US army testing new combat rifle

[redsoulja]

i knew he was talkin bout teh OICW but whta problem was he pinpointing out?

 

[Raven_Wing278]

holy crap...Americans r crazy..they already hav durable rifles that pack a hell of punch..like the M4 carbine and the m-16 assault rifles...that rifle looks lyk its made outta plastic

 

[redsoulja]

it sorta does look liek tis made of plastic

 

[mysterious]

Looks can alwayz be deceiving fellow newbies! :smokingc: My belief is that this new toy would certainly add a great deal to individual firepower of the US troops and should be inducted in slow stages to work alongside with the existing ones.

 

[Aussie Digger]

What's wrong with a plastic rifle? The M-16 contains a lot of plastic and people here have been singinfg it's praises. The Steyr AUG, SA-80 and H&K G36 all use significant amounts of plastic as do heavier weapons like the Minimi light machine gun.

The type of plastic used is very durable, definitely not the "toy" plastic stuff. It is thick, it doesn't corrode, swell or suffer any of the problems that wood or metal suffer from, including over heating, warping etc. It's also waterproof, tough, and light, compared to wood and metal. Why wouldn't you use it?

 

[gf0012-aust]

holy crap...Americans r crazy..they already hav durable rifles that pack a hell of punch..like the M4 carbine and the m-16 assault rifles...that rifle looks lyk its made outta plastic

Have you ever seen a modern combat rifle? Ever seen H&K's units pulled apart? The current SA-802's (reworked by H&K), the Steyr family, even some of the .50 cal anti-light skins are using poly parts.

There are a significant number of benefits of going to polycarbides - but if you want your soldiers to carry unnecessary weight on top of their existing bergen loads, well, go for your life. Just don't expect them to park and play after a long hike.

 

[Pakistani Pilot]

XM8 Videos

XM8 Videos
XM8 videos were shot Feb. 11, 2004 during a test in Las Vegas.
Click to see the videos.

# Overview
rtsp://rm001.infi.net:80/~atpco/realserver/XM8_Overview.rm

# Assembly
rtsp://rm001.infi.net:80/~atpco/realserver/XM8_Assembly.rm

# 30-Round Magazine
rtsp://rm001.infi.net:80/~atpco/realserver/XM8_30Round_Mag.rm

# Dust and Water
rtsp://rm001.infi.net:80/~atpco/realserver/XM8_Dust_and_Water.rm

# Sight Module
rtsp://rm001.infi.net:80/~atpco/realserver/XM8_Sight.rm

# Grenade
Launcherrtsp://rm001.infi.net:80/~atpco/realserver/XM8_Grenade.rm

# 100-Round Magazine
rtsp://rm001.infi.net:80/~atpco/realserver/XM8_100_round_mag.rm

All other new weapons videos can be accessed from
http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/blackwater/videos.html

 

[lamdacore]

Ghost Recon 2 is apparently displaying soldiers with the XM8 and OICW.

Aslo, quite a few troops had m16s and m4s.

 

[Turcain]

And also in Kosovo, they used the new type of anti-tank rifles which has weakened uranium bullets in it, and can damage armor of a tank easily. Bad for crew good for infantry .

 

[Hard Ball]

The most probable replacement for the M16A2/M4 Carbine family is the H&K XM8 chambered for the new 6.8X43mm (.270 caliber) which is superior to the 5,56mm (.223 caliber) cartridge currently in use.

 

[Red aRRow]

And also in Kosovo, they used the new type of anti-tank rifles which has weakened uranium bullets in it, and can damage armor of a tank easily. Bad for crew good for infantry .

I think you are talking about the Barett 0.50 anti materials rifle. Those buggers pack a helluva punch. However quite bad for stealth since they tend to raise a mini sandstorm when fired :

Coming back to the topic. Can somebody tell me that whether the sights used by the U.S. army on the M4 carbine (in Iraq for example) contain IR thermal imaging or are they just plain telescoping sights??

 

[highsea]

Red Arrow, I believe it depends on the version. The M4A1 has the flat top receiver of the M16A3, with a picatinny rail and removeable handle. The Specops mod kit has variety of sights that can be used with a rail interface system (RIS); IR (requires NVG), telescopic, reflex, laser. There is also a starlight scope (AN-PVS4) that can go on all M16/M4's, either on the RIS or with it's own mount.

 

[gf0012-aust]

And also in Kosovo, they used the new type of anti-tank rifles which has weakened uranium bullets in it, and can damage armor of a tank easily. Bad for crew good for infantry .

I think you are talking about the Barett 0.50 anti materials rifle. Those buggers pack a helluva punch. However quite bad for stealth since they tend to raise a mini sandstorm when fired :

Coming back to the topic. Can somebody tell me that whether the sights used by the U.S. army on the M4 carbine (in Iraq for example) contain IR thermal imaging or are they just plain telescoping sights??

They use 2 major types, the ELCAN and the ACOG. Both are not just "plain" scopes.

 

[Red aRRow]

I guess this is the shorter carbine version of the XM8 with a collapsible butt.
Is that the standard XM8 in the background or some sort of sniper version??

 

[mikier]

foreground is the "XM8 Compact Carbine" (9 in), and the other one is the "XM8 Designated Marksman/Automatic Rifle" (20 in). the carbine basic length is 12.5 in

source: www.hkdefense.us/pages/military-le/rifles-carbines/xm8.html

the longer one can be used like a "marksman" or as "squad" type weapon.. there is a video of an HK rep shooting this variation on full auto, 100 round (C-Mag), shoulding the rifle with just the shooting hand (weak hand behind his back).

 

[fraken_14]

so the idea is that this one gun will take the place of many different weapons in the army?

That should help supplies, would make ammo distribution easy.

 

[Mp5cz]

I had a look, and I think the Halo 2 rifle is based on the French Famas rifle, the smg on the HK MP-7, or the swiss MP-9. the magnum is most likely the walther P99. As for the sniper rifle, well there's not many other things it could be based on but one of the Barrett rifles.
Anyways, I wonder if the 'Gauss cannon' has any future. here's it's description: "Asynchronous linear-induction motor produces bipolar magnetic field to fire 25mm projectile at hyper-sonic velocity."

oh, damn, for some reason it posted this on the wrong forym, sorry :S

 

[Pursuit Curve]

http://www.shadowsource.org/dragon/oicw.html

I just don't know about this thing. The firepower of a 20mm cannon is nice for an individual soldier to have and its ability to preset a range detonation is awfully cool, but the thing is big and bulky. It's 18 pounds right now. That's like toting around a bowling ball. The production goal is to get it down to 14 pounds, which is still fairly heavy for a rifle. I'm also unsure of how well the thing will stand up to the rigors of combat. Will it still fire after it gets tossed down a staircase? What happens when it gets wet? What happens when sand gets into its targeting computer? I guess you could always chuck it at an enemy soldier.

Also what happens if a trooper runs out of Lithium batteries before he runs out of ammo? Also will you need this system to be run by three guys? One to carry the assault weapon, one to carry batteries, and one to lug around ammo?

 

[Martin]

XM8 is nice, but it would have been muuuuuch cheaper to adopt the G36...

 

[Pursuit Curve]

I think that they should simply adopt or ressurect the M14 or FN SLR with 7.62 NATO ammo, it is lethal, it has the penetration and can deal with modern body armour as well as automobiles. It is a hard lesson to learn for troopers when you see 5.56 doing apparently no damage to a target, 5.56 is light, but it just doesn't drop a man like a solid NATO 7.62.