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SB 40 LAG

1985 COLD WAR MODERN

History

In 1984, Empresa Nacional Santa Barbara started the design of a domestic 40mm automatic grenade launcher in Spain as a private company. It was subsequently adopted by the Spanish Armed Forces in 1992 (as the SB 40 LAG, also spelled "SB LAG-40") with the first 60 pre-production units.

The weapon is a contemporary of the American Mk 19 and the Soviet Russian AGS-17, which have infiltrated the world's stockpile of portable grenade launchers.

The SB 40 is based on the principle of long recoil, which reduces the stress placed on the frame. It uses a roller locking system to accommodate world standard 40x53mmSR projectiles fired from 24 or 32 round belts.

The belt is housed in a hard ammo box and can be mounted on the left or right side of the receiver, depending on your needs (switching requires some modification of the internal system by the user). The weapon has a rate of fire of 215 rounds per minute and a muzzle velocity of 787 feet per second. Available iron sights allow aiming ranges between 100 and 1,500 meters, while shells are effective up to 2,000 meters.

The angle of attack can vary from line of sight to indirect fire as needed, making the SB 40 a flexible tactical weapon. The system is usually mounted on a heavy duty adjustable tripod, but can also be mounted on trunnion mounts on vehicles, boats and helicopters.

Externally, the SB 40 takes the look of the American Mk 19, with a pronounced rectangular case, a spade grip at the rear and a short barrel at the front. The sight is mounted on top of the receiver as usual, and during initial loading, the cocking handle controls the feed/breech.

Size-wise, the SB 40 is a large gun, although it is portable, weighing over 75 pounds, with an overall length of 38 inches and a sporting barrel of 16.3 inches.

The modern Spanish army uses SB 40s as infantry-level support weapons and mounts them on various four- and six-wheeled armored vehicles and tracked armored personnel carriers. The main problem variant is considered the "40 SB-M1".

Columbia remains the only other prominent operator of the SB 40 system (as of 2013), having accepted a stockpile of SB 40 grenade launchers for installation on its naval patrol boats.