The U.S. Army Is Designing Its First New Grenade in 40 Years
For the first time in more than four decades years, the U.S. Army is working to field a new hand grenade. Designed for both offensive and defensive use, the new Enhanced Tactical Multi-Purpose (ET-MP) hand grenade is meant to be a safer and more versatile handheld bomb for close combat situations.
Hand grenades are traditionally divided into two categories: offensive and defensive grenades. Defensive grenades are used against attacking enemy forces and usually have bodies made of steel notched to explode into deadly metal shrapnel-think the grooves on the iconic Mk. 2 "pineapple" grenade from World War II. Offensive hand grenades typically have smaller explosions to prevent them from harming advancing friendly troops. They kill or wound by concussive force.
For decades, the U.S. Army has used different grenades to fulfill offensive and defensive requirements. On the offensive side, things have been lagging for a while. The Mark 3 grenade was retired in 1975 after it was realized that the body of the grenade contained between 17 to 50 percent chrysotile asbestos, a toxic cancer-causing mineral that left debris on domestic training grounds. Its absence left the baseball-shaped M67 defensive fragmentation grenade as the U.S. Army's sole lethal hand grenade.
Now, army engineers at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey are working the Enhanced Tactical Multi-Purpose (ET-MP) grenade, which will use electronic controls to bring hand grenades into the 21st century. The result will be a safer-for the user anyway-and yet more lethal grenade for the enemies for America's combat infantrymen.
The ET-MP will be multipurpose, allowing the user to tailor it for offensive or defensive missions. In the offensive role, it will be a concussive grenade using explosive blast effects to take out enemy troops. In the defensive role, the ET-MP's body will fragment into shards of metal, killing and wounding out to a greater distance.
The new grenade will also have a new electronic fuzing system, allowing the user to choose a precise detonation time. Unlike the current M67, which detonates four to five seconds after the safety lever is released, the ET-MP's detonation time can now be chosen down to the millisecond. Until it's armed, the grenade will not be able to detonate.
Another feature of the ET-MP was designed for southpaws. Left-handed users arm and throw the M67 while holding it upside down. The new grenade will have ambidextrous controls, allowing both left and right-handed users to be trained exactly the same way.
Development of the ET-MP began in 2013, after input from Army and Marine Corps troops. The grenade received just just $1.1 million in funding for 2017. Picatinny Arsenal hopes to have the new grenade in the field by 2020.
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