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| Alternate Name | Carl Gustaf M3 Multi-purpose Anti-armor Anti-personnel Weapon System (MAAWS)
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| Type | Recoilless rifle
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| Manufacturer | Saab Bofors Dynamics (formerly Bofors Anti-Armor AB), Howa (license)
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| Caliber | 84 mm rifled (24 lands, progressive twist)
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| Cartdige | 84×246 mm R
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| Crew | 2 optimal, 1 minimal
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| Breech | Hinged
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| Rate of fire | 6 rounds per minute
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| Muzzle Velocity | 230–255 m/s
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| Effective Firing Range, Moving Vehicles | 350 to 400 m against moving vehicles
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| Effective Firing Range, Stationary Vehicles | 500 m against stationary vehicles
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| Effective Firing Range, using Smoke and High Explosive Rounds | 1000 m
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| Effective Firing Range, Rocket-Boosted Laser Guided Ammunition | 2000 m
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| Length | 1 m
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| Bore | 84 mm
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| Weight with Fire Control System | 8.61 kg
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| Ammunition |
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| FFV 751 |
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| FFV401 | FFV401 is an Area Defence Munition designed as a close-range anti-personnel round. It fires 1100 flechettes over a wide area.
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| FFV441 | FFV441 is an HE round, useful in a lobbed trajectory to 1,000m, which can be fused to either detonate on impact or as an airburst.
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| FFV441B | FFV441B is an HE round with an effective range against personnel in the open of 1,100 m. The round arms after 20 to 70 m of flight, weighs 3.1 kg, and is fired at a muzzle velocity of 255 m/s.
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| FFV469 | FFV469 is a smoke round fired like the FFV441, with a range of about 1,300 m. The 3.1 kg round is also fired at 255 m/s.
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| FFV502 | FFV502 is an HEDP round with the ability to be set to detonate on either impact or one-tenth of a second afterwards. Effective range is 1,000 m against dispersed soft targets such as infantry in the open, 500 m against stationary targets and 300 m against moving targets. Minimum range is 15 to 40 m to arm the warhead. Penetration exceeds 150 mm of rolled homogeneous armour (RHA). Ammunition weight is 3.3 kg and muzzle velocity is 230 m/s.
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| FFV509 | FFV509 is an ASM (Anti-Structure Munition), designed especially for destroying buildings and other types of urban constructions. The fuse has two modes, impact or a delayed function.
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| FFV545 | FFV545 is an illuminating star shell, fired up to 2,300 m maximum range, but with an effective envelope of 300 to 2,100 m. Suspended by parachute, the star shell burns for 30 seconds while producing 650,000 candela, providing a 400 to 500 m diameter area of illumination.
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| FFV551 | FFV551 is the primary HEAT round and is a rocket-assisted projectile (RAP). Effective range is up to 700 m (400 m against moving targets) and penetration up to 400 mm of RHA. Ammunition weight is 3.2 kg and muzzle velocity is 255 m/s.
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| FFV552 | FFV552 is a practice round with the same ballistics as the 551.
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| FFV651 | FFV651 is a newer HEAT round using mid-flight rocket assistance for ranges up to 1,000m. In theory, it has less penetration than the FFV551, but it includes a stand-off probe for the fuse to improve performance against reactive armour.
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| HEAT 655 CS | HEAT 655 CS (Confined Spaces) high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) round that can be fired by the 84 mm Carl Gustaf recoilless weapon from within small enclosures.
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| FFV751 | FFV751 is a tandem-warhead HEAT round with an effective range of 500 m and ability to penetrate more than 500 mm of armour. Weight is 4 kg.
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| FFV756 | FFV756 is an MT (Multi Target) ammunition, designed for combat in built-up areas and for incapacitating an enemy under cover inside a building or some type of fortification. The MT 756 uses a tandem charge.
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| Guided Carl Gustaf Munition (GCGM) | Guided Carl Gustaf Munition (GCGM) is a laser guided projectile developed between Saab and Raytheon, featuring a multi-target warhead capable of defeating bunkers and moving light armored vehicles at a range of 2,000 m and capable of being fired from enclosed spaces; demonstrations planned for 2020.
properties
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| Ammunition Types | Current High Explosive, High Explosive Dual Purpose, Training; Future Illumination, Anti-Structure
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| Note | Improvements to the ammunition have been continual. While the older HEAT rounds are not particularly effective against modern tank armor, the weapon has found new life as a bunker-buster with an HEDP round. In addition, improved HEAT, high explosive (HE), smoke and illumination (star shell or flare) ammunition is also available. For full effectiveness, illumination rounds have to be fired at a very high angle, creating a danger for the gunner as the backblast from firing can burn him. For this reason, several armies have retired the illumination rounds, while the U.S. Army requires that they be fired from a standing position.
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| Sights | Iron sights, optical 3×, laser rangefinder, image intensification system for the newer M3 and M4 series
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| Fire Control | Gen3, 1X Reflex, 15 degree field of vision
variants
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| M1 (1948) | Carl Gustaf M1 Swedish 84mm Man-Portable Anti-Tank Recoilless Rifle -
Original, still in Service with Third-World Countries
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| M2 (1963) | An improved, lighter and slightly shorter version, the Carl Gustaf M2, was introduced in 1964 and quickly replaced the original version
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| M3 (1991) | The current Carl Gustaf M3 version was introduced in 1991. It reduced the weight even further by replacing the forged steel tube with a thin steel liner containing the rifling, strengthened by a carbon fiber outer sleeve. The external steel parts were also replaced with plastics and aluminium alloys. In recent years, the M3 has found new life in a variety of roles. The British Special Air Service, United States Army Special Forces and United States Army Rangers use M3s in bunker-busting and anti-vehicle roles, while the German Bundeswehr maintains a small number of M2s for battlefield illumination. Many armies continue to use it as a viable anti-armor weapon, especially against 1950s- and 1960s-era tanks and other armored vehicles still in use worldwide.
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