Back to index pageNext vehicle Willys MB  

 

  Willys MB, 4 x 4, 6V with recoilless rifle (Front view, left side)

 
 

Front view, left side

Picture courtesy of Georg Hansen


Danish Willys MB with a 106 mm recoilless rifle M40 (Danish designation was M/56) mounted on a M79 tripod. It's origin goes back to WW II, where a 105 mm rifle, known as the T19, was launched.
The rifle was a lightweight weapon developed for both anti-tank and anti-personnel roles. It entered service with the US armed forces in 1953, and was the first recoilless rifle to be fitted with a parallel-mounted 12.7 mm (cal. 050) M8C spotting rifle for the gunner.
Practical ranges were up to 1.000 meters for moving and up to 2.000 meters for stationary targets.
Besides the MB, the M40 rifle was mounted on vehicles like
Willys M38A1, M151-series (known as the M825) and Hotchkiss M201. Only the M38A1 was implemented in Denmark.
Later editions had the spotting rifle replaced by a laser sighting device.
The rifle was designed for use with high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), high-explosive squash-head (HESH) and high-explosive plastic tracer (HEP-T) rounds. There was also a anti-personnel round (APERS-T). Maximum range was 7.700 m, but effective range was around 1.100 m using HEAT and HEP-T. Maximum sustained rate of fire was one round pr. minute.
A recoilless round differs from a standard artillery round in having a perforated casing, which allows the gases to which are used to propel the projectile to escape.
The rifle was supplied to at least 32 countries, and produced under licence in Brazil, India, Israel, Japan, Pakistan and Spain.
To the right a Nimbus MC.


Copyright © 1997 - 2024 Danish Army Vehicles Homepage