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Development of individual small weapons soldier until recently followed its own path, separate from the latest technologies. Electronics in the layout of assault rifles and assault rifles were either not used at all, or were used very limited - mainly in the design of optical and night sights. But the reduction in size, cost and resource intensity in the production of electronic components, as well as full-fledged computing systems made it possible to use them not only in military equipment, but also for the modernization and creation of completely new models of small arms of the modern soldier. One of the examples of the widespread use of electronics and application in construction the latest technology can serve story creation of a promising XM25 assault rifle for the US Army.
The development of the XM25 began as part of the 1990 OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon) project, according to which a promising automatic grenade launcher system was created by 2003, which was named after the project. The main feature of the new system was the use of 20-mm HEAB (High Explosive, Air Burst) ammunition - high-explosive fragmentation, with detonation in the air and an optoelectronic complex that combines day and night channels, a laser rangefinder, a ballistic computer, a compass and external interfaces for setting the time of detonation of each ammunition.
In early 2003, successful test firing of the OICW system took place, as a result of which the US Army officially assigned the OICW system the XM-29 index (M-29 after being adopted). As a result of an analysis of the effectiveness of the HEAB ammunition, the optoelectronic complex and the OICW system as a whole, it was decided to freeze the OICW project and start work on the XM25.
From OICW, the novelty got a modernized 25-mm ammunition and an optoelectronic complex. As a result, we got a kind of self-loading magazine weapon, which allows the use of various ammunition: high-explosive fragmentation with air blasting, armor-piercing, shot, non-lethal ammunition, non-lethal action with air blasting, and even anti-personnel mines. Such a wide range of ammunition allows the XM25 to be used not only as a semi-automatic grenade launcher, but also as a large-caliber assault rifle.
The XM25 automatics uses the energy of powder gases discharged from the side channel in the barrel, which is locked by a rotary bolt. The weapon is built according to the "bullpup" scheme - the receiver and the store are located behind the fire control handle. The body of the weapon is made of plastic. The trigger guard covers the entire hand, its front part is designed as an additional handle for holding the weapon and is equipped with control buttons for the aiming complex. All this made it possible to reduce the weight of the weapon to 5,5 kg, and the size, to the size of the M4 carbine.
The cost of one XM25 at the time of adoption will be from $ 25000 to $ 30000. Army tests of the XM25 began in March and will last until the end of the year. If the results turn out to be positive, then in 2014 the new weapon will be put into service and will begin to enter the troops.
Demo video XM-25 grenade launcher posted on the Internet
The US Army Ground Forces published a presentation video revealing some of the details of the latest XM-25 smart grenade launcher.
The XM-25 semi-automatic grenade launcher is an individual weapons support a new generation. The perfect all-weather, around-the-clock electronic fire control system using a laser rangefinder determines the optimum point of the projectile detonation and programs it even before leaving the barrel. The grenade launcher is equipped with 25-mm grenades with remote blasting. From this weapon it is impossible to hide behind the corner, in a trench, behind a window opening - a grenade explodes behind or to the side of the shelter and reliably hits the target with splinters.
Currently, the XM-25 is successfully tested in Afghanistan and has a positive experience of combat use, for which the soldiers called the new weapon Punisher ("The Punisher"). The Pentagon associates with the XM-25 the prospects for the weapons of the future, capable of hitting targets with high accuracy and from the first shot, regardless of the natural cover.
A new video for the first time demonstrates the impact of fragments on the target, the work of the sight and shooting at a high pace. The frames presented in the video demonstrate high accuracy of shooting and the density of the fragments, which make it possible to reliably hit a hidden enemy. You can also see the basic methods of working with a sight - distance measurement and selection of an explosion point.
According to the statements of the military, which dealt with the XM-25, the new grenade launcher provides extremely ample opportunities that were previously available to the infantryman only in the "set" of various weapons. The XM-25 has high accuracy and lethality and in many cases can replace the 40-mm grenade launcher, sniper rifle and machine gun.
Confirmation of the qualities of the XM-25 is the recent signing of a contract worth 65 million dollars for the supply of the US Army to the next batch of grenade launchers and a large amount of ammunition. And this is despite the costly and slow process of actually manual assembly, since the full-scale production of new weapons has not yet been established.
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