the MOLLE vest, the single grenade pouch has a vertical lanyard on the back with a metal snap at the bottom of the carry, the width of which is the same width as the partition strap on the MOLLE vest. In addition to the vertical lanyard, the back of the single grenade pouch is equipped with two horizontal straps. When attaching a single grenade bag to a MOLLE vest, you only need to pass the vertical lanyard on the back of the grenade bag through the two horizontal lanyards and the slender partition strap on the vest, and then fix it with the snap buckle under the vertical lanyard. The design of the double grenade bag is to design two single grenade bags into one, and the other designs are the same as the single grenade bag.
The single grenade pouch pocket flap is fastened with a snap fastening, and there is also a velcro fastening under the snap closure for a tighter closure
The single grenade pouch has a vertical lanyard on the back with a metal snap at the bottom and the same width as the partition on the MOLLE vest. In addition to the vertical lanyard, there are two horizontal lanyards on the back. It can be attached to a MOLLE vest via a lanyard
A variant of the jungle camouflage specifications of the single grenade bag
The design of the double grenade bag is to design two single grenade bags into one, and the other designs are the same as the single grenade bag
The label of the single grenade bag is printed with the word "SINGLE" on the back of the grenade bag and the label is sewn between the two horizontal hanging straps. On the label, there is a difference in the name of the single grenade bag and the double grenade bag, where the single grenade bag is printed with the word "SINGLE" and the double grenade bag is printed with the word "DOUBULE". Shorter high-explosive grenade pouches and longer illuminated and smoked grenade pouches also differ depending on the name of the type of bomb on the label. In addition, the vests and various small pockets in the MOLLE system initially had two types: forest camouflage and desert camouflage, and later ACU camouflage and other styles were added. Currently, the U.S. Army is equipped with the ACU camouflage style, while the U.S. Marine Corps is equipped with the wolf brown style. Other Accessories Claymore Anti-Personnel Mine Packs In addition to the above-mentioned special carrying equipment designed to carry 40mm grenades, U.S. soldiers often used Claymore anti-personnel mine packs to carry 40mm grenades during the Vietnam War.
The Claymore Anti-Personnel Mine Bag is in the style of a school bag, with double edges on the left, right and bottom edges for reinforcement. The pocket flap is an ordinary rectangular shape, and there is a snap button on the left and right sides of the bottom of the pocket flap for fastening the pocket flap
The inside of the Claymore anti-personnel mine bag is divided into two pockets on the left and right, and the two pockets are separated by stitching in the middle, and the two pockets of the entire bag can hold a total of about 20 rounds of 40mm grenades The Claymore anti-personnel mine package was originally specially designed to carry the Claymore anti-personnel mine and detonation cable. The design is very simple, with double edging on the left, right and bottom edges for reinforcement. It is in the style of a school bag, the pocket flap is a normal rectangle, and there is a snap button on the left and right sides of the bottom of the pocket flap to fasten the pocket flap. In the middle of the back of the pocket cover is sewn a label with the name, number, etc. of the carrying mine printed on the label. The inside of the mine bag is divided into two pockets, left and right, separated by stitching in the middle. A lanyard is attached to the left and right sides of the top of the mine pack to carry the mine pack. Because the Claymore anti-personnel mine bag is relatively simple in design and easier to hold and access grenades, many U.S. soldiers use it to hold 40mm grenades, and the entire bag can hold about 20 40mm grenades in two pockets. In addition, the mine pack can also be used to hold shrapnel and daily necessities. Maintenance Tools & Tool Bags Maintenance tools for the M79 Grenade Launcher include oil cans, wrenches and breech brushes. Wherein, the oil pot is long cylindrical, and the oil pot cover is provided with an oil brush rod; One end of the wrench is provided with two wrench heads of different sizes, while the other end is