Posted: 4/7/2009 1:26:40 PM EDT
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http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4028048&c=AME&s=LAN
The U.S. Army Soldier Weapons program is revving up preparations and testing of the M26 modular shotgun system and the XM25 25mm airburst rifle, service officials said. The M26 shotgun, planned for infantry squads, Special Forces and military police, is slated to begin production and delivery in three to four months. The Army has been testing the weapon at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. The M26 "is a short-distance area weapon. In one cartridge, you have small steel balls which can hit targets. You can use it for room clearing. A single slug will go 50 meters," said Col. Douglas Tamilio, program manager for soldier weapons. "It is a lot lighter than what is out there today," he said. "It can attach to the M4, or you can detach it and it is only 3 to 12 pounds. It is magazine-fed. You can put the shotgun up to a door and blow the lock off, and it can fire lethal and nonlethal rounds." The M26 can function as a standalone shotgun or be attached to an M4 rifle, allowing soldiers to combine capabilities on one weapon and lightening their load. The contractor for the M26 is Vertu, a company based in Manassas, Va. The Army also is test-firing a first-of-its-kind semiautomatic rifle that can detonate its 25mm airbursting rounds on, above or near a target at a specific distance. Made by Alliant Techsystems and L-3 Communications, the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, slated to enter service by 2012, is being test-fired at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The rifle incorporates day and night sights and a laser rangefinder, Tamilio said. "This allows a soldier to go beyond the ranges of what they can get today." The XM25 can hit targets up to 750 meters away, more than twice as far as most grenade launchers and even a bit farther than many rifles and machine guns. It also allows troops to hit targets hiding behind defenses, such as walls or in a ditch. To fire an airbursting round, the soldier paints the target - or the wall or berm in front of the target - with the laser rangefinder. That range is then programmed into the round, which detonates after rotating the prescribed number of times. "When you pull the trigger, it sets the round to go off," said Richard Audette, deputy program manager for soldier weapons, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. Tamilio said this would help in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Right now, if a squad is getting shot at from 300 to 400 meters away, all they can do is fire rifles and their M249 SAW," Tamilio said. "In Iraq, we have had cases where soldiers have been pinned down by sniper fire from the top of a roof, and the only thing they were able to take the sniper out with was with a JDAM [Joint Direct Attack Munition] bomb. "You are talking about thousands of dollars for that bomb," Tamilio said. "We are talking about doing the same thing with a $25 round. This has huge applications in Afghanistan, where you have a lot of rocks and things people [enemies] can get behind." |
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XM25: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/XM25_Individual_Airburst_Weapon_System.jpg/578px-XM25_Individual_Airburst_Weapon_System.jpg One stupid looking SOB but pretty damn effective if it works as advertised. I've seen demos of the 25mm airburst rounds on Discovery some time ago... very impressive! |
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XM25: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/XM25_Individual_Airburst_Weapon_System.jpg/578px-XM25_Individual_Airburst_Weapon_System.jpg One stupid looking SOB but pretty damn effective if it works as advertised. It better - that camo sucks against that background. 
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They are really pushing that air burst technology....That XM25 looks like something out of starship troopers, lets just hope they can figure out a way to make it light and reliable. Wasn't that part of the scrapped land warrior program? And part of the scrapped OICW program. Which turned out to be a polish-the-turd operation, from what I gather. Lots of expense for marginal (at best) gain. |
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"Right now, if a squad is getting shot at from 300 to 400 meters away, all they can do is fire rifles and their M249 SAW," Tamilio said. "In Iraq, we have had cases where soldiers have been pinned down by sniper fire from the top of a roof, and the only thing they were able to take the sniper out with was with a JDAM [Joint Direct Attack Munition] bomb.
Lol Wut? I thought we had these that were between rifles and JDAMs. 
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| I get the point of the new rounds, but why the hell do they always have to have some stupid ass shotgun to go with it? Just update the ones we have to use it. Shotguns are special purpose weapons, the need for quick mag changes at added weight really isnt that critical. |
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. |
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Did you hear about this?
