This year marks 60 years since the Carl-Gustaf recoilless multi-role weapon was developed. It continues to be a very successful product that has been sold to more than 50 countries around the world.

The reason for its dominance is that the weapon system is unique. Carl-Gustaf is a system that uses rounds for different tasks, and each user chooses the system based on their own needs and wishes. This makes the product unique on the market since no other system can demonstrate the same scope and thus satisfy different customer needs.

Currently the fourth generation weapon is being developed. There are several reasons why the system bypassed the competition over the years. The weapon’s benefits are considered to be its robustness, simplicity and performance together with the ammunition family that has been produced.

“Saab’s customers place high demands on product safety and performance, which means that we always have to be at the forefront of technology,” says Leif Jilsmo who is product manager at Saab Bofors Dynamics. “For example, the ammunition has been continuously modernised and improved. The ammunition made over the years can be used in every generation of the weapon.”

Leif Jilsmo has worked with Carl-Gustaf for 30 of its 60 years. He talks willingly about the system’s history:

“The recoilless multi-role weapon was designed and developed in the late 1940s by the civil engineer Hugo Abramson and former captain Harald Jentzen. Right from the beginning it was demanded that the recoilless multi-role weapon should be handled by just one person. This was made possible thanks to technology that utilises the venturi effect to expel hot gases through the rear. The simultaneously developed EFP (Explosively Formed Projectiles) technology gave the possibility to combat tanks with portable systems,” says Leif Jilsmo.