Serbian & Croatian 40mm Grenade Launchers in Syria

This past week a Serbian product, the 40mm/6 M11 made by Yugoimport SDPR J.P. was seen in use by the Safwa Islamic Brigade & Suqur al-Shamal opposition groups in northern Aleppo. The launcher isn’t very prevalent outside of Serbia and thus it’s presence in Syria indicates a line of supply that might lead back to Serbia. The 40mm/6 M11 is essentially a copy of the South African Milkor 40x46mm Low-Velocity MGL 6 round grenade launcher developed in the 1980s. Currently Milkor still produces the MGL, licensing the launcher out to various companies across the world.

However, along with the Serbian 40mm/6 M11, there has been a large number of Croatian RBG-6s seen with numerous opposition groups as well. The difference between the Serbian 40mm/6 M11 and the Croatian RBG-6 can be easily seen from afar through the design of the stock. The Serbian version has a telescoping AR stock on a buffer tube, while the Croatian version has a folding AKMS style stock that folds over the sight. The possible connection is that the two launchers both come from countries that almost have borders with each other, thus opening up the possibility that either overtly or covertly, there might be a sole source supply that both are coming from, to Syria. Yugoimport is on record to have had a 400 million dollar deal with Iraq in 2007, so the possibility that these launchers are coming from Iraq isn’t that far off.

Although these launchers can be very effective and capable area fire weapons with HE solutions under 400 meters, the fact remains that the operators of these launchers appear to be poorly trained and aren’t using the sights at times. However, the grenade launchers themselves present a highly mobile and portable, lightweight, indirect fire asset that so far appears many of these groups don’t have when it comes to area fire weapons.

40mm/6 M11

  • Caliber                                                  40 mm
  • No. of grooves in the barrel                    6
  • Groove pitch                                         Progressive
  • Barrel length                                         300 mm
  • Drum capacity                                      6 rounds
  • Drum length                                        140 mm
  • Type of fire                                           single
  • Triggering mechanism                          Double-action
  • Grenade muzzle velocity                     ≥76m/s
  • Weight without ammunition               ≤ 6.0 kg (without sighting device)
  • Length with extended stock                 800 mm
  • Length with insterted stock               725 mm
  • Height                                            335 mm
  • Width                                               160 mm
  • Type of ammunition              40x46mm (NATO-standard)
  • Rate of fire                       ≥12  grenade/min
  • Sighting device                Reflective type
  • Sight scaling                    50m to 350m