THE V40 MINI-GRENADE: AN EXPLOSIVE ATTEMPT AT A HOLE-IN-ONE
When you’re running around the battlefield, your equipment matters in more ways than you might initially think. You can train all you’d like, weight is weight and if you have more of it, it’s going to be harder to move around. This is why the V40 mini-grenade was a great idea on paper. A smaller weapon with an explosive punch. However, while the Vietnam-era weapon proved to be quite innovative, it also had some deadly drawbacks.
What Is the V40 Mini-Grenade?
Comparatively, the V40 mini-grenade is an unassuming weapon. Also known as a golf ball grenade or Hooch Popper, it is a small explosive less than 5 ounces in weight and only 4 centimeters across.
Created in the Netherlands, the weapons were used by American and Canadian forces, with their most famous application coming during the Vietnam War.
The idea was simple—a lightweight grenade that troops could easily use in close combat to throw into a “hooch” (thatched hut/foxhole/match-shift bunker) clearing out the enemy forces.
V-40 mini-grenades were just about half the size of the two standard options used in Vietnam—the MK2 “pineapple” grenade and the MK26.
Primarily, the Navy SEALs and Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) were the main users of golf ball grenades, however, while they did find their way to the battlefield, the explosives were not the focal point of weaponry.
Golf Ball Grenades Were Dangerous for the User
While all grenades come with a degree of danger, the V40 mini-grenade had some particularly dangerous features for the user.
For example, because of its small size, it was hard to handle when wearing gloves as the feeling of the impact of the striker on the primer was already a difficult task.
This issue was compounded by the fact that troops could carry more of the devices due to their compact size.
Hooch Poppers: A Lightweight, Impractical Solution
Because the V40 weighed less than the MK2 grenade and was around the size of a golf ball, the deadly weapon could be easily carried, thrown, and placed into a number of places.
Featuring a four-second fuse delay and 326 squares pressed inside of its steel body, the detonation would be a lethal one in close quarters.
Targets up to 16 feet were considered dead and as far as 980 feet, fragments could cause damage, however, outside of close quarters, the weapon had many drawbacks on top of its already dangerous nature for the user.
For starters, the V40 mini-grenade was used outside for demolition and proved ineffective.
Secondly, getting within the distance in which the golf ball grenade would be effective often meant putting a troop in harm’s way.
You could throw it far due to its size and weight; however, with a lot of the fighting in Vietnam featuring thick jungle brush, it was very hard to hit close enough to the target from a distance you’d need to in order to be effective.
The V40 Mini-Grenade Was Innovation Never Full Realized
While the golf ball grenade never saw its full potential realized, the weapon remains an interesting bit of innovation during its era.
Although some believe that the weapon remained in use in some capacity until around 2008, it’s hard to verify when the explosive was phased out.
However, we do know that in the decades to come, improvements to other weaponry would have made the Hooch Popper’s approach obsolete for modern warfare.
Today, the history of the V40 mini-grenade is a reminder that not everything is going to be a hole-in-one. Sometimes, you’re just going to have to play for par and hope for the best.
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