M79

The M79 was a standard single-shot, squad-support weapon that made its initial appearance with American troops during the Vietnam War. The system could lob a grenade projectile several hundred meters away and stop light-armored vehicles or flush out enemy elements from dug-in or elevated positions.

The M79 was designed to launch a variety of ammunition types including HE, flechette, buckshot, smoke and non-lethal rounds. The system itself was very simplistic, featuring a breech-loading component with static iron sights (the user would load the weapon by folding the barrel portion forward, similar to what is done to load some shotgun types). A folding 'ladder' sight was also prominently integrated for elevated-range firing. The single-shot capability proved to be a major drawback as the user was unable to keep up any well-respected rate of fire on enemy positions for suppression purposes.

If anything, the M79 proved a major step forwards in the American development of the underslung rifle-attached grenade launcher seen today in the form of the M203 40mm grenade launcher. World War Two-era grenades were launched from the barrel of a basic infantry rifle. An underslung grenade launcher was, in fact, trialed in the Vietnam War as the XM148, which undoubtedly paved the way for the M203 40mm launcher. Recent trial rifles have seen an increase in the integrated 20mm grenade launcher systems, possibly signaling a trend for next-generation rifle systems to follow.

The M79 grenade launcher may also be known as the "Bloop Tube", "Blooper", "Thumper" or "Thump-Gun". In it's current form, the M79 is in limited use around the globe, some seeing police duty in the crowd-control role.

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