AGS-17

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title: "AGS-17" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["automatic-grenade-launchers", "cold-war-weapons-of-the-soviet-union", "grenade-launchers-of-the-soviet-union", "kbp-instrument-design-bureau-products", "military-equipment-introduced-in-the-1970s"] topic_path: "history/military" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGS-17" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox weapon"]

FieldValue
is_rangedyes
image30-мм автоматический гранатомет АГС-17 Пламя.jpg
image_size300
captionAGS-17 mounted on tripod.
nameAGS-17 Plamya
typeAutomatic grenade launcher
originSoviet Union
designerKB Tochmash
manufacturerMolot Plant
cartridge
design_date1967
production_date1967
service1970–present
used_bySee Users
wars{{Plainlist
* Soviet–Afghan War<ref name"Encyclopedie"
* South African Border War<ref name"Encyclopedie"/
* Ivorian Civil Wars{{sfnde Tessières
* Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile<ref name"Kordofan"/
* Syrian Civil War{{cite newsurl
* Russo-Ukrainian War{{Cite weburl
* Yemeni Civil War (2014–present){{Cite weburl
caliber30 mm
feed29 grenades belt
actionBlowback
rate400 round/min
velocity185 m/s
range800 to 1,700 m
mass31 kg
weight31 kg
length840 mm
sightsAdjustable iron sights, optional mount required for optical sights
variantsAG-17A helicopter-mounted version
::

| is_ranged = yes | image = 30-мм автоматический гранатомет АГС-17 Пламя.jpg | image_size = 300 | caption = AGS-17 mounted on tripod. | name = AGS-17 Plamya | type = Automatic grenade launcher | origin = Soviet Union | designer = KB Tochmash | manufacturer = Molot Plant | cartridge = | design_date = 1967 | production_date = 1967 | service = 1970–present | used_by = See Users | wars = {{Plainlist|

The AGS-17 Plamya (Russian: Пламя; Flame) is a Soviet-designed automatic grenade launcher in service worldwide.

Description

The AGS-17 is a heavy infantry support weapon designed to operate from a tripod or mounted on an installation or vehicle. The AGS-17 fires 30 mm grenades in either direct or indirect fire to provide suppressive and lethal fire support against soft-skinned or fortified targets.

The weapon uses a blowback mechanism to sustain operation. Rounds are fired through a removable (to reduce barrel stress) rifled barrel.

The standard metal ammunition drum contains 29 linked rounds.

The tripod is equipped with fine levelling gear for indirect fire trajectories.

Development

Development of the AGS-17 (Avtomaticheskiy Granatomyot Stankovyi—Automatic Grenade launcher, Mounted) started in the USSR in 1965 by the OKB-16 design bureau (now known as the KB Tochmash), under the leadership of Alexander F. Kornyakov.

This lightweight weapon was to provide infantry with close to medium range fire support against enemy personnel and unarmored targets, like trucks, half-tracks, jeeps and sandbag-protected machine-gun nests. The first prototypes of the new weapon entered trials in 1969, with mass production commencing in 1971. The AGS-17 was widely operated and well-liked by Soviet troops in Afghanistan as a ground support weapon or as a vehicle weapon on improvised mounts installed on armoured personnel carriers and trucks.

A special airborne version of the AGS-17, the AG-17A, was developed for installation on helicopters, including the Mi-24 Hind in gun pods and the Mil Mi-8 on door mounts. This weapon had a thick aluminium jacket on the barrel and used a special mount and an electric remotely controlled trigger.

It is still in use with the Russian army as a direct fire support weapon for infantry troops; it is also installed in several vehicle mounts and turrets along with machine guns, guided rocket launchers and sighting equipment. It is being replaced by the AGS-30 launcher, which fires the same ammunition, but weighs only 16 kg unloaded on the tripod and has an upgraded blowback action.

Variants

  • AG-17A - remotely controlled aircraft-mounted version with an electric trigger mechanism.
  • AGS-17D - remotely controlled vehicle-mounted version with an electric trigger mechanism.

Ammunition

The AGS-17 fires belted cartridges with a steel cartridge case. Two types of ammunition are commonly fired from the AGS-17. The VOG-17M is the version of the original 30 mm grenade ammunition, which is currently available and has a basic high explosive fragmentation warhead. The VOG-30 is similar, but contains a better explosive filling and an enhanced fragmentation design that greatly increases the effective blast radius. New improved VOG-30D grenade was taken into service in 2013 for use with AGS-17 and AGS-30 grenade launchers. It was ordered by the Russian Defense Ministry in August 2023. The same month, the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine begun to receive VOG-17 grenades, factory modified for use by commercial drones.

The Bulgarian weapons manufacturer Arcus produces AR-ROG hand grenades based on VOG-17 cartridges and (Russian: УЗРГМ), which is also a Soviet design of fuse. Similar improvised grenades are known as "khattabkas".

  • VOG-17M (HE)
  • IO-30 (HE)
  • IO-30TP (Practice)
  • VOG-30 (HE)
  • VOG-30D (HE)
  • VUS-30 (Smoke)

Users

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/AGS-17_Plamya_Users.png" caption="Map with AGS-17 Plamya users in blue and former users in red]]"] ::

Current

  • Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
  • Angola
  • Armenia: Imported
  • Bulgaria: A modernized version, the AGL-30M, produced locally by Arsenal AD with documentation from DSO Metalhim .
  • Chad
  • China: Produced by Norinco based on captured examples from Mujahideen groups.
  • Cuba
  • Czech Republic
  • Ecuador: Used during Cenepa War 1995.
  • Georgia
  • Iraq: Produced under license.
  • Islamic State
  • Ivory Coast
  • Montenegro: Designated the M93.
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar
  • Nicaragua
  • North Korea
  • Russia
  • Serbia: Designated the M93 Produced under license.
  • Sierra Leone
  • Slovakia
  • Somalia
  • Sudan: Used by the Sudanese Armed Forces, some captured by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North
  • Syria
  • Vietnam: Made under license in Z125 Factory. Known under the Vietnamese industrial name of SPL-17.

Former

  • Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Finland: designated 30 KrKK AGS-17, replaced by the HK GMG in 2005.
  • Latvia: Used in the 1990s, now replaced by the HK GMG.
  • Soviet Union: Passed on to successor states.

References

  • {{Cite book | last = Koll | first = Christian | title = Soviet Cannon: A Comprehensive Study of Soviet Arms and Ammunition in Calibres 12.7mm to 57mm | publisher = Koll | year = 2009 | location = Austria | url = http://www.russianammo.org | isbn = 978-3-200-01445-9 | page = 239

References

  1. (1986). "AGS-17 en Afghanistan". Atlas.
  2. André Du Pisani. (1988). "Beyond the Barracks: Reflections on the Role of the SADF in the Region". The South African Institute of International Affairs.
  3. (28 June 2018). "Syrie: comment al-Qaïda reprend pied en zone djihadiste".
  4. "- YouTube".
  5. "- YouTube".
  6. "Grenade Launchers and their Ammunition: International Developments".
  7. "AGS-17 - Automatic grenade launcher".
  8. (28 October 2010). "AGS-17". Modern Firearms.
  9. "History".
  10. "From 25mm to 30mm - the Russian Ammunition Page".
  11. "Tłumacz Google".
  12. "AGL-17 Automatic Grenade Launcher | Armaco JSC. Bulgaria".
  13. "Russian Defense Ministry awards $4.15 BLN worth contracts to defense industry companies".
  14. "ЦАМТО / / Российские войска на передовой начали получать заводские боеприпасы для применения с коммерческих коптеров".
  15. "Arcus AR-ROG defensive hand grenade (Bulgaria), Grenades - Hand".
  16. (2008). "Ручные и ружейные гранаты". Arktika 4D.
  17. Jones, Richard D. Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). {{ISBN. 978-0-7106-2869-5.
  18. "Armor of the Afghanistan War: No. 2009 (Firepower Pictorials Special S.) - Zaloga, Steven; Luczak, Wojciech; Beldam, Barry: 9789623619097 - AbeBooks".
  19. "Azerbaijan fires AGS-17 grenade launcher at Nagorno Karabakh line of contact".
  20. "Azerbaijani forces fire AGS-17 grenade launcher at north-eastern direction of NK line of contact".
  21. [http://www.arsenal-bg.com/defense_police/30%20mm%20AGL-30M.htm 30 mm ARSENAL Automatic Grenade Launcher AGL-30M] {{webarchive. link. (2013-01-05)
  22. "Archived copy".
  23. "A new generation of AGLs: within only a few decades the Automatic Grenade Launcher (AGL) has leapt from the concept stage to becoming a widely accepted and valued infantry support weapon, providing the foot soldier with a highly effective area fire suppression system.".
  24. (3 October 2012). "Algunas armas utilizadas en la guerra del Cenepa (1995)".
  25. "Armament of the Georgian Army".
  26. (27 September 2017). "Mourir pour le califat 116/" En vérité, ils seront noyés "-Wilayat al-Raqqa".
  27. de Tessières, Savannah. (April 2012). "Enquête nationale sur les armes légères et de petit calibre en Côte d'Ivoire: les défis du contrôle des armes et de la lutte contre la violence armée avant la crise post-électorale". [[United Nations Development Programme.
  28. "南海点兵 | 缅甸陆军位列"中南半岛三强"之一，曾令泰国恐慌 - 三河新闻网".
  29. US Department of Defense. "North Korea Country Handbook 1997, Appendix A: Equipment Recognition".
  30. [https://mil.ru/news/e16ee03b-7e7d-48f9-94f7-54935ca5eebc Мотострелки ЦВО уничтожили условного противника в ходе практических занятий по боевой подготовке на полигоне в Кузбассе] // официальный интернет-сайт министерства обороны РФ от 30 сентября 2025
  31. Small Arms Survey. (2008). "Small Arms Survey 2008: Risk and Resilience". [[Cambridge University Press]].
  32. (2013). "World Infantry Weapons: Sierra Leone".
  33. "Vcvikov tde v Prpore vcviku Martin".
  34. (March 2013). "New war, old enemies: Conflict dynamics in South Kordofan". Small Arms Survey.
  35. At the border of Jobar and Zamalka.] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-04-06 16 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.)
  36. "Turkey ags".
  37. "Việt Nam sản xuất súng bắn 400 phát/Phút, xa gần 2km - Vũ Khí - NetNews.vn".
  38. [http://quocphong.baodatviet.vn/Home/QPCN/Viet-Nam-che-tao-may-tao-ranh-cho-sung-chong-bien-nguoi/20128/228076.datviet Vietnam made groove machine guns against the "wave people" (in Vietnamese)] {{webarchive. link. (October 29, 2012)
  39. (July 2015). "Khám phá vũ khí đặc trưng của quân đội Việt Nam".
  40. (December 2012). "Tempête rouge sur l'Europe". Caraktère.
  41. "Archived copy".
  42. Andrey Garavsky. (2012). "Из искры разгорелось "Пламя"". Red Star.

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automatic-grenade-launcherscold-war-weapons-of-the-soviet-uniongrenade-launchers-of-the-soviet-unionkbp-instrument-design-bureau-productsmilitary-equipment-introduced-in-the-1970s