Monday, May 17, 2010

New XM25 and M240 due to hit war zones soon - Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times

New XM25 and M240 due to hit war zones soon - Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times: "Special Forces soldiers will take the XM25 to war this summer for an operational test of the Army’s first shoulder-fired, smart rifle.
The XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System is an offshoot of the Objective Individual Combat Weapon program the Army began in 1994 to maximize ground-soldier firepower.
The futuristic-looking XM25 is capable of shooting air-bursting 25mm projectiles out to 750 meters.
With its boxy stock and oversized sighting device, the XM25 resembles the weapons carried by actors Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the 1997 movie “Men in Black.”
The weapon’s target acquisition system calculates the range to a target with a push of a button and transfers the data to the electronic fuse built into the 25mm round. When fired, the projectile is designed to explode directly above a target, raining shrapnel down on an enemy crouched behind cover."