Neopup PAW-20

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PAW-20 “Neopup”
Type	Grenade Launcher
Place of origin	South Africa
Production history
Designer	Tony Neophytou [1]
Designed	1999- present
Manufacturer	Gemaco Elbree PTY LTD [2]
Produced	in advanced development
Specifications
Weight	5.9 kg (12.9 lb), empty
Length	845 mm (33.3 in) (deployed), 770 mm (30.3 in) (stowed)
Barrel length	355 mm (14.0 in)
Width	115 mm (4.5 in)
Height	185 mm (7.3 in)

Cartridge	20mm x 42mm point-detonating rounds developed by PMP Denel [3]
Action	Gas operated with a rotating bolt
Muzzle velocity	300 m/s (984 ft/s)
Effective range	500 m for point targets. 800 m for suppressive fire (soldiers in a group.) 1000 m for area targets.
Feed system	7-round box magazine
Sights	red-dot type collimating sight, but others available.

The Neopup PAW-20 (Personal Assault Weapon, 20 mm) is a grenade launcher designed by Tony Neophytou and is marketed by Neopup PTY LTD.^{[citation needed]}

1 Overview
2 20x42mm cartridge
3 Notes
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Overview

The PAW-20 is a hand-held, semi-automatic grenade launcher that fires a 20 mm point detonating round. It holds up to seven rounds in a conventional box magazine, each having an effective range of 300–400 metres. Its main use is against soldiers that are closely grouped or behind light cover. The weapon can also fire non-lethal payloads. The PAW-20 is in direct competition with the more complicated and expensive American XM25.^{[citation needed]}

There has been criticism concerning the ejection port of the weapon, due to the shells being ejected near the firer's face which is said to produce hazards for the firer, but, in fact, poses no more hazard than most conventional assault rifles being fired left-handed. The PAW-20 even has the unique ability to be fired from the left shoulder for a right-handed operator by simply placing the butt on the left shoulder, with no hand swapping necessary. This allows the user the very important advantage of being able to fire from around or under cover which cannot be said for a number of bullpup weapons such as the Steyr AUG or the SA 80. The right-handed pistol grip location allows the weapon to recoil unimpeded into the butt stock this is what allows the weapon to fire a very heavy projectile at the high velocity it does for a grenade launcher.

[edit] 20x42mm cartridge

The advantage of this new cartridge specially developed for this weapon over the 40 mm grenade currently used in similar hand-held grenade launchers such as the Milkor MGL (M32 MGL) is the smaller size of the round which results in a more compact weapon and users being able to carry more rounds.

The round also has a muzzle velocity of 305 m/s (1,000 ft/s) which is four times faster than the 76 m/s (250 ft/s) of typical 40 mm grenades. This results in a much shorter flight time and flatter trajectory.