Re: US Army Unveils Two Lighter, More Lethal Weapo
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sinister</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
What kind of ranges will you be able to fire and maneuver on? You aren't going to be able to rush and dash on anything contaminated with sensitized, fused explosive duds. </div></div>
The latest plan is to use a flechette round for short range fire and maneuver. The weapon becomes a 25mm, 300 meter + shotgun. Bursting munitions for use against intermediate targets, or targets behind cover.
It's embryonic technology, but the conventional rifle has reached apex. The ACR program demonstrated that little or nothing can be done to improve the basic rifle's hit probability, and about the only thing that would was to employ explosive projectiles.
The XM-29 was split into the XM-8 and XM-25 for continued development, with the hope that eventually the two could be reunited into a package of manageable weight.
The concept is hardly new, and is a direct descendent of SPIW and ACR. We are poised at a transition similar to when the gun replaced the bow. Initially, the bow was superior (at least up until the Napoleonic wars), but the gun required far less training.
The XM-25 is the first step in a completely new direction. It's going to take a lot of time and money to supplant the rifle. When it does, dumb slug throwers will probably be considered as primitive as we consider the bow and arrow.
YMMV
