M16 may be in trouble

Link!

"Iraq is the final nail in the coffin for the M-16," said a commander who asked not to be identified.


The current version of the M-16 is a far cry from the original, which troops during the Vietnam War criticized as fragile, lacking power and range, and only moderately accurate. At the time, a leading U.S. weapons expert even recommended that American soldiers discard their M-16s and arm themselves with the Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle used by their Vietcong enemy.


Although the M16A1 � introduced in the early 1980s � has been heavily modernized, experts say it still isn't as reliable as the AK-47 or its younger cousin, the AK-74. Both are said to have better "knockdown" power and can take more of a beating on the battlefield.

And btw, US troops did change their M-16s and M4s to AKs even in Iraq..



And this article has bad errors..

As:

M4s and M-16s are the same..

Only Stock, Handguard and barrel are different

And the change from 3-Burst to Full-automatic is small and internal modification that doesnt affect anything else
than rate of fire.



And if you doubt me..

Look this video!
(Its the same weapon all the time, and its using blanks.. and why is it important that it uses blanks? Well, blanks produce way less recoil and gas energy, making it harder for them to reload the weapon than with live ammo!!!)



[Edited on 23-11-2003 by FULCRUM]

Clone wars, here we come.

Everybody else in NATO (or at least Western Europe) saw that the future of infantry weapons was urban combat and APCs. Hence we have short bullpup weapons like the SA-80, FAMAS and so on... WWIII was expected to be fought with lots of armour and mechanised movement. But the US kept the M-16. Why, I wonder?

Because the M-4 is smaller than the M-16. That is the point. They said soldiers were having problems shooting out of vehicles because of the M-16's size. The M-4's stock could be shortened so it is much easier to fire out of a vehicle.

1000 POST!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by jetsetter
Well here is the replacement for the old 50cal. Pretty cool eh?

very nice gun there is also paired up with another weapon coming out, i dont know the name but both of them will be mass produced in the year 2008, pretty soon hopefully by 2020 everysingnle soilder will have one

The M16 needs to be replaced. Most of the are outdated and made by the lowest bidder. And that last picture of the "new 50cal" is not really a 50cal. That my friend is a prototype for a new grenade launcher. 50cal rifle bores aren't that big.

>> I for one find this shocking, as the M-16A2 is an absolute gem.

I spent some time with a full auto M16, the thing would jam up on a regular basis. The chamber gets dirty really fast causes lots of problems. I still liked it tho....

Originally posted by ShatteredSkies

Originally posted by jetsetter
Well here is the replacement for the old 50cal. Pretty cool eh?

very nice gun there is also paired up with another weapon coming out, i dont know the name but both of them will be mass produced in the year 2008, pretty soon hopefully by 2020 everysingnle soilder will have one

It's the OCSW. The Objective Crew Served Weapon. Kinda nice, 25mm gun, using HE and standard ammo, so it's the replacement for the Browning MG and HK's GMG.

You could look this up on Google... I couldn't find my favourite link...

The other guns are XM8,XM29 and XM25. There was a topic about it in the past The Small Arm of the Future: www.abovetopsecret.com... .


[Edited on 24-11-2003 by Johnny]

Originally posted by Johnny

Originally posted by ShatteredSkies

Originally posted by jetsetter
Well here is the replacement for the old 50cal. Pretty cool eh?

very nice gun there is also paired up with another weapon coming out, i dont know the name but both of them will be mass produced in the year 2008, pretty soon hopefully by 2020 everysingnle soilder will have one

It's the OCSW. The Objective Crew Served Weapon. Kinda nice, 25mm gun, using HE and standard ammo, so it's the replacement for the Browning MG and HK's GMG.

You could look this up on Google... I couldn't find my favourite link...

The other guns are XM8,XM29 and XM25. There was a topic about it in the past The Small Arm of the Future: www.abovetopsecret.com... .


[Edited on 24-11-2003 by Johnny]

ok its true i forgot to mention this is a gernade launcher, but whats good about it and its smaller brother is both of them when compared to their counterparts, M-16 and the M-50CAL(you do the comparing) they are both lighter and more manuverable, plus the other one the smaller one i think the OWCI has a gernade launcher and serves as a rapid assault rifle, pretty nifty eh?
o ya and they both are supposed to have computers ontop of them so you can fire from behind a wall, hit an enemy, and use the wall as cover. if you've seen the game kill switch its like that except you know where your firing. thanx to nano technology and computers!

[Edited on 24-11-2003 by ShatteredSkies]

The M16A2 is slated to be replaced. It's too long to be used out of most vehicles in the US inventory. The likely candidate to be the next weapon is currently being tested at the Picatinny Arsenal in NJ, USA. It is shorter and lighter than the M16 will fire the same round and have the capability of a underslung launcher that will fire the new antipersonnel munition. It is a joint venture between Armatex and HK called the M8.

hrxll

The latest....as of October 11, 2003...........:

"XM8 PROTOTYPES SURPASS M16, EXPERTS SAY"
Link:
www.hk-usa.com...




Excerpt:
"It looks like the first prototypes of what could be the Army's next rifle already outclass anything in the M16 family.

At least that�s the analysis of Army weapons experts who recently traveled to Germany to check out the XM8.

�The performance was truly remarkable,� said Col. Michael Smith, the head of Project Manager Soldier Weapons, after a recent trip to Heckler & Koch Inc. to inspect the first prototypes of the 5.56mm assault weapon intended to give soldiers a more reliable alternative to the current M16A2 and M16A4 rifles and M4 carbine.

The 30 prototypes have been shipped to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., where they are slated to undergo testing under laboratory conditions in mid-November.

Soldiers are scheduled to lay their hands on the weapon some time in December, when the Army expects to receive another 170 prototypes.

If all goes well, the XM8 could be ready for fielding by late summer 2005."


regards
seekerof

Excellent update Seekerof.Looks sweet.