XM25 Prototypes To U.S. Army For Testing

I had heard of the XM29 but not the XM25

More heavy firepower in a portable package, I don't think I would like to be on the receiving end of this.

Anyone any idea of its potential deployment I assume 1 weapon per a squad.

I wonder what the weapon spread (e.g. XM8/29, M14/XM8/29 carbines - for squad leaders, M249/replacement, XM25) will be for a standard US Infantry squad in a few years.

Do other nations issue (or plan to) issue comparable weapons?

ATK Delivers First XM25 Prototypes To U.S. Army For Testing

Minneapolis MN (SPX) Apr 28, 2005
Alliant Techsystems has delivered the first six prototype XM25 advanced airbursting weapon systems to the U.S. Army for field-testing.
The XM25 fires a High Explosive (HE), air bursting 25mm round capable of defeating an enemy behind a wall, inside a building or in a foxhole.

The advanced design allows the operator to program the round so that it flies to the target and detonates at a precise point in the air. It does not require impact to detonate.

The XM25 is ideal for urban combat. It puts precision firepower in the hands of the soldier, allowing them to eliminate threats without causing significant collateral damage.

"The initial field tests are very promising," said LTC Matthew Clarke, U.S. Army project manager, individual weapons.

"A weapon system like the XM25 will prove invaluable to our warfighters. It will be a clear differentiator on the battlefield."

The revolutionary fire control system for the XM25 employs an advanced laser rangefinder that transmits information to the chambered 25mm round.

As the round flies downrange to the target, it precisely measures the distance traveled and detonates at exactly the right moment to deliver maximum effectiveness.

The XM25 increases the warfighter's probability of hit-to-kill performance by up to 500 percent over existing weapons.

It also extends the effective range of the soldier's individual weapon to more than 500 meters.

SpaceDaily Website

A gun that shoots a fragmentation round?

Nice idea but can they come up with a nicer gun then this piece of junk in the picture. It looks like a super soaker.

I would NOT want to go to war with that weapon. I would look like a wuss. I mean its like 1 foot long. Are we going to equip our children in support roles with the xm25?

Whats the deal.

I want something mean looking. THis is not the futureistic look we need. We need something that looks as cool as a M4 or M16 looks. Or at least looks battle hardened. This doesnt look battle hardened or intimidating.

It probably does a good job at its intended role, but it is sissy looking.

It probably shoots BB's in secondary firing mode



[edit on 29-4-2005 by Obfuscate]

Originally posted by Obfuscate
It looks like a super soaker.

I would NOT want to go to war with that weapon. I would look like a wuss. I mean its like 1 foot long. Are we going to equip our children in support roles with the xm25?

Whats the deal.

I want something mean looking. THis is not the futureistic look we need. We need something that looks as cool as a M4 or M16 looks. Or at least looks battle hardened. This doesnt look battle hardened or intimidating.

It probably does a good job at its intended role, but it is sissy looking.

It probably shoots BB's in secondary firing mode

[edit on 29-4-2005 by Obfuscate]

Good one though if I had to run around a battlefield carry god knows how many lbs of kit I would like to my weapon to be as light and small as possible yet still pack a punch.

Talking of kids let me draw an analogy when you become a new parent you fancy buying the biggest best looking pram under the sun ... once you have had several months of trying to fit the this contraption into the car (forget trting to put other lugage in the trunk as well!) and have to carry the damn thing on the underground ... you find yourself going into mothercare trying to find the lightest, smallest pram that will still do the job on carry said child.

I knew they would make a stand-alone launcher for the 25mm round.

But didn't realise it would be designated XM-25...

Who gives a damn how it looks as long as it increases my chance at killing the other guy by 500%s I'm not complaining. The days of 3 foot long metal rifles that only serve one purpose are numbered. The future is lighter, smaller, and more capable/powerful.

[edit on 29-4-2005 by WestPoint23]

You know, I have to agree with WestPoint on this. I don't care if it's pink and covered with daisies. If it's gonna keep me alive and keep the other side down, then I'll take it. And if its not going to work at all, then it doesn't matter how great something looks, it's junk. Honestly, it's cheesy looking; reminds me of something Nintendo would've put out if they had a couple more years of testing their gun for Duck Hunt. Granted, if nothing else a different color might work a little better. But I don't see anything that would keep me from using it myself.

The XM25 is the end result of the OICW program. They discovered that the XM29 with both a 20mm grenade launcher and 5.56 assault rifle was too bulky for combat.

The XM25 will still be a decent 25mm grenade launcher to replace the heavier 40mm.

It fires a smart 25mm round, and can be replaced with a 25mm fuel-air explosion shell. It even has a setting for "Burst" or air-burst.

www.strategypage.com...

[edit on 29-4-2005 by LeftBehind]

Westpoint is right on this one. Intimidating guns don't help you kill the other guy. Recent surveys show that killing the guy trying to kill you is good for your health. Personally I'd rather have a gun that looks like a barbydoll over a minigun so long as it gets the job done.

Nothing particularly smart about the round, it's a simple timer based on turns counting. As far as I know there's only the HE round in current development, and an inert training round. No FAE as far as I know. I know we've talked about a proximity fuze, but I'm not sure it's really needed.

A simple computer based timer. I.e. smart shells buddy.

