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Improved Weapon Required for Urban Warfare

Aug 10, 2020

photo illus. by Wiikmedia — Special Operation Forces from 9 different nations participate in the International Special Training Center's Advanced Close Quarter Battle course the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command’s at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, May 22, 2014. The International Special Training Centre in Pfullendorf, Germany provides centralized training for NATO Special Forces and similar units in Europe. (U.S. Army Photo by Visual Information Specialist Gertrud Zach/Released) (This photo was manipulated with a blur filter on faces)

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Urban warfare has its own characteristics, and weapon systems have to adjust to specific requirements. The Marine Corps wants to field an improved version of the shoulder-fired M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW) that features a reduced flash and backblast signature that’s less detectable than an M9 pistol when fired at night from inside enclosed structures.

The US Army recently released a request for proposal on behalf of the Marines for the M72 LAW Fire from Enclosure (FFE) munition, according to a news release from Marine Corps Systems Command. “It is a shoulder-fired rocket that you can fire from inside an enclosure, room or bunker,” Richard Dooley, a project officer for Maneuver Ammunition and Missile Programs with Systems Command’s Program Manager for Ammunition, said in the release.

The M72 LAW FFE is a compact, lightweight, single-shot rocket system that features an improved launcher, enhanced in-line trigger mechanism and improved design.

The improved FFE capability, which the Corps hopes to field in fiscal 2022, will create a reduced noise and flash signature so Marines can maintain a covered and concealed position and reduce the chance of enemy detection.

According to military.com , the M72 FFE will have two configurations: the M72A8 anti-armor and the M72A10 multi-purpose, anti-structure munition. The anti-armor warhead improves armor penetration, while the multi-purpose warhead gives Marines the added capability of an anti-structure round capable of eliminating hardened structures, such as buildings.

Marine officials described the new FFE as one of the “most lethal, dependable and flexible munitions available in the world today.”