Ukrainian Armed Forces have received a new batch of MK19 40 mm automatic grenade launchers from the United States to help the country fend off a potential Russian invasion, according to Ukrmilitary.com.
The U.S. Air Force released pictures showing new pallet loads of small arms ammunition, along with grenade launchers inside a Boeing 747 after it arrived at Boryspil International Airport.
Twitter user @thelema_boy_ was among the first to draw attention to the identification code NSN 1010-01-490-9697, which can be seen on one of the “black pallets”.
According to the NATO Multilingual Supply Classification Handbook and Item Name Directory (ACodP-2), which has also been introduced in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine under the name “Common Classifier of Supplies”, NSN code 1010-01-490-9697 corresponds to such a supply item as ” Machine Gun, 40mm, MK19 Mod III “, or in Ukrainian – 40-mm automatic grenade launcher Mark 19 Mod 3.
According to the number of “black pallets” in the photos taken during the loading of the plane, which was made public by the US military, it can be concluded that only on January 28 several hundred Mk19 grenade launchers were delivered to Ukraine.
The Mk19 was originally designed in 1966, the MOD 3 variant was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1983 and remains in service to the present day. Reliable and portable grenade weapon system suited for light infantry vehicles and tripod applications.
The MK19 MOD 3 is an air cooled, blow-back operated, belt-fed, automatic weapon that fires 40-millimeter grenades from ground mounts and vehicles. It can fire a variety of 40mm grenades. The M430 HEDP 40mm grenade will pierce armor up to 2 inches thick, and will produce fragments to kill personnel within 5 meters and wound personnel within 15 meters of the point of impact.
The U.S. Army currently uses the MK19 within the tactical environment for defense, retrograde, patrolling, rear area security, urban operations, and special operations.