Photo evidence suggests that Turkish-made 40mm grenade launchers have been delivered to Ukraine.
The photo has emerged online, allegedly depicting Ukrainian armed forces with Turkish grenade launchers. This image is a noteworthy example of an unconventional small arm finding its way onto the Ukrainian battlefield.
Reports from Militarnyi suggest that the Ukrainian Third Separate Assault Brigade has received modern automatic grenade launchers known as RDS40-AGL. These weapons are produced by Repkon Defence, a subsidiary of the Turkish company Repkon, and were introduced in 2022.
Neither side has officially confirmed the transfer of these weapons, leaving questions regarding their acquisition or whether they were part of military assistance.
The RDS40-AGL grenade launcher has a caliber of 40mm (40x53mm), operates on the blowback principle, features left-side ammunition feed with ammunition belts in 32 or 48-round boxes, operates in fully automatic mode, has a maximum range of 2000 meters or more, an effective range of 1500 meters for point targets or 2000 meters for area targets, and a rate of fire ranging from 300 to 375 rounds per minute.