Colt CZ Group, a stalwart in the defense industry, has recently made a significant move by acquiring the Mk 47 automatic grenade launcher. The Mk 47 Striker, a belt-fed, fully automatic, closed-bolt machine gun, is now under the ownership of Colt CZ Group, having purchased the rights from General Dynamics.
During my service in the Marine Corps, the Mk 19 always stood out as a formidable weapon. This All-American machine grenade launcher, a beast in the heavy machine gun category, was first introduced in 1968. While it remains a potent weapon for infantry, light armor, boat crews, and more, it’s worth noting that it’s now 56 years old as of 2024.
Age doesn’t mean it’s terrible, but technology improves. The Mk 47 series represents that improvement. General Dynamics developed the weapon in 2006 at the behest of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane. The Mk 47 makes numerous improvements over the older Mk 19.
These improvements include:
- The Mk 47 reduces weight from 77.6 pounds to 39.6 pounds unloaded with no accessories.
- The weapon uses a closed bolt system, which increases reliability and safety.
- The Mk 47 features an increased effective range from 1500 meters to 1700 meters.
- The weapon uses a short recoil system rather than an API Blowback design, which reduces recoil.
The Mk 47 – Make It Smart
The significant improvement from the Mk 19 to the Mk 47 is utilizing smart grenades. The Mk 47 can use the same high velocity 40mm grenades as the standard Mk 19 and other NATO machine grenade launchers. The compatibility with the Mk285 smart grenade allows military forces to increase their lethality.
The internal programmable fuse allows the weapon to detonate the grenade without the need for impact. This allows the grenade to explode above or beside enemy forces hiding behind cover. The explosion above or beside renders the cover mute, allowing shrapnel and concussive force to eliminate threats. It can effectively hit a threat around a corner.
The grenades pair with a range-finding sighting system to determine the appropriate range. As we’ve seen in the Ukraine, the infantry forces are at a stalemate and meeting in trenches. This is the type of weapon that, when fielded widely, would make that type of warfare unsustainable.
Fielding the Mk 47
Three modern forces have fielded the Mk 47 series. In the United States, special operations have fielded the weapon in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. The Israeli IDF has fielded the weapon in limited numbers, and the Australians purchased 200 of these weapons.
As of this writing, the Mk 47 is not slated to replace the Mk 19 amongst general infantry troops. Conventional forces use the Mk 19 primarily on vehicles, armor, and tripods for defensive purposes. Conventional troops don’t require a lightweight grenade launcher.
The weapon also has its downsides. A lighter weapon does wear quicker, and it requires more money per use hour. While that’s fine for SOCOM, it’s not desirable for big Army. Perhaps improving the durability will be an objective of Colt CZ Group.
The Acquisition
Colt CZ Group’s purchase of the Mk 47 series allows them to enter a market they haven’t tapped in a long time. It represents a larger weapon platform than typical for the modern Colt company. This is a significant acquisition for Colt and might represent a renewed effort to produce high-quality military weapons.
