

While the sailing branch quickly phased out these early grenade-tossing guns, the launcher set the stage for weapons the American military still uses today. The new Mk-18 represented an entirely new class of weapons. The result was an almost anachronistic, hand-cranked grenade launcher that was both easy to operate and relatively light. Navy also got into the quick-firing grenade launcher business. So when the Pentagon cooked up the 40-millimeter grenade in the late 1950s, American engineers wasted little time in developing plans for even faster firing versions. Since the very first firearms appeared on the battlefield, weaponeers have looked for ways to send more bullets at the enemy.


Navy Had a Weird, Hand-Cranked Grenade Launcher
