U.S. Army to procure new 40mm M320 grenade launchers

The U.S. Army is set to procure a new batch of 40mm M320 and 40mm M320A1 grenade launchers designed to attach to a rifle or be fired independently, the Army Contracting Command announced in Jul. 30 notice posted to the U.S. government’s main contracting website.

In a notice posted on the Federal website, the Army Contracting Command announced the Government anticipates issuing a formal request for proposal, on or around 30 August 2019, to procure new M320 and M320A1 Grenade Launcher Modules (GLMs).

“The Government intends to award a single award IDIQ contract with a five year ordering period on a best value trade-off basis. Delivery orders will be issued on a Firm-Fixed-Price basis,” said in the notice adding that “the estimated quantities expected to be ordered during the ordering period are 1,000 40mm M320 GLMs and 15,000 40mm M320A1 GLMs.”

M320 Grenade Launcher Module (GLM) is the U.S. military’s designation for a new single-shot 40 mm grenade launcher system to replace the M203 for the U.S. Army, while other services initially kept using the older M203.

The M320 has three major parts: a grenade launcher with a rifled barrel, Day/Night Sight (DNS) produced by Insight Technology, Inc and a handheld Laser Range Finder (LRF).

The M320 can be used as a weapon itself or attached to a carbine rifle. The heavier barrel causes the weapon to have a longer lifespan because the more rounds fired through a lighter barrel can deteriorate accuracy much quicker than a thicker one.

The M320 has a removable stock that can be attached to the weapon to allow it to fire as its own weapon. Another of the features Soldiers prefer is how the weapon is loaded. While the M203 was loaded by pushing the barrel forward, the M320’s breach swings open with the press of a button to allow loading from the side.

Photo by Jason Johnston

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