Hi All
Anyone ever seen or fired or used one of these things? The latest 11 series common task manual has a chapter on it, and I can't even find a real photo of it on google.

I've run across them in old manuals before, but the only one I've seen (in use?) was the movie "Commando" with Arnold. He picks up one at his local surplus store

Here's another link http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/infantry/flame/M202.html

Now if some one could find a video of one being fired that would be great. I ran a few searches through youtube and did not find any thing.

It was used in the movie "Commando."

I remember it being called the FLASH, and it had problems of its own, I cant believe they would use it again.

For schock effect - 110%

For actual effectiveness - 40% (at most)

Against anything but a wood structure there is no penetration power. Ineffective against brick and cinderblock.

quote:

Originally posted by Banander27:
For schock effect - 110%

For actual effectiveness - 40% (at most)

Against anything but a wood structure there is no penetration power. Ineffective against brick and cinderblock.

Sounds like you've fired one for real. Tell us about it.

I saw it in Commando, and in the FMs and the TMs. Just drawings though, no recent pics withn the last 20 plus years. I wonder if there are any in Iraq or Afghanistan. Looks too bulky to schlep around the mountains or the inner city.

It is the M202 Flash. It was manufactured to replace the flame throwers of the WWII era. It fires 4 WP incendiary rounds either singly or in salvos of one shot per every second. It is an effective light-skinned armor fryer. It also does real well on fighting positions. Its effectiveness on fighting positions comes from its ability to heat things up very quickly and steal the oxygen from troops in the immediate area. Yes, I have fired one on two different occasions. Once in 1983 at Ft. Lewis, WA as an Oregon National Guardsman just before I went regular Army. There was a bunch of dry grass before we fired and none afterwards. The second time was in 1985 at Ft. Campbell, KY. The main drawback of the weapon (as explained by a crusty old SSG that I knew) was that the warheads on the rounds were activated by air contact when the round burst on target. Supposedly a few nasty accidents had occurred where the Soldier carrying the weapon gave the thing a solid enough bang to dislodge the warhead causing instant combustion of thr round and the Soldier. I don't know of the validity of these claims, but I made damn sure I was very careful with the thing while I was handling it.

BTW, there is also a scene in the movie "The Blues Brothers" where Carrie Fisher is stalking Ellwood Blues and she tries to kill him using the M202 Flash as he was leaving the building.

When I was in 193rdBDE, 5/87th INF at Ft.Davis, Panama, 1990 we had 3 M202, We took them to the range once, the rounds we were issued expired in 1976. Needless to say, we didnt shoot them, who wants a incendiary rocket on his shoulder with 14year expired rounds.

quote:

Sounds like you've fired one for real. Tell us about it.

Fired as familiarization in the 1970s.

It is heavy, with a uneven weight distribution. The back blast area is 40 to 50 yds, the first 20 yds deadly. Max range is 500 yds but accuracy is minimal, good range is 50 to 100 yds. Did not penetrate a cinderblock structure with four hits at less than 50 yds. Will not penetrate armored vehicles, but will damage tires and tracks

Why would they bring this back, it is useless in todays environment.

What's next Ontos ??

quote:

Originally posted by 101AASLT:
When I was in 193rdBDE, 5/87th INF at Ft.Davis, Panama, 1990 we had 3 M202, We took them to the range once, the rounds we were issued expired in 1976. Needless to say, we didnt shoot them, who wants a incendiary rocket on his shoulder with 14year expired rounds.

Hey,

We've chewed some of the same dirt. When I was in the 508th at Ft. Kobbe, we went to the range and some guys actually shot a couple of those things. Needless to say, the rest of us stood waaaaayyyyyyy back. They were probably the ones you guys didn't shoot, as they were outdated/expired also. Leave to a paratrooper to try and shoot old ammo, and rockets with a smile on his face.

We got them in Vietnam in late 1970 or early 1971. We went to the range on top of our firebase to fire them. One of them had a defect and all four rounds fired at once. My buddy lost an eardrum and his ability to serve in the bush because of it. Got a nice cushy rear job out of the deal. Needless to say, we never saw the M202 Flash again.

quote:

Originally posted by BrandonKnight:

quote:

Originally posted by 101AASLT:
When I was in 193rdBDE, 5/87th INF at Ft.Davis, Panama, 1990 we had 3 M202, We took them to the range once, the rounds we were issued expired in 1976. Needless to say, we didnt shoot them, who wants a incendiary rocket on his shoulder with 14year expired rounds.

Hey,

We've chewed some of the same dirt. When I was in the 508th at Ft. Kobbe, we went to the range and some guys actually shot a couple of those things. Needless to say, the rest of us stood waaaaayyyyyyy back. They were probably the ones you guys didn't shoot, as they were outdated/expired also. Leave to a paratrooper to try and shoot old ammo, and rockets with a smile on his face.

Ahh the 1,2,3 club, yacht club, Hotel Cariba, las cas cada restraunt, Balboa bus station and the meat market outside clayton, them was the days...

I'M 11B C2

BTW, there is also a scene in the movie "The Blues Brothers" where Carrie Fisher is stalking Ellwood Blues and she tries to kill him using the M202 Flash as he was leaving the building.


CHECK HER BACK BLAST AREA


SHE WOULD BE DEAD

DRAGON....

GREAT WEAPON

Yeah, I'm a C2 also. Got my training straight from the McDonnell-Douglas contact team (the old Dragon Master School). I always had fun firing the Dragon. Hell, I even had fun firing the Flash the two times that I got a chance to handle it. I had no problems with accuracy. To me it was no more difficult than firing the LAW.

As for Carrie Fisher in The Blues Brothers, she was outside the flee-bag that Jake and Ellwood were staying in. She was acrossed the street waiting for them to come out. As soon as she sees them coming down the stairs, she puts the Flash into firing configuration and lets all four fly. In typical Hollywood fashion she brings down the entire building leaving Jake and Ellwood to crawl out of the rubble. Makes me wish the Army really had weapons like that.

I fired one at Fort Carson, Colorado in 1989 or 1990. It penetrated the side of a M-113 really quick, and torched the poor rabbits living under the track. They ran out from underneath the track when the rocket hit, and were running away when the WP came down on top of them. It was a horrible noise. This weapon would burn the hell out of any troops in the open or in limited cover fighting positions.

The weapon worked fine, just a little ackward to carry. Expiration dates didn't matter. Hell I was a 21 year old paratrooper in the United States Infantry. I was invincible. Or so I thought back then. :-)

My old NG unit had one of these in the Arms room, I never knew what it was until now! Then again, we also had grease-gun mags...

Heh, heh... M3 grease gun. Your trigger finger was your charging handle and everything in front of you was fair game. It was loads of fun launching .45 cal bowling balls down-range on full rock & roll.

Back in the 80's they were on the TO&E for armored units recovery vehicles. Every M-88 carried one, I was told for demolition purposes