Small Arms fun-time!
It seems that nearly all of the "future military" projects of the 1990s have been cancelled in the wake of several real wars. Cool-sounding theories that were advanced during that time are being shown to be pure nonsense. Yester-day, even the most successful of these theories was struck down by reality.
Via Murdoc Online, the following document made its way to the Admiralty yester-day.
AMENDMENT SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT
Solicitation W15QKN-05-R-0449, OICW Increment One
Amendment 002
The purpose of this Amendment is to CANCEL Solicitation W15QKN-05-R-0449, OICW Increment One.
This action has been taken in order for the Army to reevaluate its priorites (sic) for small caliber weapons, and to incorporate emerging requirements identified during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Government will also incorporate studies looking into current capability gaps during said reevaluation.
What does this mean? It seems that the famous XM-8 Rifle Programme has been cancelled. The XM-8 was the descendant of the nineties OICW programme, which involved sticking a 20mm smart grenade launcher on a new 5.56mm rifle. The resulting assembly weighed almost twenty pounds (6.8 kilo-pretend units of measurement) loaded. For comparison, the extremely heavy M1 Garand, standard issue in WWII, weighed 9.5 pounds. A fully loaded machine gun M249 with full kit and tools weighs 15 pounds, and that is considered excessive. The current-issue assault rifle comes in a bit under nine pounds. The French also tried their hand at a version that was considerably more awkward (scroll down).
The XM8 was born when they took the assault rifle portion off the assembly and made it its own rifle. The result, based off of the successful G-36 system, was very reliable and light. However, it seems that real-world experience got in the way. The XM8 was chambered for the same cartridge as the M16/M4 series- the 5.56x45mm NATO. However, because of this cartridge's small calibre (about .22), it depends on extremely high velocity to create fatal wounds. This is no problem out of a standard 20" barrel M16, which pushes the bullet to a velocity of over 3,000 feet per second. This gives it an effective range of over 200 yards (~200 French Revolutionary nonsense measurements). However, most soldiers want reduced barrel length. The 14.5" barrel of the M4 carbine currently in use, combined with the newer M855 ammunition that is heavier (but slower), reaches out to less than 100 yards effectively. The XM-8 was to have a twelve-inch barrel, which means that the weapon wouldn't have been effective even at point-blank range.
What's the solution? It seems that the military is considering changing calibres. The current system is, at best, effective out to 300 yards. This leaves a large range where enemies cannot be hit reliably. Hence the "capability gap" mentioned earlier. Some gun gurus want to bring back the old M-14 rifle in the potent 7.62x51mm chambering. However, the M14 is heavier than the current system, and is nearly uncontrollable in fully-automatic fire. It was a failure as a service rifle, being replaced after only seven years' service by the M-16. It was out of date as soon as it was fielded.
Instead, I propose an intermediate calibre. The 6.5mm Grendel cartridge delivers best among the current crop of possible replacement rounds. The 6.5mm Grendel has superior ballistics at range than the 7.62x51mm. It's also light enough to carry easily and it lacks recoil. Best of all, current M-4 weapons platforms can be used as the basis for the new one- the Grendel system only requires replacement of the upper receiver assembly, which can be done in the field by soldiers without tools. It would also serve as a sniper round (it is extremely accurate at range, and the AR-15 is an extremely accurate platform), and as a standardised machine-gun round (given its hitting power). Logistics would be greatly simplified as a result, and magazines from any weapon could be inter-changed with any other.
At least we're not talking about using .17 calibre ammunition, which was quite the hot idea in the nineties. Yeesh. I often wonder how we got through that decade as well-off as we did.
Via Murdoc Online, the following document made its way to the Admiralty yester-day.
AMENDMENT SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT
Solicitation W15QKN-05-R-0449, OICW Increment One
Amendment 002
The purpose of this Amendment is to CANCEL Solicitation W15QKN-05-R-0449, OICW Increment One.
This action has been taken in order for the Army to reevaluate its priorites (sic) for small caliber weapons, and to incorporate emerging requirements identified during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Government will also incorporate studies looking into current capability gaps during said reevaluation.
What does this mean? It seems that the famous XM-8 Rifle Programme has been cancelled. The XM-8 was the descendant of the nineties OICW programme, which involved sticking a 20mm smart grenade launcher on a new 5.56mm rifle. The resulting assembly weighed almost twenty pounds (6.8 kilo-pretend units of measurement) loaded. For comparison, the extremely heavy M1 Garand, standard issue in WWII, weighed 9.5 pounds. A fully loaded machine gun M249 with full kit and tools weighs 15 pounds, and that is considered excessive. The current-issue assault rifle comes in a bit under nine pounds. The French also tried their hand at a version that was considerably more awkward (scroll down).
The XM8 was born when they took the assault rifle portion off the assembly and made it its own rifle. The result, based off of the successful G-36 system, was very reliable and light. However, it seems that real-world experience got in the way. The XM8 was chambered for the same cartridge as the M16/M4 series- the 5.56x45mm NATO. However, because of this cartridge's small calibre (about .22), it depends on extremely high velocity to create fatal wounds. This is no problem out of a standard 20" barrel M16, which pushes the bullet to a velocity of over 3,000 feet per second. This gives it an effective range of over 200 yards (~200 French Revolutionary nonsense measurements). However, most soldiers want reduced barrel length. The 14.5" barrel of the M4 carbine currently in use, combined with the newer M855 ammunition that is heavier (but slower), reaches out to less than 100 yards effectively. The XM-8 was to have a twelve-inch barrel, which means that the weapon wouldn't have been effective even at point-blank range.
What's the solution? It seems that the military is considering changing calibres. The current system is, at best, effective out to 300 yards. This leaves a large range where enemies cannot be hit reliably. Hence the "capability gap" mentioned earlier. Some gun gurus want to bring back the old M-14 rifle in the potent 7.62x51mm chambering. However, the M14 is heavier than the current system, and is nearly uncontrollable in fully-automatic fire. It was a failure as a service rifle, being replaced after only seven years' service by the M-16. It was out of date as soon as it was fielded.
Instead, I propose an intermediate calibre. The 6.5mm Grendel cartridge delivers best among the current crop of possible replacement rounds. The 6.5mm Grendel has superior ballistics at range than the 7.62x51mm. It's also light enough to carry easily and it lacks recoil. Best of all, current M-4 weapons platforms can be used as the basis for the new one- the Grendel system only requires replacement of the upper receiver assembly, which can be done in the field by soldiers without tools. It would also serve as a sniper round (it is extremely accurate at range, and the AR-15 is an extremely accurate platform), and as a standardised machine-gun round (given its hitting power). Logistics would be greatly simplified as a result, and magazines from any weapon could be inter-changed with any other.
At least we're not talking about using .17 calibre ammunition, which was quite the hot idea in the nineties. Yeesh. I often wonder how we got through that decade as well-off as we did.
posted by The Admiral at 10:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home