More SMAW

In April 2023, I published an article/video looking at sighting of US SMAW (Shoulder-Launched Multi-Purpose Assault Weapon) Mk153s, head back and check that out if you missed it. In this video we’ll take a quick look at subsequent sightings of the launchers in use with Ukrainian forces. 

The SMAW Mk153, not to be confused with the disposable M141 SMAW-D, is an 83mm smooth bore, shoulder-fired, rocket launcher with an integrated spotting rifle attached to the right side of the launcher assembly. The Mk153 is loaded by fitting an encased rocket into the rear the launcher assembly. 

The Mk153 is a relatively rarely seen weapon, the first sighting of one in Ukraine came back in February 2023 and since my last video/article they have been seen half a dozen more times both in the field and at the range. 

In May 2023, a clip of a SMAW Mk153 being fired from an enclosed space in a multi-storey building was shared. The clip was seemingly filmed during urban fighting, probably during the battle for Bakhmut. However, the date and location of the footage is unconfirmed. You can see how the back-blast kicks up a huge amount of dust. 

A month later a Ukrainian combatant shared a photograph of himself holding a Mk153. In July, I came across a photograph of a Mk153 which dated back to December 2022, predating my initial first sighting by several months. In the background of the photo several enclosed rocket rounds.

Later in July a video shared by a Ukrainian combatant showing a smoke grenade test also featured one of the Mk153’s enclosed rocket tubes. In early August Ukrainian combatants posted a video of a Mk153 being fired in the field, judging by the launcher’s angle of elevation the combatant was aiming at a distant target.

The SMAW Mk153 also features in a Ukrainian manual, Use Of Foreign Made Weapons By The Security And Defense Forces Of Ukraine (Instructions For Use), compiled by the Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) which was published in 2023. It includes translated relevant sections from the US manual for the weapon.

On the 4 September, the Strategic Communications Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shared a video of two members of the 100th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade firing Mk153s in the Serebryansk Forest in Luhansk. Sadly, the footage is low resolution but its possible to identify a SMAW Mk153s being used alongside what may be a Panzerfaust 3.

An interesting video posted in at the beginning of September showed a phone mounted onto a SMAW with what appears to be a car phone cradle. This has allowed a clinometer app to be used to enable the SMAW to be used in the in-direct role, by displaying the weapon’s angle of elevation.

On 24 September, members of Bravo Rapid Reaction Group appeared in a video of training with SMAW Mk153 at the range. The video features combatants loading and firing a Mk153 in two man, gunner and loader, teams.

On 30 December, Ukrainian volunteers who have been raising funds and providing kit to Ukrainian personnel shared an album of photographs of troops they had supplied throughout 2023. Included in this was individuals from an unidentified unit, with two combatants seen holding Mk153s. It is rare that the Mk153 is seen equipped with an optic but one of the Mk153s featured in the photographs shared by the volunteers appears to have been fitted with a Sightmark Wolfhound 3×24, sometimes seen on Airtronic PSRL-1s.

Finally, combatants from Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade shared video on 27 March 2024, of an individual a firing of a SMAW Mk153 at a range, the date of filming is unconfirmed but believed to be recent. The SMAW Mk153 continues to be a relatively rare weapon but does occasionally appear with a variety of units. 

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