11 January 2022

Saab details new-generation HE round for Carl-Gustaf M4

by Robin Hughes

An earlier iteration of the Saab-developed FCD 558, with a thumb wheel to adjust the range extending from the lower side of the FCD arrangement. The latest version (not shown) has the range adjuster at the ‘front aspect' of the FCD, in line with the direction of fire. (Saab)

Saab has disclosed the development and series production of a new-generation high-explosive (HE) round for the 84 mm Carl-Gustaf M4 (CGM4) recoilless rifle system.

Designated HE 448, the new round is a significantly enhanced capability evolution of the in-service HE 441D RS (reduced sensitivity) anti-personnel round. While retaining the same multirole airburst/impact fuze functionalities for use against troops in the open, counter-defilade, machine gun position, soft-skinned transport vehicles, or similar targets, the HE 448 development enables, for the first time, fuze settings to be programmed directly into a CGM4 chambered round, with consequent reduced workload on the operator, more rapid and accurate fire, and higher efficiency in combat.

“The HE 448 is the first 84 mm Carl-Gustaf round that will go into series production and into operational service with the ability to communicate, through an advanced sight, with the round in the M4 launcher,” Mats Fagerberg, the head of Marketing and Sales, Ground Combat Systems at Saab, told Janes . “The development connects all the dots in the Carl-Gustaf system: the M4 launcher, an advanced Fire-Control System (FCS) such as the Aimpoint FCS13 or an alternative, like our new FCD 558 Fire-Control Device (FCD), and the round,” he added.

Saab has disclosed the development and series production of a new-generation high-explosive (HE) rou...

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