A deactivated M40 on display at the Philippine Army Museum
Type
Recoilless rifle
Place of origin
United States
Service history
In service
1955 – present
Used by
See Users
Wars
List of Conflicts
Vietnam War
Suez Crisis
Algerian War[1]
Portuguese Colonial War
Cambodian Civil War
Laotian Civil War
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965[2]
Six-Day War[3]
Western Sahara War
Angolan Civil War[4]
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War[5]
Rhodesian Bush War
Nicaraguan Revolution
Third Indochina War
Soviet–Afghan War
Iran–Iraq War
Lebanese Civil War[6]
Salvadoran Civil War[7]
Chadian–Libyan conflict[8]
Somali Civil War[9]
1989 Philippine coup d'état attempt
Gulf War[10]
War in Afghanistan[11]
Libyan Civil War[12]
Syrian Civil War[11]
Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)[13]
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)[14]
Production history
Manufacturer
Watervliet Arsenal
Specifications
Mass
209.5 kg (462 lb)
Length
3.404 m (11 ft 2 in)
Height
1.12 m (3 ft 8 in)
Shell
105×607mmR (HEAT, HEP, HEAP, Canister)
Caliber
105 mm (4.1 in)
Recoil
Recoilless
Carriage
Tripod
Elevation
−17° to +65° (between mount legs) −17° to +27° (over mount leg)[15]
Traverse
360°
Muzzle velocity
503 m/s (1,650 ft/s)[15] (M344 HEAT)
Effective firing range
1,350 m (1,480 yd)
Maximum firing range
6,870 m (M346A1 HEP-T)[16]
The M40 recoilless rifle[17][18][19][20] is a portable, crew-served 105 mm recoilless rifle made in the United States. Intended primarily as an anti-tank weapon, it could also be employed in an antipersonnel role with the use of an antipersonnel-tracer flechette round. The bore was commonly described as being 106 mm caliber but is in fact 105 mm; the 106 mm designation was intended to prevent confusion with incompatible 105 mm ammunition from the failed M27.[18] The air-cooled, breech-loaded, single-shot rifle fired fixed ammunition and was used primarily from a wheeled ground mount. It was designed for direct firing only, and sighting equipment for this purpose was furnished with each weapon, including an affixed spotting rifle.
Ontos M50A1 with six 105 mm M40 recoilless rifles
A limited number of M50 Ontos were built as a self-propelled light armored tracked anti-tank vehicle. They had six 105 mm M40 recoilless rifles as its main armament, which could be fired in rapid succession against a single target to guarantee a kill.
Replacing the M27 recoilless rifle, the M40 primarily saw action during the Vietnam War and was widely used during various conflicts thereafter in Africa or in the Middle East. It was replaced by the BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missile system in the US Armed Forces.
^Cite error: The named reference France was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Higgins, David R. (20 Jan 2016). M48 Patton vs Centurion: Indo-Pakistani War 1965. Duel 71. Osprey Publishing. p. 71. ISBN 9781472810922.
^Dunstan, Simon (10 Oct 2009). The Six Day War 1967: Sinai. Campaign 212. Osprey Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 9781846033636.
^Neville 2018, p. 20.
^"Arms for freedom". 29 December 2017. Archived from the original on April 7, 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
^Neville 2018, p. 15.
^Cite error: The named reference Latin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Neville 2018, p. 16.
^Neville 2018, p. 21.
^Neville 2018, pp. 40, 42.
^ abCite error: The named reference Syria was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Neville 2018, pp. 12, 34–35.
^"La 52ème brigade de la mobilisation populaire chiite, milice turkmène pro-iranienne en Irak". France Soir (in French). 16 August 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
^Neville 2018, p. 38.
^ ab"Anti Tank weapons". official web site of the South African army. Retrieved 2011-05-08.[permanent dead link]
^U.S. Army Technical Manual 43-0001-28, p. 5-27, April 1994.
^"M40 - Weaponsystems.net". weaponsystems.net. Archived from the original on 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
^ abHogg 1988, pp. 415−416.
^"Recoilless Weapons" (PDF). Small Arms Survey Research Notes (55). December 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
^Bob Stoner GMCM (SW) Ret. (2005). "M40A1 105MM Recoilless Rifle with M8C Spotting Rifle". Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
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