I know you guys are probably noticing that we've had a good amount of weapons content on DT for the last few months.
Part of the reason is because after reporting one gun story, you tend to get tidbits of information on another, then another from that, then another from that.
When I spoke with Rich Audette on the Army's search for a new carbine a couple weeks ago, he mentioned to me that the Army was ready to test shoot a new weapon that could revolutionize infantry combat as we know it (my words not his...but his were close).
I just wrapped up the story and put it to bed, and we're going to post it tomorrow morning at Military.com, but I wanted to give you all a head's up here.
Army to Test Air Burst Weapon for Joes
For once it seems the Army is actually turning fiction into science.
After nearly a decade in the shadows - with billions spent on earlier versions long since abandoned - the Army is hurtling along to field a revolutionary new weapon to Joes a lot sooner than anyone had ever imagined.
It's a weapon that can take out a bad guy behind a wall, beyond a hill or below a trench, more accurately and with less collateral damage than anything on the battlefield today, officials say. It's called the XM25 Individual Air Burst Weapon, and by next month the service will have three prototypes of the precision-guided 25mm rifle ready for testing.
"We've done a lot of testing with this and what we're seeing is the estimated increase in effectiveness is six times what we'd be getting with a 5.56mm carbine or a grenade launcher," said Rich Audette, Army Deputy Project Manager for Soldier weapons.
"What we're talking about is a true 'leap ahead' in lethality, here. This is a huge step," Audette added during a phone interview with Military.com from his office at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.
Born of the much-maligned and highly-controversial Objective Individual Combat Weapon - a 1990s program that sought a "leap ahead" battle rifle that combined a counter-defilade weapon with a carbine -- the XM25 has only recently gained new momentum after the Army formalized a requirement and released a contract in June for a series of test weapons.
-- Christian
