Under-slung grenade launcher

An under-slung grenade launcher is a grenade launcher that is fitted underneath the barrel of an assault rifle.

Under-slung grenade launchers generally have their own trigger group; to fire, one simply changes grips, disengages the safety, and pulls the trigger. In Western systems, the barrel slides forward or pivots to the side to allow reloading, most fire a 40×46mm grenade cartridge.

Soviet/Russian launchers are instead loaded from the muzzle, with the cartridge casing affixed to the projectile in the style of a mortar shell. For aiming, attached grenade launchers typically use a separate sight attached to the rifle's frame alongside the iron sights, or attach a flip-up sight directly to one of the rifle's sights.

Examples of modern attached grenade launchers are the M203, GP-30, AG36, and FN40GL which mount to service rifles.

A late development is the 3GL from Metal Storm. As with most Metal Storm products, this weapon contains three electrically ignited grenades stacked front-to-back in a single tube to eliminate reloading.

Examples

 * 🇺🇸 United States M203
 * 🇩🇪 Germany/🇬🇧 United Kingdom AG36
 * 🇷🇺 Russia GP-25/30
 * 🇵🇱 Poland wz. 1974
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium GL1
 * 🇩🇪 Germany/🇺🇸 United States M320
 * 🇿🇦 South Africa Milkor 40mm UBGL