We've had a LOT of comments (102 and counting) on our story
last week about Army plans to spend $34 million in the coming year to develop
its XM25, shoulder fired, semi-automatic 25mm grenade launcher. Lots of folks
balked at the price tag, which is understandable, it's a very expensive weapon.
But if it pans out it could really provide some needed firepower to the rifle
squad.
A number of critical voices are concerned that the XM25 will
replace the venerable M203 under rifle grenade launcher. That's not the case.
The XM25 is designed specifically for counter-defilade,
meaning, it's intended to blast enemy fighters hiding behind walls, cars, small
mounds, or other obstacles. It fires a 25mm high explosive round above the
target and then detonates. So it's a weapon designed with a very specific
function in mind. Because of this hyper-specialization, the Army says it will
provide one per rifle squad. So it's meant to augment, not replace, a squad's
current firepower.
In other words, the XM25 is not intended to replace this (the XM320, the replacement for the M203):
Others have criticized the XM25's limited magazine which
only holds four rounds. Yet, one commenter familiar with the weapon wrote in to
say that the 4 round magazine is a compromise between weight and mobility and
that the weapon's accuracy will more than compensate. The squad grenadier will
put down accurate killing fire with the 25mm rounds as the rest of the squad
uses M-4s and SAWs to suppress.
A shortcoming of the M203, as a number of users have
commented, is its inaccuracy. The XM25 would appear to be a vast improvement in
that regard. One commenter who has test fired the weapon said the laser sight
and smart round is accurate enough to put into windows in a house so that the
round detonates inside a room.
Another commenter wrote in to say that the 25mm round
actually contains more explosive than the 40mm "blooper" round. I'll have to do
some digging and see if that's the case.
Watching this footage of firefights from southern Afghanistan put
together by former Marine turned combat correspondent Bing West, I could see
the XM25 having some real utility reaching out and hitting an enemy that uses
walls and tree lines as a base of fire.