The AGS-17 Plamya (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Пламя; ''Flame'') is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-designed

automatic grenade launcher An automatic grenade launcher (AGL) or grenade machine gun is a grenade launcher that is capable of fully automatic fire, and is typically loaded with either an Belt (firearm), ammunition belt or Magazine (firearm), magazine. These weapons are oft ...

in service worldwide.

Description

The AGS-17 is a heavy

infantry support weapon Infantry support guns or battalion guns are artillery weapons designed and used to increase the firepower of the infantry units they are intrinsic to, offering immediate tactical response to the needs of the unit's commanding officer. They typicall ...

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. 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 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1965 by the OKB-16 design bureau (now known as the

KB Tochmash The JSC Precision Engineering Design Bureau named after A. E. Nudelman (), shortened to "KB Tochmash" (), is a missile design bureau located in Moscow. It was founded in 1934 under the designation OKB-16 under the leadership of Yakov Taubin, but ...

), under the leadership of Alexander F. Kornyakov. 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. The AGS-17 was widely operated and well-liked by Soviet troops in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

as a ground support weapon or as a vehicle weapon on improvised mounts installed on armoured personnel carriers and trucks. A special airborne version of the AGS-17, the AG-17A, was developed for installation on helicopters, including the

Mi-24 Hind The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced by the Soviet Air F ...

in gun pods and the

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the ...

on door mounts. This weapon had a thick aluminium jacket on the barrel and used a special mount and an electric remotely controlled trigger. It is still in use with the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

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 The AGS-30 is a Russian automatic grenade launcher currently in production in Russia and in service with the Russian armed forces. Description Designed on the basis of AGS-17, the AGS-30 provides better mobility, longer range and better accuracy ...

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.

RGSh-30

Ukrainian company

Precision Systems Precision, precise or precisely may refer to: Arts and media * ''Precision'' (march), the official marching music of the Royal Military College of Canada * "Precision" (song), by Big Sean * ''Precisely'' (sketch), a dramatic sketch by the Eng ...

developed a

miniaturized Miniaturization ( Br.Eng.: ''miniaturisation'') is the trend to manufacture ever-smaller mechanical, optical, and electronic products and devices. Examples include miniaturization of mobile phones, computers and vehicle engine downsizing. In e ...

handheld version of AGS-17 called

RGSh-30 Ukrainian company Precision Systems developed a miniaturized handheld version of AGS-17 called RGSh-30 "in order to create a grenade launcher that could respond to the needs of Ukrainian units and special forces operating in the Donbas" that can b ...

"in order to create a grenade launcher that could respond to the needs of Ukrainian units and special forces operating in the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

". RGSh-30 is designed to disable armored vehicles. that can be carried like an assault rifle. RGSh-30 uses magazines with five 30mm VOG-17 grenades. Precision Systems plans to develop versions using 20mm, 25mm, and 40mm grenades.

Ammunition

The AGS-17 fires belted cartridges with a steel cartridge case. 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. It was ordered by the Russian Defense Ministry in August 2023. The same month, the Russian troops fighting in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

begun to receive VOG-17 grenades, factory modified for use by commercial drones. The Bulgarian weapons manufacturer Arcus produces AR-ROG hand grenades based on VOG-17 cartridges and (Russian: УЗРГМ), which is also a Soviet design of fuse. Similar improvised grenades are known as " khattabkas". * VOG-17M (HE) * IO-30 (HE) * IO-30TP (Practice) * VOG-30 (HE) * VOG-30D (HE) * VUS-30 (Smoke)

Users

Current

* Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). . * * : Imported * * : A modernized version, the AGL-30M, produced locally by

Arsenal AD JSC Arsenal AD () is a Bulgarian joint-stock company based in Kazanlak, engaged primarily in the manufacture of firearms and military equipment. It is Bulgaria's oldest arms supplier. History The company's history can be traced back to 1878 w ...

with documentation from DSO Metalhim . * * : Produced by Norinco based on captured examples from Mujahideen groups. * * * : Used during Cenepa War 1995. * * : Produced under license. * * * : Designated the M93. * * * * * * : Designated the M93 Produced under license. * * * * : Used by the

Sudanese Armed Forces The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. The force strength has been estimated at personnel in 2011 (by IISS), 200,000 personnel before the current war in Sudan broke out in 2023 (by the CIA), and ...

, some captured by the

Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

* * * : Made under license in Z125 Factory. Known under the Vietnamese industrial name of SPL-17.

Former

* * : designated ''30 KrKK AGS-17'', replaced by the HK GMG in 2005. * : Used in the 1990s, now replaced by the HK GMG. * : Passed on to successor states.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ags-17 Automatic grenade launchers Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union Grenade launchers of the Soviet Union KBP Instrument Design Bureau products Military equipment introduced in the 1970s