Brains are what really makes this Buck Rogers gun work –– it has them. The weapon combines a thermal optic, day sight, laser range finder, compass and IR illuminator with a fire-control system that wirelessly transmits the exact range of the target into the 25mm round's fuse before firing. http://www.military.com/news/article/army-to-test-air-burst-weapon-for-joes.html |
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. Grenade is faster, no? I imagine there is less concern for collateral damage as well. |
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Dust off the good old M79 for those bad guys behind the barricade. The 25mm grenade is air-bursting. The laser rangefinder programs the fuse to blow up directly over the ditch they're hiding in, rather than on the ground nearby. If it actually works it would be pretty nifty. |
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. Which one is more Cost Effective? The Plane with the Fuel and the Bomb? or the M-25? |
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. Which one is more Cost Effective? The Plane with the Fuel and the Bomb? or the M-25? Which one do you think will be in active use in Afghanistan first? |
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Dust off the good old M79 for those bad guys behind the barricade. The 25mm grenade is air-bursting. The laser rangefinder programs the fuse to blow up directly over the ditch they're hiding in, rather than on the ground nearby. If it actually works it would be pretty nifty. This. |
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. Which one is more Cost Effective? The Plane with the Fuel and the Bomb? or the M-25? Which one do you think will be in active use in Afghanistan first? Uhhh, Planes with bombs are already active in Afghanistan aren't they
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. Which one is more Cost Effective? The Plane with the Fuel and the Bomb? or the M-25? Which one do you think will be in active use in Afghanistan first? Uhhh, Planes with bombs are already active in Afghanistan aren't they I'm talking about shorter/cheaper SDBs on UAVs. Bound to be in service in a matter of months. The XM25 has been what, 10 years at least in the making? |
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I really want an XM25. Same here man. I don't really see the need for the shotgun update though. As I believe has been said shotguns are special-use weaponry on today's battlefields. It seems a bit like a waste of money as I haven't heard or read about any issues with the current shottys in use. Though the functionality described is nice. |
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XM25: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/XM25_Individual_Airburst_Weapon_System.jpg/578px-XM25_Individual_Airburst_Weapon_System.jpg One stupid looking SOB but pretty damn effective if it works as advertised. It better - that camo sucks against that background. +1 I hope he can aim that thing fast and true. Because he's one hell of an easy target.
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. Which one is more Cost Effective? The Plane with the Fuel and the Bomb? or the M-25? Which one do you think will be in active use in Afghanistan first? Uhhh, Planes with bombs are already active in Afghanistan aren't they I'm talking about shorter/cheaper SDBs on UAVs. Bound to be in service in a matter of months. The XM25 has been what, 10 years at least in the making? Why not have both, especially of the XM 25 program is almost finished. All the millions will not have been wasted than, plus, the tech. may find its way into other things |
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. Which one is more Cost Effective? The Plane with the Fuel and the Bomb? or the M-25? Which one do you think will be in active use in Afghanistan first? Uhhh, Planes with bombs are already active in Afghanistan aren't they I'm talking about shorter/cheaper SDBs on UAVs. Bound to be in service in a matter of months. The XM25 has been what, 10 years at least in the making? Why not have both, especially of the XM 25 program is almost finished. All the millions will not have been wasted than, plus, the tech. may find its way into other things Don't mistake my intentions. I'm a fan of the XM25 concept, I'd love to see them in service. It really does seem like a revolutionary weapon system. |
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I notice we're calling the XM25 an "air-burst rifle" now instead of a grenade launcher.
Wonder if it's going to be a supplement to the current-gen weapons, since the M320 will be coming online shortly to replace the M203. And didn't we just read about several future programs killed/stalled per SecDef yesteday? XM25 seems nifty, but in an era of cutbacks, I don't see it being fielded anytime soon. |
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They copied the idea from the Morita.
http://www.starshiptroopers.net/MoritaTEXT.html |
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I thought we'd see something like this: http://www.blogdownchicagobears.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/meet_robinsons_dinosaur.jpg ETA: Yes, an XM25 would be very cool. 
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I wonder how many guys would prefer to see a JDAM dropped on an asshole and his buddies that are shooting at him? The JDAM gets it done, and makes sure there are no survivors or anywhere to hide. We've been working on a shorty SDB here for flying off drones. Still better than a grenade. Grenade is faster, no? I imagine there is less concern for collateral damage as well. I'm getting to where I don't care about collateral damage as much. When the neighbors start getting the idea that letting Jihadi's operate in their hood/village and start ratting these assholes out, THEN I'll care about collateral damage. |
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"Right now, if a squad is getting shot at from 300 to 400 meters away, all they can do is fire rifles and their M249 SAW," Tamilio said. "In Iraq, we have had cases where soldiers have been pinned down by sniper fire from the top of a roof, and the only thing they were able to take the sniper out with was with a JDAM [Joint Direct Attack Munition] bomb.
Lol Wut? I thought we had these that were between rifles and JDAMs. http://prometheus.med.utah.edu/%7Ebwjones/C1516441744/E20080206170825/Media/Knights%20SASS.jpg http://www.geocities.com/landofsnipers/Assets/BarrettM82A1NG.jpg http://xbradtc.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/at4-johnson2004-02-03.jpg I got to hold and drool over the one in the first pic at the NASCAR race Sunday. Heavy as hell though. The Gunny over that part of the exhibit said they were working on one on the same platform chambered in 300 winmag. Also got a look at the replacement for the M203. Small with an M4 stock that kinda looks like a MP5. It has a very short (12 inches maybe) barrel that side loads. He said it still goes......bloooop...when you shoot it. They also had a HUMMV set up with the new remote controlled laser sighted 50 mounted on top. Talk about a real video game. |