US Army to begin using new automatic rifles that fire with the power of a TANK as soon as 2022
For decades, the US military have pushed for a replacement for the M16/M4 weapons carried by most soldiers, Marines and special forces.
And despite long-running programs that have come on the scene and later floundered before being cancelled, the much revised 5.56mm weapon and its similarly chambered light machine gun counterpart have continued to be the mainstay of squad-level firepower.
But now the US Army is considering an assault rifle that can tear through any body armour with the pressure of a battle tank, strike from unprecedented ranges, and withstand the rigours of weather, terrain and soldier use, Army Chief of Staff. Gen. Mark Milley told The Military Times.
The service plans on fielding a Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle (NGSAR) — the first version in the Army’s Next-Generation Weapons System that chambers a round between 6.5mm and 6.8mm — as a potential replacement for its 80,000 M249 SAWs starting in 2022 rather than the original target date of fiscal 2025, with two per nine-man infantry squad.
Army officials are so pleased with the new design in Testing & Evaluation, that they say the rifles are 'better than any weapon on earth today, by far.'
'This is a weapon that could defeat any body armour [currently in service], any planned body armour that we know of in the future,' said Milley.
By the end of next year, an advanced night vision and sophisticated targeting system that is part of this new weapon system will be reaching troops for testing. 'There is a target acquisition system built into this thing that is unlike anything that exists today,' Milley said.
Though it is an Army program, Marines and special operations forces have been involved in providing feedback on weapons development and will receive the new weapon when fielded. Marines are already scheduled to get thousands of the new night vision devices the Army plans to start fielding late next year.
'This is a weapon that can go out at ranges that are unknown today and that you can see accurately.
The new weapon is initially targeted for close combat units like infantry, scouts and special operations, according to The Military Times.
It weighs less, is more powerful than prior assault rifles and can shoot further - extending soldiers' range from 300 meters to 600 meters.
The reason the rifle should fire a round between 6.5mm and 6.8mm, is because it is highly accurate due to retaining supersonic velocity longer than existing military calibres, and it also generates less recoil so fully automatic fire is more stable.
Natural differences in terrain can get in the way of the gun's extended range, but the service says increased 'power and barrier penetration' will give them greater defence against various environments, like urban obstacles, according to Military Times.
'The chamber pressure for the standard assault rifle is around 45 KSI [kilopound per square inch], but we're looking for between 60 and 80 KSI...the chamber pressure when an M1 Abrams tank fires is on that order,'
The U.S. isn't the only country focused on developing next-generation weaponry. Russia and China are both working on laser technology. China claimed recently to have built a handheld weapon can hit targets half a mile away using an energy beam that cannot be seen but causes 'instant carbonisation' of human skin.