The 20mm and 25mm "smart shells" use a computer controlled fuze in each
shell. The M-25 or M-307 operator can select four different firing modes
via a selector switch on the weapon. The four modes include "Bursting"
(airburst). For this to work, the soldier first finds the target via the
weapons sighting system. This includes a laser range finder and the
ability to select and adjust the range shown in the sight picture. For an
air burst the soldier aims at an enemy position and fires a round. The
shell is optimized to spray incapacitating (wounding or killing) fragments
in a roughly six meter radius from the exploding round. Thus if enemy
troops are seen moving near trees or buildings at a long distance (over
500 meters), the weapon has a good chance of getting them with one shot.
M-16s are not very accurate at that range, and the enemy troops will dive
for cover as soon as M-16 bullets hit around them. With smart shells, you
get one (or a few) accurate shots and the element of surprise.

I would rather have the best of both worlds.

An Iraqi insurgent sitting in his home watching a patrol go by with plastic super soaker guns is not going to be intimidated. Psych Op's is a huge part of war.

Also it also gives the soldiers confidence if they have something they can be proud of. I would not be proud of carrying this gun.

If I wanted to shoot air burting shrapnel grenades, I would make one that shot the biggest caliber round and that gave me decent ammunition without having to wear an exoskeleton to carry it.

But maybe Exoskeletons are a good idea.

I would of thought we would of grown out of the whole ground soldier idea a long time ago.

Now we are talking about mobility and weight. ????

I would rather invest heavily in space programs and the airforce and just have a slow moving hard hitting ground army that can get the job done.

No reason to "rush" the enemy if you can hit them from the air and have good xray and sensors in space to "identify" the enemy. With that I think you can just bomb or artillery them. I dont see a huge need in charging cavalry all over.

BUt maybe the XM25 will allow soldiers to carry both a XM25 AND a regular conventional weapon. If not I dont see the point of this gun.

What is the range of it? Cant be more then 100 yards with any accuracy. Which is lame I would rather lug around an exoskeleton with some real range and firepower.

If someone wants to die then they care if your carrying a .50 cal they are still going to attack you. If they think they can win because you gun is not as big as theirs well then they are in for a nasty surprise.

The XM-29 currently weights about 18.5 LB too heavy by current army standards in 2012-2015 is will weight about 15 Lb which is ok. They simply have to use something else and allow for the technology to develop and become smaller.

Do other nations issue (or plan to) issue comparable weapons?

Air Burst Munition is the future!

The new german IFV "Puma", will use a full auto machine cannon in 30mm,that will use ABM/KETF (Air Burst Munition/ Kinetic Energy Time Fuze) as standard ammonation (but also be able to use its HEI/SD-T, MP-T, SAPHEI-T, APDS-T, APFSDS-T, FAPDS-T ammonations)

two kinds of ammonation can be avaible on the gun, at same time

MK30-2




for the XM-8, the original weapon, G36 is standard issue rifle in german armed forces and spanish armed forces, as standard rifle version, as carbine, as compact carbine, as automatic rifle, and maybe in future as sharpshooter variant

compareable to the XM-25... well.. here we havent anything that light, in the nearer future... (sadly)




[edit on 30-4-2005 by Wodan]

^^^

Ouch. That looks nasty. edit: What happened to the grenade launcher machine gun picture?

But then again, whats the point of making something like the XM25 when you could just stick HE-Frag grenades in a grenade launcher?

[edit on 30/4/05 by W4rl0rD]

Any one else notice the bullpup design, is the army planning on going in that direction with future systems?

Obfuscate, it doesn't matter what the enemy thinks of your gun's design.
What makes them afraid is the massive firepower.

People this is not an assault rifle, it is a semi-automatic 25mm grenade launcher with air-burst capabilities. It will not replace the M249. It will replace the single shot M79 40mm grenade launcher.

M79


XM25

From original post.
The XM25 increases the warfighter's probability of hit-to-kill performance by up to 500 percent over existing weapons.

It also extends the effective range of the soldier's individual weapon to more than 500 meters

This thing may look like a supersoaker, but as soon as they are used in battle they will be feared like all other explosive firing weapons.


[edit on 30-4-2005 by LeftBehind]

Although I was originally a big OICW fan, I'm more sceptical now and I'm happyit was not produced in large numbers. The main problem is - how efective would be the 25mm round against body armour? I think that around 2010-2015 many 3rd world countries will start to use advanced flak vest to protect their troops. The 25mm grenade with small fragments could become obsolete very quickly.
It looks like everyone will eventually return to the good old KE rounds/bullets.

I like the burp gun (are they still called that?). Maybe I'm the only one, but I think it's:

1.) Really intimidating both in calibre and capability, plus it's extensively battle tested

2.) Fires a number of good rounds, including non-lethal and less-than-lethal

3.) Easy as hell to service and clean

4.) Reliable as anything you could want

5.) easy to aim, easy to fire, and easy to load - all of those even with one arm disabled!

I'd take the M79 any day. Rapid fire is nice and all, but the new weapon has a smaller calibre, has many more moving parts, isn't as easy to clean and service, and doesn't have the benefit of having such a simple design that lends itself well to field jury-rigging in case of emergency.

Just my opinion.

[edit on 30-4-2005 by WyrdeOne]

Originally posted by replicators
Any one else notice the bullpup design, is the army planning on going in that direction with future systems?

The launcher is bullup, because it was originally the upper part of the OICW. The KE part(5.56mm carabine) was atached to the bottom, under the GL barrel.

But then again, whats the point of making something like the XM25 when you could just stick HE-Frag grenades in a grenade launcher?

This is one of the dumbest questions I have ever heard. Why don't you read the capability's of the XM-25 then post again.

The Flak vest question, this explode in the air it does not only send its fragments to the chest area only but all over the body.