Helio's systems are capable of firing all types of 66 mm grenades such as smoke (in two colours), CS gas, High Explosive (HE) fragmentation, anti-personnel and infrared screening smoke. All British armoured vehicles have 66 mm grenade launchers, whereas 76 mm is more common on German armoured vehicles, for .example.

The current range includes a single barrel discharger and numerous multibarrel clusters. Helio is therefore well placed to tailor systems to its specific customers' requirements.

On a typical APC, four barrels per side of the turret or vehicle are sufficient to generate 180° of windowless screen, whilst an ÌÂÒ would require five per side to obtain an optimum screen.

The firing of the grenades is operated by either the commander or gunner using a switch box inside the vehicle. The switch box can vary using a simple box with two push-buttons firing left or right salvos or both together, up to a multidischarge pattern box capable of firing 16 grenades in various patterns.

Each control box has a unique feature in that the grenades themselves can be tested for electrical continuity when loaded into the discharge barrels.

The FVS 15 switchbox provides a simple means of manually controlling the discharge of up to eight grenades. For those situations where the facility to control individual dischargers is not required, the FVS 10 switchbox is available. This box has all the features of the FVS 15 switchbox except that the selector switch has been removed and replaced by a second 'fire' button. The grenades can be discharged only in salvos, either left side or right side.

The FVS 20 switchbox is similar to the FVS 15 but it incorporates two selector switches and up to sixteen individual discharger tubes can be controlled.

To suit those situations where space is at a premium, the discharger control box can be combined with the turret distribution box. All of the features of the FVS 15 can be incorporated into an existing box provided there is sufficient space, or a new combined box produced which will have less volume than two separate boxes.

Smoke grenades are usually fired to ranges of 30 to 35 m, CS gas grenades can be fired to 60 to 90 m and an HE fragmentation grenade containing 0.75 kg of steel balls to 100 m; this bursts approximately 6 m above the ground. A green smoke is available for training or camouflage purposes. Using smoke grenades, a complete screen can be obtained within 2 seconds of pressing the firing button.

The FVG 76 grenade discharger system complements the 66 mm systems and is designed to offer the same flexibility required to meet the needs of customers already using 76 mm systems. The control boxes available with this system are the same as those used with the 66 mm units.

Ancillary equipment which can be supplied by Helio includes protective caps, cleaning equipment, circuit testers, grenade stowage boxes and protective covers.

Helio are now developing a new concept of obscurant launcher system called Reactor and details of this are given in a previous entry.

In production. In service with undisclosed countries. Known users include Malaysia, Oman and the UK.