A 40-mm Taubin-Belgoltsev AG-2 automatic mounted grenade launcher (A.G.-T.B. 2-8) Prototype sample, USSR

A 40-mm Taubin-Belgoltsev AG-2 automatic mounted grenade launcher (A.G.-T.B. 2-8) Prototype sample, USSR

WWI showed that the extensive use of machine guns was not the only way to achieve a significant increase in firepower in infantry units. Another possibility was to further upgrade a fundamentally new weapon type — grenade launchers.

In 1936-1939, the world’s first automatic grenade launcher was created in the OKB-16 design bureau under the direction of Ya. G. Taubin. Ground and operational tests conducted at the Karelian Front in January 1940 showed its high effectiveness, although the weapon required finalization.

However, the Main Artillery Directorate did not manage to identify the place of the automatic grenade launcher in the armaments system. Furthermore, significant efforts were being put into the creation of new mortar systems. The situation resulted in the discontinuation of work on the grenade launcher.

Weapons of this kind proved their effectiveness decades later. In 1972, the Soviet Army accepted into service the AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher, a direct descendant of the 40-mm Taubin-Belgoltsev AG-2 automatic mounted grenade launcher.