On Monday we had an unique opportunity to fire the new Rheinmetall Squad Support Weapon 40 or SSW40 at the company’s Unterlüß facility, reports Carl Schulze.
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Designed by Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH, the Squad Support Weapon 40 or SSW40 utilises the new 40x46mm Medium Velocity (MV) ammunition designed by the company which gives the magazine-fed weapon, operated like an assault rifle, an effective range of out to 900 metres.
Since the times of the Vietnam War, handheld 40mm grenade launchers have formed part of the weapon mix of the infantry sections of the armies of various nations. With these weapons a wide range of 40x46mm (i.e. 40mm diameter by 46mm long) Low Velocity (LV) high-low pressure cartridges can be employed, including types such as High-Explosive, Dual-Purpose, Illumination and Smoke. Weapons available today include breach loading and revolver type systems with a maximum effective range of 400 metres. Back when initially fielded, the 40mm weapons increased the firepower of infantry sections drastically and on top allowed them to engage targets behind cover.
Fielding of automatic grenade launchers began in the eighties, utilising the more powerful 40x53mm High Velocity (HV) cartridge. Often also referred to as grenade machine guns, these crew-served or vehicle-mounted weapons feature a maximum effective range of 2,200 metres. Again, a wide range of ammunition for these weapons is available including High-Explosive and Dual-Purpose cartridges.
Currently Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH is developing a new type of handheld 40mm grenade launcher, the Squad Support Weapon 40. The aim of this work being to fill an existing capability gap in the range of 40mm grenade launchers; namely offering a handheld system that can be employed against targets out to 900 metres. First live-fire tests with the SSW40 were conducted in 2024 and right now the SSW40 is being put through various company and customer qualification programmes.
The magazine-fed Squad Support Weapon 40 utilise a newly developed new generation of 40mm cartridge, the 40x46mm Medium Velocity (MV). Ammunition available will include, among other types, High Explosive (airburst/point detonating), High Explosive Dual Purpose (armour piercing, airburst/point detonating), Illumination, Smoke and Door Breaching cartridges. The ammunition features a muzzle velocity of 120m/s and a recoil impulse of <30Ns (undampened).
The SSW40 Described: The SSW40 is a semi-automatic, magazine-fed, 40mm calibre, shoulder-fired, grenade launcher. It has a theoretical rate of fire of 300 rounds a minute. Without ammunition and sight, it weighs just 4,000g. The housing and barrel of the SSW40 are made of aluminium, while its fully encapsulated bolt is made of steel. The SSW40 is 800mm long, 70mm wide and with a five round magazine inserted it is 400mm high.
Its ergonomics allow the grenade launcher to be handled like a standard assault rifle. Shooting the weapon can be performed in various position, prone, kneeling and standing, with the weapon being held freely or rested on a supporting feature. The trigger weight of the weapon can be adjusted, upon customer specifications.
A self-regulating damping system allows the weapon to fire the newly designed 40x46mm Medium Velocity (MV), as well as all NATO standard 40x46mm Low Velocity (LV) cartridges. The self-regulating damping system also reduces user stress to a minimum. Whilst being a magazine-fed weapon, the SSW40 also incorporates a break action barrel feature, which allows the loading of extended length special purpose cartridges, such as ones that contain loitering munitions or miniature drones.
Sights are attached to the optic / optronic receiver, by use of a standard Picatinny Rail. The receiver incorporates a manual ballistic compensator, including tables for the LV and MV ammunition. When fitted with a Fire Control Unit, Airburst Munition and IR Programmer the SSW40 can be utilised to fire Airburst Munition (ABM).
The SSW40 was originally designed as a shoulder-fired weapon. However, Rheinmetall designers are also working on options to operate the weapon with a bi-pod or fitted on a ring mount. Magazines available for the weapon currently include three, four and five round models. The development of other options, such as an auto feeder is underway.
Operating the SSW 40: The magazine-fed Squad Support Weapon 40 is handled similar to an assault rifle. At Unterlüß it took me only minutes to understand the procedures.
With the safety catch on and the break action barrel opened, you first cock the weapon. This is done by unlocking its stock and pulling it backward. Then it is pushed forward again. Now you insert a magazine into the weapon. Then you break the barrel of the weapon, insert a cartridge, and then flip it up and close it. Another option can be feeding directly from the magazine with automatic bolt-release. For firing the weapon, you now only need to push the safety catch all the way down to the firing position and pull the trigger.
At Unterlüß I fired the weapon with practice training cartridges at various targets at distances out to 500 metres. The first thing I noticed when firing the weapon is that its recoil is similar to a breach-loading grenade launcher utilising 40x46mm LV cartridges, but the SSW40 utilises the much more powerful 40x46mm MV cartridge that offers twice the effective range.
The weapon is also surprisingly accurate. While the accuracy of the 40x46mm LV is often affected by the environment due to its high trajectory and low speed, the 40x46mm MV featuring a much lower trajectory is surprisingly accurate, even in a breeze; I managed to purposely fire through the open window of a car at 250 metres. Being semi-automatic is another welcome feature of the SSW40. Utilising a three-round magazine and having a fourth cartridge in the breech, you can unleash a lot of firepower in a couple of seconds.
Conclusion: The Squad Support Weapon 40 is a vast improvement when compared with current issue handheld 40mm grenade launchers. Issued to an infantry section it would improve its firepower considerably, including its ability to engage targets behind cover at distances out to 900 metres. Due to it being semi-automatic it allows for rapid fire, for example to suppress a superior enemy force. Looking cumbersome at the first glance, the weapon features ergonomics similar to an assault rifle and is both quite handy and easy to handle. Safely operating it is a skill that can be learned within minutes by a trained military firearms user like myself.
The SSW40 offers a great first round first hit capability, based on the low and fast flight trajectory of the 40x46mm MV ammunition. Another pro is that the SSW40 can be used with a Fire Control Unit and can use airburst ammunition. This author believes that the Squad Support Weapon 40 will be useful add-on to the weapons mix of infantry sections and increase their firepower by far.
[text and images © Carl Schulze unless noted]
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