Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle

The **Carl-Gustaf recoilless rifle**, or simply called as **Gustav** or **Carl-Gustav**, is an 84-mm man-portable reusable anti-tank weapon originally produced by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori (that later was merged into Saab Bofors Dynamics) in Sweden. Developed in 1946, it was one of the many recoilless rifle designs of that era. While similar weapons have generally disappeared from service, the Carl-Gustaf is still in production and remains in widespread use today. The Carl-Gustaf is a lightweight, low-cost weapon that uses a wide range of ammunition, which makes it extremely flexible and suitable for a wide variety of roles. In MIDF military service, the anti-tank weapon is usually called as the '**Swed-Zooka**' a shortened term for 'Swedish Bazooka'.

The weapon fires a 84×246 mm R high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead that are effective against lightly armoured vehicle and heavy armour of tanks, but not limited against battering rams and armoured ogres. It's also used to engage the Witches Armies' ground soldier and demolish bunker and hideout.

## Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle

### Manufacturer

Saab Bofors Dynamics (formerly Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori)

### Effective firing range

1. 350 to 400 m against moving vehicles2. 500 m against stationary vehicles

3. 1000 m using smoke and high explosive rounds

### Sights

Open (iron) sights; optical 3× laser rangefinder; image intensification system

## **History**

### **Development**

The Carl-Gustaf recoilless rifle was originally developed by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori (that later was merged into Saab Bofors Dynamics) in Sweden.and adapted into the Swedish Armed Force. Developed in 1946, it was one of the many recoilless rifle designs of that era. While similar weapons have generally disappeared from service, the Carl-Gustaf is still in production and remains in widespread use today. The Carl-Gustaf is a lightweight, low-cost weapon that uses a wide range of ammunition, which makes it extremely flexible and suitable for a wide variety of roles.

### **In the Story**

MIDF adopted the M3 variant of the Carl-Gustaf in 1994. The Carl-Gustaf recoilless saw a wide service in the Kingdom of Fantasy due to its easy to carry and reliable firepower. The Carl-Gustaf is also admired by the Fantasian due to its unique appearance that resembles a small cannon; though that most cannon appeared to be large and heavy.

### **Available ammunition**

Here are the list of 8.4cm ammunition used by MIDF's M3 Carl-Gustaf:

#### **Anti-Armour**

1. **84 mm HEAT 751**: A tandem-warhead HEAT round with an effective range of 500 m and ability to penetrate more than 500 mm of armour. Weight is 4 kg.
2. **84 mm HEAT 655CS (Confined Space)**: A "high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) round that can be fired by the 84 mm Carl Gustaf recoilless weapon from within small enclosures."
3. **84 mm HEAT 551**: The primary HEAT round and is a rocket-assisted projectile (RAP). Effective range is up to 700 m (400 m against moving targets) and penetration up to 400 mm of RHA. Ammunition weight is 3.2 kg and muzzle velocity is 255 m/s.

#### **Anti-Personnel**

1. **84 mm ADM 401**: An Area Defence Munition designed as a close-range anti-personnel round. It fires 1100 flechettes over a wide area
2. **84 mm HE 441D**: An HE round, useful in a "lobbed" trajectory to 1,000m, which can be fused to either detonate on impact or as an airburst.

#### **Support**

1. **84 mm ILLUM 545C**: An illuminating star shell, fired up to 2,300 m maximum range, but with an effective envelope of 300 to 2,100 m. Suspended by parachute, the star shell burns for 30 seconds while producing 650,000 candela, providing a 400 to 500 m diameter area of illumination.
2. **84 mm SMOKE 469C**: A smoke round fired like the FFV441, with a range of about 1,300 m. The 3.1 kg round is also fired at 255 m/s.

#### **Multi-Role / Anti-Structure**

1. **84 mm ASM 509**: An Anti-Structure Munition (ASM), designed especially for destroying buildings and other types of urban constructions. The fuse has two modes, impact or a delayed function.
2. **84 mm MT 756**: A Multi-Target (MT) ammunition, designed for combat in built-up areas and for incapacitating an enemy under cover inside a building or some type of fortification. The MT 756 uses a tandem charge.
3. **84 mm HEDP 502**: A High-Explosive, Dual-Purpose (HEDP) round with the ability to be set to detonate on either impact or one-tenth of a second afterwards. Effective range is 1,000 m against dispersed soft targets such as infantry in the open, 500 m against stationary targets and 300 m against moving targets. Minimum range is 15 to 40 m to arm the warhead.

## **Gallery**

The M3 variant fielded by MIDFThe 84 mm HEAT 751The 84 mm HEAT 551The HEAT 655 CSThe 84 mm Area Defense Munition (ADM) 401