The Army's souped-up new M3 recoilless rifle is headed downrange sooner than you think

Defense Department

After more than a year testing a handful of major upgrades to the shoulder-fired M3 recoilless rifle, the Army is racing to dole out more than 1,000 of the brutal anti-tank bazooka system to lucky soldiers around the world.

On Sept. 6, the branch announced that it had approved 1,111 M3E1 recoilless rifles for immediate use as a lightweight, reusable replacement to the standard 84mm M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System (MMAAWS), better known as the M3 Carl Gustaf, that emerged as a staple of Army Ranger and Navy SEAL arsenals in 1994.

Developed for both the Army and the U.S. Special Operations Command, the M3E1 is a significantly lighter and less cumbersome anti-tank system than its predecessor, according to officials with the Army Research, Development and Engineering Command at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The weapon was designed in collaboration with Swedish manufacturer Saab Bofors Dynamics, godfather of the original Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle, as part of foreign technology program initiated in 2012 to save R&D dollars.

In response to soldier and special operator feedback, the M3E1’s new titanium shell reduces the system’s weight by 6 pounds and length by 2.5 inches, swaddling the bazooka in an adjustable new carrying harness and shoulder padding. But more importantly, the Army hopes its re-engineered new bazooka will give troops a deadly capability they haven’t always enjoyed downrange: the ability to fire multiple shots with the same weapon.

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