GM-94

GM-94
GM-94
	GM-94
Type	Pump action grenade launcher
Place of origin	Russia
Service history
Used by	Spetsnaz, FSB, MVD and National Guard
Wars	2005 raid on Nalchik; Libyan Civil War; Crimean Crisis ; 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Production history
Designer	KBP
Manufacturer	KBP
Specifications
Mass	4.8 kg (10.6 lb) unloaded; 5.8 kg (12.8 lb) loaded
Length	810 mm (31.9 in) stock extended; 540 mm (21.3 in) stock folded
Cartridge	43×30mm
Action	Double action
Muzzle velocity	85 m/s (280 ft/s)
Effective firing range	300 m (330 yd)
Maximum firing range	500 m (550 yd)
Feed system	3 round pump action above-barrel tubular magazine
Sights	Iron sights

The GM-94 (Гранатомет Магазинный образца 1994 Granatomet Magazinnyy obraztsa 1994, lit. "magazine-fed grenade launcher, model of 1994") is a pump action grenade launcher for use by Russian special and security forces. Development of the GM-94 grenade launcher began in 1993, under the guidance of Vasilij Gryazev, chief designer of the KBP design bureau (Konstruktorskoye Byuro Priborostroyeniya; (Конструкторское Бюро Приборостроения; KBP), in Tula, Russia. ^[3]

Description

The GM-94 is a short range weapon, allowing it to be used in close urban environments. With a minimum safe distance of only 10 meters,^[4]^[5] the GM-94 is well suited to close, room-to-room fighting. Its simple design and operation allows it to operate in dusty and dirty environments and even after being immersed in water.

The launcher is capable of firing VGM-93.900 high explosive fragmentation, VGM-93.100 thermobaric, VGM-93.300 smoke and VGM-93.200 tear gas canisters, VGM-93.600 rubber slugs and other non-lethal payloads.^[4]

The VGM-93.100 thermobaric grenade contains around 160 grams of explosive filler. It can penetrate up to 8 mm of mild steel or interior wall with its blast, while producing minimal primary fragmentation.^[4]

In June 2005, GM-94 with thermobaric VGM-93.100 ammunition was adopted by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.^[6] In October 2007, the Russian armed forces adopted the launcher designated as LPO-97 (Legkiy Pekhotnyy Ognemet; Легкий Пехотный Огнемет; ‘light infantry flamethrower’)^[3] developed in the KBP Instrument Design Bureau on the basis of the GM-94 with a thermobaric grenade,^[3]^[7] in 2008 GM-94 was adopted for the branches of the Federal Security Service.^[8] The weapon was used in the battle of Nalchik in 2005 and in Crimea 2014.^[9] Though the launcher was initially intended for use by Russian security forces, the GM-94 has been spotted as far afield as Kazakhstan, where it is in service with the Kazakhstani paramilitary police tactical unit Sunkar ("Hawk") and in the hands of non-state combatants during the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in Libya 2011.^[2]

Russian forces have used this weapon to fire non-lethal tear gas grenades on protesters in Ukraine in March 2022.^[10]