On November 4th, a Saudi Arabian soldier fighting in Yemen battlefield uploaded a new equipment photo. From the shape of the equipment, it can be identified that this is LG5 40mm sniper grenade launcher – the export version of China military’s QLU-11, which was developed by Hunan Institute of Weapons of China.
In recent years, LG5/QLU-11 40mm sniper grenade launcher has appeared in Zhuhai Air Show and domestic weapons exhibitions for times, but it is still the first time seen overseas. The LG5/QLU-11 Sniper is a new weapon system that combines precise killing power of a sniper rifle with surface killing power of a grenade launcher. It not only has the ability to accurately hit the bunker perforation at 600 meters but can also upgrade air-blast kit and attack targets after bunkers.
The LG5/QLU-11 sniper system is capable of both a lightweight state with a bipod and a heavy-duty state using a tripod. In the light state, the transmitter is equipped with a butt and a pistol grip. It is generally used for 4 rounds of drums weighing less than 1 kg. In the absence of a drum, the total weight is 13 kilograms, and the burden on the infantry is not very large. In terms of aiming mode, the LG5 is equipped with an OS14 white light sight and an OS10 photoelectric sight, as well as a simple fire control sight. It adopts a semi-automatic shooting mode, and the shooting accuracy is 3 meters. The R100 is less than 1 meter in the distance of 600 meters, which is enough to ensure attack on bunker perforation.
When using the OS14 white light sight, the LG5/QLU-11 can attack target of up to 2,200 meters away. If equipped with OS10 type of photoelectric sight, it can accurately attack 800-meter light armor target and bunker fire point. In terms of launch tube life and failure rate, LG5 has achieved a life of more than 2000 rounds and a failure rate of less than 0.3%. The reliability is good, but in Yemen desert area, it is necessary to pay attention to maintenance, to prevent sand dust accumulation inside the launch tube and re-entry mechanism.
The heavy-duty LG5/QLU-11 removes the butt and pistol grips, uses a crossbar grip that is easy to hold with both hands, and is used with a tripod. And a 15 round drum is used to facilitate continuous shooting. If the drum is not included, the total weight is about 25 kg. Since there is no burst shooting function, the shooting is relatively easy to control, and there is no need to do too much processing on the tripod, but simple fixing is still needed. The tripod can provide a maximum angle of 35 degrees, with an ability to hit a target of up to 2,200 meters. And a mechanical angle sight is provided in addition to the light sight.
For ammunition, the LG5/QLU-11 uses 40x53mm grenade. The manufacturer mainly supplies BGJ5 armor-killing bullets, BGJ3 armor-piercing grenade and BGL3 type killing grenade. Among them, BGJ5 and BGJ3 are used to deal with light armor targets within 800 meters, as well as bunker perforations and building doors and windows within 600 meters. The thickness of the armor can reach 80mm, and the kill radius is more than 7 meters. BGL3 type of anti-personnel grenade is used to deal with targets within 2200 meters and fire points within 800 meters. Its killing radius is also greater than 7 meters, and the fragment density is larger than BGJ5.
In addition to the above conventional grenade, LG5/QLU-11 can also be upgraded with the air-blast kit to LG5A, adding the ability to use the BGL3A air-flooding grenade.
This air-blast kit mainly includes OS23 simple fire control and muzzle fuze binding device. The weight of the kit is less than 2.8 kg, adopting a method of timing based on rotating number. The fire control calculates the number of rotations required for the grenade to fly above the target based on the results of laser ranging, and then binds it to the fuze. When the grenade flies to the bound number of rotations, it is located at the top of the target, and the fragment would hit the hidden target into a hornet’s nest.