The AGI 3×40 (Romanian: Aruncător de Grenade Incendiare cu 3 țevi de calibrul 40 mm, lit. "Grenade launcher with three 40mm barrels") is a Romanian thermobaric rocket launcher.
History
The weapon was produced from 1970 to 1990, and was used by East Germany, Romania and Hungary from 1974 up until the 1990s. The AGI 3×40 fills a niche in the Romanian Army similar to the niche filled by the M202 FLASH in the US Army; in service, the AGI 3×40 replaced the LPO-50 flamethrower, similar to how the M202 replaced the M2 flamethrower in US Army service, as by the 1970s, flamethrowers were already being considered very hazardous and completely obsolete. However, by the end of the 1990s, the weapon itself was considered obsolete due to poor weight balance among other factors. The AGI 3×40 has no direct successor as of now.
Design Details
The AGI 3×40 is a three-shot rocket launcher which resembles three RPG-7s slapped together in a triangular mounting bracket. The weapon lacks any iron sights, and instead relies on a side-mounted scope for sighting. The weapon is electrically-fired; there are no moving parts inside the launch tubes to fire the rockets. The pulse caused by pulling the trigger measures in at 5 volts and 1 ampere. Three rockets can be fired off in two seconds.
Ammunition
The AGI 3×40 uses 40mm incendiary rockets. These rockets highly resemble the rockets used by the RPG-7, and are of the same caliber; this technically allows AGI 3×40 incendiary rockets to be loaded into the RPG-7 and vice versa, though there is no recorded practice of this actually being done. Each rocket weighs a total of 2.25 kilograms (4.96 pounds), with the warhead weighing in at 1.63 kilograms (3.59 pounds). The solid rocket booster weighs in at 0.22 kilograms (0.485 pounds), while the stabilizer wings weigh in at 0.4 kilograms (0.882 pounds). The rockets are filled with an incendiary liquid which burns at 1500-2000°C on impact.
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