$52M Says: Let Simon/GREM Do It!
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You’re a soldier, approaching a building that contain armed enemies. As the squad slips from point to point, leapfrogging to offer each other cover, the question arises: who wants to be the designated bad boy who gets to kick down the door and hope they aren’t greeted by a hail of bullets from the other side? As the saying goes: Noooobody!
The Israelis thought about this problem, and decided to let Simon do it. Simon is RAFAEL’s bullet-trap grenade with a stand-off rod, and a precisely shaped 120mm warhead. Just attach the standoff
rod at the front, slide the 1.5 pound grenade’s tail over the muzzle of your rifle, take aim from between 10-36 yards/ 9-33 meters away, and pull the trigger. The rod and specially shaped warhead ensure that the grenade’s shock wave blast blows the door right in, while creating enough noise and chaos to give the squad a few precious seconds to get inside and take the offensive.
“Let Simon do it” became popular enough to earn RAFAEL’s grenade wide Israeli use, a partnership with General Dynamics ATP, a video on US Army PEO Soldier’s web site, and a 2005 award from the US Army for the M100 GREM as one of the year’s top 10 military inventions. On Nov 4/07, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. announced another milestone: a $52 million contract from the US Army for the Simon (GREM) door breaching rifle grenade.
