V40 Mini-Grenade

Infobox Weapon


name=V40
origin=Netherlands
type=Hand grenade
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service= 1960s - 1984
used_by= Canada, United States
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weight=136 grams
length=6.5 centimeters
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diameter=4 centimeters
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detonation=Pyrotechnic delay fuse - 4 seconds
yield= 5 - 300 meters

The V40 fragmentation grenade was manufactured in the Netherlands, and was in service in the Canadian Forces and the US Armed Forces

The V40 grenade is spherical in shape, 6.5 cm (2.5 in) high, and 4 cm ( 1.5 in) in diameter - approximately the size of a golf-ball. It has a safety pin and safety lever with a safety clip attached to the safety lever.

The steel body of the grenade has 326 squares pressed into its inside face to produceseparate fragments when the explosive fill is detonated. The V40 weighed 136 gm (4.8 oz) and was issued primed from the manufacturer. Fuze delay time was four seconds.This grenade was considered lethal up to a radius of 5 metres (5.5 yards) and dangerous up to 300 m (325 yd) from point of impact. It was commonly referred to as the "Mini-Frag"

Due to its small size, a considerable number could be carried; but small size also made the weapon dangerous when wearing gloves, as the impact of the striker on the primer was difficult to feel. These grenades where in service from the late 1960's to at least 1984.

Trivia

In 2007, a Salvadoran prisoner was found concealing a V40 in his rectum, hoping to use it for a prison escape. [cite web|url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2007-03-02T142437Z_01_N01358298_RTRUKOC_0_US-ELSALVADOR-GRENADE.xml|title=Prisoner caught with grenade where?|publisher=Reuters|date=2007-03-02]

The V40 was used by MACV-SOG and Navy SEAL reconnaissance teams in Vietnam in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their small size allowed number to be carried by an individual making them effective in breaking contact when a small team was engaged by a superior enemy force.

In his novel Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden says that SFC Paul Howe employed "golf ball-sized mini-grenades."

References

External links

* [http://www.army.dnd.ca/ael/pubs/300-008/b-gl-385/007/PT-001/B-GL-385-007-PT-001.pdf 1976 Canadian Forces Manual of Grenades and Pyrotechnics]