The U.S. Army Soldiers in Afghanistan are now firing an 84mm, reusable, recoilless shoulder-fired conventional munition able to destroy enemy targets hidden behind rocks, trees and buildings , service officials said.

The weapon, called the Multi-Role Anti-Armor, Anti-Personnel Weapons System, known as the Carl-Gustaf, was ordered by the Army in response to an Operational Needs Statement from Afghanistan seeking to procure a direct fire, man-portable, anti-personnel and light structure weapon able, among other things, to respond to insurgent rocket-propelled grenade, or RPG, fire, said Bhuvanesh Thoguluva, chief of Vehicle Protection, Rockets & Shoulder Fired Weapons Branch, Munition Systems & Technical Directorate, Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.

The Carl-Gustaf, which is manufactured by Saab, includes an airburst capability with its High Explosive, or HE, round, Thoguluva said.

“The HE round does have an airburst capability. It is the one that is utilized most often because of its effective range. It uses a mechanical time fuse which is set prior to loading the weapon system,” he said.

Airburst rounds can be pre-programmed to explode in the air at a precise location, thereby maximizing the weapon’s effect against enemy targets hiding, for example, behind a rock, tree or building.

Several Carl Gustaf’s are already in Afghanistan as part of a limited operational assessment, which may indeed result in more deliveries. The Army purchased the weapon by joining with U.S. Special Operations Command in a combined purchase from Saab.