That’s an ARWEN in the middle, as discovered by U.S. troops during fun and games in the GWOT sandbox. These weapons were sold all over the world. A lot of Cold War firepower has fallen by the wayside over the past few years, and it’s no surprise. The 1990s saw militaries adopt new weapons, and the GWOT sealed the deal. For American troops, the M16A1 and A2 models were gone in favor of the A4 series and the M4. The Colt 1911 is out, replaced by the Beretta M9, then the SIG Sauer M17 and M18. And most NATO militaries saw the same process, with older battle rifles replaced by modern assault rifles that typically fired lighter rounds. But one classic Cold War weapon that has stayed in production is the ARWEN launcher; it’s still made for front-line use by law enforcement, and movie armorers are still in love with its drip, too. Launcher firepower @ TFB: Daniel Defense GL/SSC - Grenade Launcher Sound Suppressor Capable POTD: The New B&T GL06 T Compact Grenade Launcher POTD: Colt Canada C7A2 With M203A1 Grenade Launcher China Lake: The Secret Grenade Launcher of the Vietnam War What’s an ARWEN?You’ve almost certainly seen an ARWEN in a movie (more on that later), but chances are you didn’t know what it was, or its Cold War backstory.The ARWEN came to life in the late 1970s, in grim, depressing post-industrial Great Britain. Industrial strikes and political instability were on every hand, and runaway inflation was wreaking havoc on the working class. No wonder punk music was on the rise, and no wonder that The People In Control decided they wanted new firepower for the riot police. From Day 1, the ARWEN was made for less-lethal anti-riot use. Here, Ottawa police show off their ARWEN and some other SWAT-esque toys. [DEFSEC] Remember that even though the ARWEN was very much built as a riot control device, this was all part of the Cold War. The Troubles were at high temperatures in Ireland, stoked in part by the Official IRA (later known as INLA), who were heavily influenced by Marxist-Leninist ideology. NATO knew the power of popular uprisings; only a few years later, in the 1980s, Lech Wałęsa led the Polish people to overthrow Communist power, starting with dockyard strikes. The British leaders wanted to avoid such unpleasantries at home, so they went to the Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield and said: “Good sirs, could you build us a less-lethal blaster to keep this sort of thing from developing?” Or something like that.The crew at Enfield said, “Yes, sir”; they could, and built three different prototype launchers. The XL75E1 was a pump-action launcher; the XL77E1 was a semi-auto that used a box mag. The XL76E1 used a 5-round rotary magazine; essentially, it was a giant revolver without a cylinder. That’s the model the government chose. It was called the ARWEN to mash together the words Anti Riot Weapon ENfield (fitting right in with the STEN and BREN guns, named in similar fashion by the crew at the Enfield armory).The ARWEN was built to fire 37mm projectiles, with the magazine more resembling a rotary magazine’s spool than traditional revolver cylinders. Fire a round (no cocking needed—the two-stage trigger did all the work) and the casing automatically ejects when you release the trigger. Then the ARWEN cycles a new round into the firing position. The current made-in-Canada Arwen Mark III launcher. [DEFSEC] When the user pulls the trigger, the 37mm projectile is pushed forward in its spool by the bolt and gas-seals with the breach, roughly analogous to the way a Russian Nagant revolver works. It does not chamber a round, per se, because the ARWEN has no traditional chamber. The rounds each function as self-contained chambers; the rifled barrel functions to stabilize and aim the ammunition, not to build high pressure. The ARWEN was intended to shoot low-pressure rounds because it was very much a less-lethal weapon, and there was no intention to shoot grenade rounds over long distances. DEFSEC’S Mark III T is basically the same weapon, but has a shorter barrel. [DEFSEC] Thus, it is somewhat amusing to see the ARWEN used as serious firepower in the movies and in video games. Most recently, it was seen in John Wick 2, where an ARWEN with a riflescope attached was used to destroy Wick’s house. In the real world, the ARWEN is currently sold with baton rounds, tear gas rounds or smoke grenades; some of the available ammo combines multiple capabilities, but there are no incendiary rounds. From Day 1, this was made to put riots down, but not to kill people or burn their houses. The ARWEN todayThe rights to the ARWEN design went from the UK to the Canadian Police Ordnance Company Inc in 2001, and after some name changes and corporate acquisitions, it’s currently built by DEFSEC Technologies, still based in Canada. And while it has seen a few updates, it is still the same basic design that the Enfield armory built back in the 1970s. It’s sold to police departments all over the world, along with other lower-priced launchers. For police users, DEFSEC’s other options include an under-barrel launcher that shoots similar ammo, made for attaching to ARs, and a break-action launcher. Both of these are single-shots, and neither has the appeal of the original ARWEN. Currently, DEFSEC sells two versions of the rotary-mag ARWEN; the Mark III with an 11.25-inch barrel and the Mark III T with a 7.25-inch barrel. Both are configured for a mounted optic now, instead of the clumsy irons of the original. Both are configured for ambidextrous use, and both weigh a little under 6 pounds when unloaded and a bit over 8 pounds when loaded.I’ve never had a chance to shoot an ARWEN; the manufacturer was at SHOT in 2024, showing off another launcher, and I asked them if I could buy an ARWEN instead. Sorry, no dice, at least at that time. But it would certainly be a useful home defense tool, if only you could afford the ammo to practice. I don’t think they currently sell them to non-government users, though. Perhaps other readers will find out otherwise in the future.For a much closer look at the ARWEN, see the video below, from Jonathan Ferguson of the UK’s Royal Armories. He not only goes into the weapon’s history, but he also gives an excellent overview of how to load and operate the action. The riot gun with the most 80s promo video ever? With firearms & weaponry expert Jonathan Ferguson For more details, check out DEFSEC’s website here.