MK19 Grenade Machine Gun

Manufacturer: General Dynamics Armaments

Service: USAF, USMC, US Army, USN

Caliber: 40mm

Weight: 77.6 pounds without mount or tripod

Length: 43.1 inches

Max Range: 2,212 m

The MK19 40mm machine gun is an air-cooled, disintegrating metallic link-belt fed, blowback operated, fully automatic weapon and is crew transportable over short distances with limited amounts of ammunition. It can fire a variety of 40mm grenades. The M430 HEDP 40mm grenade will pierce armor up to two inches thick, and will produce fragments to kill personnel within five meters and wound personnel within 15 meters of the point of impact.

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Associated components are: MK64 Cradle Mount, MOD 5; M3 Tripod Mount; and the AN/TVS-5 Night Vision Sight. The MK19 also mounts in the up-gunned weapons station of the LVTP7A1 model of the AAV and vehicle ring mounts.

The MK19 Grenade Machine Gun supports the troops in offensive and defensive roles. It delivers a heavy volume of accurate and continuous firepower against enemy personnel and lightly armored vehicles. The MK19 can mount on a tripod or on multiple vehicle platforms. It is the primary suppressive weapon for combat support and combat service support units. The weapon can protect motor movements, assembly areas, and supply trains in bivouac.

The MK19 Grenade Machine Gun can defend against hovering rotary-wing aircraft, destroy lightly armored vehicles, fire on suspected enemy positions, and provide high-volume fire into an engagement area and indirect fires from hidden positions. The system increases the capability of U.S. forces to defeat opposing armored,mechanized and infantry forces with high-explosive, dual-purpose ammunition.

The MK19 was originally developed to provide the U.S. Navy with an effective riverine patrol weapon in Vietnam. A Product Improvement Program was initiated in the late 1970s resulting in the MK19 Mod 3.