US Army light infantry units are to be equipped with the Saab 84 mm Carl Gustaf M3 Multirole Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System (MAAWS) as a standard issue tactical support weapon, following completion of a Conditional Materiel Release (CMR) authorisation by the army in late 2015. In parallel, the army continues planning and tasking efforts to achieve Full Material Release (FMR) to the service in late 2016.
With the CMR complete, the M3 is now officially an organic weapon system within each army combat platoon, and will initially be fielded within selected Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs), which will now train, maintain, and sustain the M3 as part of the IBCT organisational structure. Going forward, all brigade combat teams will receive 27 Carl Gustaf launchers, about one per platoon.
“The CMR allowed the system to be quickly fielded to operational units before the more exhaustive Type Classification [TC] FMR process is completed. This allows IBCT commanders to train and deploy with the M3 MAAWS, pending finalisation of the TC FMR progress,” Jack Seymour, marketing director for Saab North America, told IHS Jane’s.
Select army active duty and National Guard components have already begun receiving the M3 MAAWS, and beginning this year units equipped with the system will be able to train and qualify on the weapon system in their home bases. The US Army’s Standards in Training Commissions (STRAC) allocations, outlined in the DA PAM 350-38, will authorise M3 MAAWS gunners and assistant gunners to qualify and maintain combat proficiency annually with live-fire exercises.
Originally, issue of the M3 in US service was restricted to US Special Operations Command (SOCOM); beginning with the Army Rangers in 1989, the US Navy SEALS in 1997, and later the rest of the US Special Operations Forces.
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