Yes, you read it right. The M67 hand grenade that is much in use in the U.S. Army has been around for 40 years. Introduced in the 1968 and lobbed by soldiers during the Vietnam War, it is the mainstay grenade to dislodge the enemy whether in caves, rooms, and bunkers. Finally, the U.S. Army have taken steps to design its replacement as it has inherent flaws that need to be corrected.

The US Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, are now on a new grenade which is safer and multipurpose. Called the ET-MP or the Enhanced Tactical Multipurpose Grenade, if it gets finally approved for use, will give soldiers an option to select either a concussion or fragmentation mode before throwing it against the enemy at the flick of switch.

Illustration: ET-MP Hand Grenade Design (Credit: U.S. Army)

“They are currently carrying one M67 grenade that provides lethal fragmentation effects. With the new multi-purpose grenade, they can carry one ET-MP grenade and have the ability to choose either fragmentation or concussive effects desired for the situation,” said Jessica Perciballi, ARDEC Project Officer for ET-MP, U.S. Army, Grenades & Demolitions Division.

With the use of an electronic fuze rather than a mechanical one will make it safer to use. The use of an electronic delay makes it more reliable and more precise to use. Also, the design takes into consideration left-handed throwers as the M67 has been designed for right handed throwing, and incidents of lefties injured in training accidents with the M67 grenade makes designing a new grenade that can be safely thrown by left handed soldiers imperative.

Photo: An Army cadet aims before throwing a hand grenade during basic training on Fort Jackson, S.C., Sept. 19, 2015. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ken Scar

Surely, there are more types of grenades that are in the market to be use for tactical and crowd control purposes. But for soldiers going into battle, they always go for the concussive and fragmentive ones and with the ET-MP Grenade, they can carry more such grenades knowing that they both have such options to use. Before the U.S. Army were using the MK3A2 concussion grenades that from World War II up to 1975, where they had to withdraw it as it presented danger to those friendlies as well as it its coating contained 50% asbestos.

The current plan for the ET-MP will transition to the Project Manager Close Combat Systems by 2020 which is also located at Picatinny Arsenal.

Teaser Photo: U.S. Army Lt. Charles Morgan, with the 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, throws a M67 fragmentation grenade during skills training at Kunduz province, Afghanistan, July 3, 2013. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Avila.