Essentially a long range smart grenade launcher making cover behind chest-high walls obsolete. So much for my video game experience training me for the coming Red Dawn-like Armageddon.
After years of development, the U.S. Army has unleashed a new weapon in Afghanistan -- the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, a high-tech rifle that can be programmed so that its 25-mm. ammunition detonates either in front of or behind a target, meaning it can be fired just above a wall before it explodes and kills the enemy.
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A potential battlefield scenario, according to Army officials, might go something like this:
-- A patrol encounters an enemy combatant in a walled Afghan village who fires an AK-47 intermittently from behind cover, exposing himself only for a brief second to fire.
-- The patrol's leader calls for the XM25 gunman, who uses the weapon's laser range finder to calculate the distance to the target.
-- He then uses an incremental button located near the trigger to add 1 meter to the round's distance, since the enemy is hiding behind a wall.
-- The round is fired, and it explodes with a blast comparable to a hand grenade past the wall and above the enemy.
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who cares what it looks like? I'm sure the indians thought the rifle was stupid looking too, that is until they were dying.
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Hm, this looks cool and all, but, man, the escalating arms race is scary. This is good now, but what about in 10, 15 years when other nations have the same anti-defilade capabilities? I am sure larger nations like Russia are already involved in research programs for similar tech. So much for hiding behind a tree when Joe-Taliban gets his hands on one of these through the black market or off the hands of a dead soldier.
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The military isn't overly concerned that the weapon might be captured by the enemy, because they would be unable to obtain its highly specialized ammunition, batteries and other components. Lehner said he expects other nations will try to copy its technology, but it will be very cost-prohibitive.
I have my doubts about the "difficulty" of the enemy using the weapon, but I hope they keep that stuff good and secure on the battlefield.
And war gets ever more deadly . . .
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Last edited by HPLovecraft; 11-30-2010 at 04:44 AM.
Tony Stark: They say that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it, that's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far.
Hm, this looks cool and all, but, man, the escalating arms race is scary. This is good now, but what about in 10, 15 years when other nations have the same anti-defilade capabilities? . .
No problem because it'll be too late for them . . . . . the Americans will have these babies below by then, rendering flesh and blood soldiers obsolete:
Cowperson
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If they're just releasing these now, they probably already have something better waiting in the wings. They're just going to showcase these for a while, they sell them off to other countries.
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Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 11-30-2010 at 08:33 AM.
Well I guess I'm glad I'm not Canadian and I'm more worried how my rifle looks than what it does....
(joke guys, we know Amorak is just Sean Avery playing with putting prada on his dolls)
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Thank you for everything CP. Good memories and thankful for everything that has been done to help me out. I will no longer take part on these boards. Take care, Go Flames Go.
As cool as firing over a wall is while yelling "Surprise" would have been. I'm old school and still believe that it was cooler to shoot through walls. I was miffed when Canada went to the C series rifles from the FN's that I started with only because I could shoot a guy through a tree with one of those bad boys.
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U.S. Army Unveils 'Revolutionary' XM25 Rifle
