IDF may equip soldiers with IMI's precise rifle grenade

Laser rangefinders put infantry soldier ‘on a new level.’

By YAAKOV KATZ
Peres grenade launcher 311 (photo credit: Israel Military Industries)
Peres grenade launcher 311
(photo credit: Israel Military Industries)
Imagine that an IDF soldier, fighting in the narrow alleys of the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, uses his personal rifle to accurately launch a grenade through a small window of a house from 200 meters away.
This is not imagination. Israel Military Industries has developed the Refaim Advanced Infantry Rifle Grenade – that can be installed on any assault rifle and enable a soldier to shoot a grenade through a window on the first try.
RELATED:New dual-caliber Israeli rifle could be next Bond starThe IDF recently conducted a series of trials with the system – including scope and four-button push console – and is expected to decide, in the coming months, to begin equipping its infantrymen with it. The system was developed in conjunction with the IDF Ground Forces Command.
The system comprises an optical sight, integrated with laser rangefinder and fire control system and combined with advanced 40mm grenades, including armor piercing and high explosive grenades. These high explosive grenades are fitted with multi-mode fuses – delay, impact or time-set for airburst effect – enabling the grenadier to engage targets inside buildings, through windows or behind barriers.
“This puts the infantry soldier on a new level,” according to an IMI source involved in the development of the system. “It makes the soldier more effective and capable of hitting his target.”
Refaim’s specially-designed scope measures the distance to the target. The operator aims a red dot at the target and then fires; the firing system has already set the time delay fuse in the grenade to activate just before impact.
According to studies conducted by IMI, an average infantryman fires approximately seven to eight grenades before succeeding in inserting a grenade in a window. With Refaim, it takes one shot.
The system was developed for the Tavor assault rifle, the weapon that the IDF is equipping its infantrymen with, but is compatible with all rifles that can be fitted with a grenade launcher.
The IDF is also eyeing IMI’s latest guided rocket series, including the Accular and the EXTRA. The Accular, a 160mm rocket, which has a range of 40 km., as well as the EXTRA, which has a range of 150 km., would be used to bomb static targets like radar stations and military positions and would as a result free up the air force to focus on strategic targets deep inside enemy territory.