Fox News recycled a story about the Army’s decision last year to field conventional Infantry units with the Carl Gustav 84mm recoilless rifle.   Last year the Army sent almost 60 of these weapons to conventional units in Afghanistan.  Previously the “Goose” was limited to Special Operations use like the Special Forces, SEALs and Rangers.  Now conventional units will have a weapon system capable of engaging out to 1700 m with a variety of munitions to include thermobaric and air burst munitions.  The Army dedicated $31 million last fiscal year to procure more Carl Gustav’s and ammo.  Each weapon costs about $20k but the rounds are much cheaper than most comparable disposable rocket rounds.  One of the great advantages to recoilless rifles over rockets is they have longer range, the rounds are cheaper and can produce a higher rate of fire than missile systems, especially important if you need range, are fighting outnumbered or an armored force.   

This is a great win for the conventional side and a return to arming conventional units with recoilless rifles something we stopped doing in the late ‘80’s.