Saab awarded $18M to supply Australian Army with M4 weapons system

April 12 (UPI) -- Saab was awarded an $18 million contract supply the Australia's Army with its latest version of the portable bazooka-type weapons system.

In 2020, Saab plans to send to Australia the Carl-Gustaf M4 rocket launcher weaponSwedish company announced Thursday. The order originally was placed last September.

"We are happy to see that the Australian Army keeps investing in the Carl-Gustaf system and we are proud of the trust our customer puts in Saab," Gorgen Johansson, head of Saab business area Dynamics, said in a statement.

"This order demonstrates the continued strong belief in the Carl-Gustaf system and the state-of-the-art ammunition delivered from Saab. The wide range of variations of Carl-Gustaf ammunition brings a true tactical flexibility to the user."

The original system was introduced in 1946.

For the first time in 2014, Saab demonstrated the Carl Gustaf M4 variantin Sweden in a successful ground combat systems simulation.

The 15-pound weapon consists of the main tube with the breech-mounted recoil damper, as well as two grips near the front and a shoulder mount.

The Gustaf, which is normally operated by a two-member crew, can be fired from the standing, kneeling, sitting or prone positions. One soldier carries and fires the weapon, and the other caries ammunition and reloads.

The system allows soldiers to take on multiple challenges: destroying landing craft and bunkers, blasting holes through brick and concrete walls, knocking out concealed troops and deploying a smoke screen.

"Saab's world-leading weapon system Carl-Gustaf has a long and distinguished service history all around the world, including the Nordic and Baltic region," the company said about the system, which has been sold to more than 40 countries.

In Australia, the system is known as "Charlie Gutsache" -- or guts ache, according to the Encyclopedia of Wars.

In U.S. military, it is referred to as the "Gustaf Bazooka, or just the "Gustaf" or "Goose." It is designated as M3E1 in the United States.

In Sweden, the system is called "grenade rifle."