M67

M67 Grenade circa 1974.

The M67 Defensive Fragmentation Grenade is the standard hand grenade used by both the United States military and various forces around the world. Its baseball-like shape was designed to aid in throwing the weapon. The weapon has a 5-second fuse upon triggering. Also known as fragmentation (frag) grenades, these are the most common indirect weapon of attack among troops. Grenades have the military slang name of "pineapples" due to the similarly-shaped WWII-era grenades, but even though the M67 no longer adopts this design, the name has since stuck. England and some other countries still keep the "pineapple" design grenades.

Overview

Frag grenades are defensive pattern grenades, designed to be used from cover because of heavy shrapnel, although the M67 purposely has a smaller kill radius to allow use in close quarters combat. Offensive grenades, typically HE (high explosive) are designed for rushes, room clearing, and close engagements.

Counter-terrorist teams only use these in situations wherein there are few to no civilians or hostages and are pinned down by enemy firepower. It is standard operating procedure for room clearing to toss in either a Flashbang or HE grenade in before entering, in order to stun or injure opponents hiding inside.

Other variants included the M33 (a coilless, spherical grenade with a prescored inner wall and lacking a safety clip), the M33A1 (an impact version of the M33 grenade, utilizing the M217 electrical impact fuze instead of a regular delay fuze), the M59 (having similar properties to the M33A1 and was in fact the renamed version of it, although was more ovular in shape), and the M68 (an M59 with an additional safety clip).

Usage

The M67 was first developed in the fifties, along with the M61. However, it became more used than the M61 in 1969 during the Vietnam War.

Peace Walker Incident

Main article: Peace Walker Incident

M67 grenade thrown by a Soviet soldier, seconds before it detonated.

During the Peace Walker Incident in 1974, Big Boss procured some grenades at Playa del Alba to blow open a fence that was closed. His mercenary unit, the Militaires Sans Frontières' R&D team, later improved upon the design and increased its explosive power. The Peace Sentinel also made use of their grenades, often flinging them at intruders during vehicle battles. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov's KGB unit, which occupied the U.S. missile base in Nicaragua, also used the M67 grenade.

Zanzibar Land Disturbance

Main article: Zanzibar Land Disturbance

M68 Grenade in Zanzibar Land.

Zanzibar Land utilized the M68 hand grenade. However, they rarely ever actually used them, due to the environment being suitable for close quarters combat, and mostly kept them as a good luck talisman. Solid Snake himself procured some of these weapons.

Shadow Moses Incident

Main article: Shadow Moses Incident

M67 grenade in Shadow Moses Island.

During the Shadow Moses Incident, Solid Snake procured some M67 grenades and utilized them.

The Manhattan Incident

See also: Tanker Incident and the Big Shell Incident

Raiden made use of the M67 grenade during his infiltration into the Big Shell.

M67 grenade in the Big Shell.

Grenade commonly used by PMCs during the Guns of the Patriots Incident.

Guns of the Patriots Incident

See also: Liquid Sun, Solid Sun, Third Sun, Twin Suns, Old Sun, and Naked Sin/Naked Son

Solid Snake procured these weapons during the Guns of the Patriots Incident. In addition, the PMC soldiers as well as Gekko utilized these weapons. Although not specifically used for combat, Drebin occasionally sold them from Drebin, and Drebin himself also used a magic trick to turn an apple into a M67.

World Marshal Incident

See also: Raid at World Marshal, Ambush in Africa, Abkhazian Coup, Investigation in Guadalajara, Raid in Denver, and Operation Tecumseh

Warning: The following information is from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?]

During the late 2010s, a specialized variant of the M67 fragmentation grenade was developed as a means to combat against vehicles, UGs and cyborgs. These grenades had a carbon nanotube-reinforced shell and produced CNT-based hexigonal shrapnel, which was powerful enough to sear through even CNT-musclefiber. However, these grenades were extremely expensive, the costs being triple that of the ordinary grenade, although they could be discounted via insider costs if a PMC had good connections to the manufacturer. They were also extremely heavy, requiring that a person of cyborg-grade strength to wield.

Non-"Metal Gear Saga" information ends here.

Behind the scenes

The M67 grenade appeared in Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. However, its Metal Gear Solid 4 incarnation, although stated to be the M67 in-game, was more identifiable with various gas-charger model of grenades. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there is writing on the M67 grenades that Solid Snake (or Kirby, if the character copies Snake's power). The writing says "GRENADE,DELAY 3.0" and " : 2305-148", which also was the writing shown on the Grenade item in The Twin Snakes, particularly noticeable in the scene where Vulcan Raven discovers it. The grenade in the manual for Snake's Revenge was identified as a M67 grenade, although its in-game sprite resembled the RGD-5.

Gameplay

Snake's uses an M67 grenade as a Standard Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The grenades Snake uses appear to be M67 fragmentation grenades. Pressing and holding the special move button once will cause Snake to pull out the pin, releasing it will cause him to throw it. The distance that the grenade is thrown can be controlled by pressing forward, backward, or pressing no direction at all. A maximum of two grenades can be thrown, no more can be produced until one of them explodes.

If Snake is close to a grenade when it goes off, he will cover his ears. Kirby can use his "Copy Ability" to mimic Snake's looks and produce grenade as well. Kirby will also cover his head if a grenade is near and has copied Snake (even though he has no ears). Unlike Link's bomb, it does not explode on contact and the enemy can grab it before it explodes. The grenade can be "cooked" by holding B (as it is thrown when B is released) to reduce the time between the moment it's thrown and the moment it detonates--the grenades usually last for about three and a half seconds or four seconds, so "cooking" it for three seconds and then throwing it when it's close to exploding is a wise strategy.

In-game description

"Grenade
A U.S.-made fragmentation grenade. Detonates upon contact with the ground. Drops at targeted point."

―Grenade description in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

"Grenade
Hand Grenade.
Inflicts damage.
B to throw."

―Grenade description in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel

"Frag Grenade
Grenade. Press A Button to hold, release to throw. How long button is pressed varies distance."

―Frag Grenade description in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

"A standard fragmentation grenade. It deals damage with the force of its blast and the shrapnel it scatters.
Exceptionally powerful versus human targets - most enemy soldiers will go down in a single blast.
Getting a grenade to land where you want it to takes some practice, so be sure to get some practice throws in when you can spare the time."

―Grenade description in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

"The latest in fragmentary grenades, for use against large UGs and cyborgs. The pattern etched in its carbon-nanotube-reinforced shell produces large, hexigonal-shaped that CNT-composite armor. Larger and heavier than a conventional grenade, it requires cyborg-grade strength to throw a reasonable distance."

―Grenade description in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

"HAND GRENADE
A fragmentation grenade that can be tossed over obstacles to strike enemy targets in cover."

―Hand grenade description in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain