United States handed over to Ukraine a single-shot, shoulder-launched M141 Bunker Defeat Munition (BDM) grenade launchers.

Militarnyi informs about this.

The information portal DVIDS of the US Defense Ministry took pictures of the preparation process for sending another batch of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, which arrived in Ukraine on the night of January 22.

Presented photos of preparations for delivery of ammunition dated January 21, 2022.

Airmen and civilians from the 436th Aerial Port Squadron palletize ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine during a foreign military sales mission, – said in the message.

Among the batch of prepared ammunition in tubes there are those that were not previously supplied to Ukraine, (at least this is unknown to the public and the media). We are talking about M141 Bunker Defeat Munition (BDM), or SMAW-D (“disposable”) grenade launchers.

SMAW-D (“Disposable”), is a single-shot, shoulder-launched weapon designed to defeat hardened structures. The warhead is the High Explosive, Dual Purpose (HEDP). It is effective against masonry and concrete bunkers as well as lightly armored vehicles.

M141 Bunker Defeat Munition

A crush switch in its nose that is able to distinguish between hard and soft targets activates the warhead. On soft targets, such as sandbags, the detonation is delayed until the projectile is buried in the target, producing a devastating effect. The warhead detonates immediately on contact with hard targets. The projectile is capable of penetrating up to 200 mm of concrete, 300 mm of brick, or 2.1 m of sandbags.

While BDM is optimized for use against fortifications, it is also capable of destroying unarmored and light armored vehicles.

The launch tube of 83 mm caliber reusable in the rear has an extension for the output of jet gases. The electro-mechanical firing mechanism with the safety lock is mounted in a separate case together with the pistol handle. An optical sight is mounted on top of the pipe. In the SMAW-D version (“disposable”) there is no optical sight and handle.

M141 Bunker Defeat Munition characteristics:

Caliber – 83 mm.

The weight of the weapon is 7.5 kg (unordered).

The full weight – 11.8 kg (high-explosive ammunition).

The length of the launch tub is 825 mm.

The length of the weapon in combat position is 1378 mm.

Sighting devices – optical sight 3.8x; field of view 6 degrees.

The rated missile speed is 220 m/s.

Effective range – up to 500 (250) m.

We remind you that on the night of January 22, the first batch of defense aid (lethal weapons) from the United States arrived at the airport of Kyiv. This is the first of several batches for the new package of security aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine worth USD 200 million.