US Army's new weapons and soldiers

I definitly don't like the new uniform, those brown boots look horrid IMO.

But i'll get used to it, maybe even grow to love it like with the XM8.

I hope this proofs for all of the Anti-XM8 crowd, the XM8 isn't going anywhere anytime soon, there is nothing better on the Market, not the Barrett 468 or any of the other AR-15 based solutions, the AR-15 has more goodies designed for it, but i'm sure there will be lots of new goodies for the XM8, the XM8 is accurate, more accurate compared to the G36 which is an excellent Gewehr (sorry, Rifle) .

And the XM8 looks mighty fine in it's black variant, i'd like to have one

Oh, it's not Advanced Crew Served Weapon, it's Objective Crew Served Weapon, it uses 25mm grenades much like the OICW, it's more comparable to the Mk19 automatic grenade launcher, and that uses 40mm "Artillery" rounds

Jetsetter obviously got carried away showing off the flashy, futuristic prototypes for the US military that the media and the military lovers drool over he forgot to show this little gem










wow i cant wait for the soldiers to get these! the US military is gonna be so badass when they're off duty they can sumo wrestle in them too!

What can I say...it looks like those fat suits you can buy at funky shops... oh well...apperances can be decieving

we are slowly reinventing armour of the pest history is repeating agian

Are you guys serious? Those are not uniforms those are weight suits to make it harder for you to move while performing the obstacle course. Hence to prepare you for how it would feel if you were carrying full weapons load and pack on you back.

I much prefer the new SCAR-L rifle from FN that was just awarded the SF contract, sorry I don't have a picture.

We are still building rifles around that infamous "poodle shooter" round the 5.56mm. Whilst the latest Mk.262 and Mk.262 Mod 1 bullet updates are improving the terminal ballistics of this round, let's not forget that it was originally based on the .222 (and then become the .223 Remington in civilian usage) and that .222 round was a recommended load for GOPHERS !

As for the Grendel and the 6.8SPC, well, I just don't know. It's the same dilemma that faced military planners in 1960 and lead Eugene Stoner to the AR-15, you can't carry lots of ammo and control full auto with a 7.62x51 and you can't kill people very easily with a 5.56.

Anecdote - during the DC sniper shootings, a 12 year old boy was shot in the chest at 60 yards with a .223 Bushmaster firing Wolf ammo. At this range bullet fragmentation and maximum terminal ballistics are certain for the .223/5.56 i.e. it was a perfect shot in all respects. The boy looked down and said to his friend "I THINK I have been shot" - he went on to make a full recovery - that has to tell us something.

Originally posted by bet555

Originally posted by Megaquad

why do american soldiers have the US flag reversed on their arm, the stars are on the opposite side to that which they should be :puz

I think it's so that the one who is wearing this uniform can see both stars and stripes, resulting in an increase of patriotic feelings which according to research results in 6.543% bigger efficiency in eliminating evildoers

They do this on airplanes too. Imagine if the soldier, or airplane is a carrying a flagpole directly in front of them. The direction the of the wind and the flag would be in the opposite direction of their movement. Therefore, on the right side of objects, you see the reversed flag pattern. On the left side, you see the pattern most are familiar with. There is some nautical history behind this as well that I'm not familiar of. For some reason though the only appropriate place on a uniform is the right arm, and thus they have the reversed pattern.

Thos machineguns were realy cool... (star wars)...

Originally posted by Panzerfaust
Those XM automatic rifles look like German G36. Is there any connection between XM and G36?

Short version: The XM8 is nothing else than the formidable HK G36 stuffed into a fish

Long version: The XM8 is a program that was derived from the XM29 OICW program. The KE part of the XM29 is basically a scaled-down G36. Here you can see a disassembled XM29. IMO its weird that they expect this bulky weapon could be useful in bayonet fights...(Yes i KNOW this pic isnt the latest version of OICW, only for demonstration...).



As it became clear that the OICW wouldnt lead to the desired results (to large parts because of the still heavy weight) it was decided to develop the rifle and air burst weapon (now labelled XM25) parts seperately from each other to melt them together when they are perfected.

The only significant differences between the XM8 and the G36E (the export version with only one 1.5x red dot) are the lower weight, the adjustable buttstock (8 positions instead of 4 on the M4 I think), the ease of modding the weapon into different specialized versions in less than 10 minutes and without special tools. The G36 and thus the XM8 can be cleaned in less than 5 minutes, as opposed to the 10-15 minutes for M16 that I read of (no actual experience).

Just in case you dont know what Im talking about (although this pic is to be found in virtually every thread about XM8):



The simlarities I speak of are obvious in this interesting shot (note the exact same position of grip and magazine, and the similar measures of the receiver):



The holes in the XM8 handguard are for mounting standard rails, so every special equipment that is now used on M16/M4 can be used with XM8 too (so everyone complaining about huge additional costs with XM8 is wrong). The only other new part that will be introduced is the XM320 underbarrel grenade launcher (Which again is a slightly modified HK AG36, the launcher that fits on the G36). It has several advantages over the M203 like the pistol grip for better handling and a side-breaching barrel as opposed to M203 "pump-action" style, which allows for special purpose grenades nearly as long as the barrel to be used.

Personal notice: Although I dont think that the Xm8/G36 are the überguns (thats the G11 ), it really bugs me when people dismiss the XM8 judging by its looks, calling it a supersoaker, a phaser, HALO or BB gun that wont intimidate anyone like the M16 is supposed to. These people should think back to when the M16 was introduced and instantly was labelled the plastic or black rifle.... To quote Douglas Adams, a gun should be designed as such that one instantly knows when facing the ugly end
++++++++

The British army has argued to switch to the G36 for some while now. The SA80 has been a major cause of unrst ever since it has been developed, and even the HK evision didnt eliminate all of its problems (I think it is prone to rust, too). I guess they are only awaiting the OK from government. Although they might switch to XM8 too when or if the US Army puts it into service.

And to thread starter: I found a pic that summarizes most of your posted pics
Soldier as a system


[edit on 17-6-2005 by Lonestar24]

The XM-8 and G-36 are both made by H&K so It dos not surprise me that they share some characteristic.

And here is a picture of the lattes version of the XM-29.

sure that isnt the FN2000?

XM29 Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW)

damn that looks remarkably like a FN2000........

awsome weapons!! do any of you know if russia has any new guns???

I personally love the XM-8... i do have one query though, it is a carbine i mean it cannot be feasable to equip the army with carbines can it? Will the sharpshooter varient which has a longer barrel be used as the primary rifle instead? As it would increase the accuracy at range while the carbine would pretty much take over the role of the M4

it looks like a nice weapon and all but i just dont think that it will replace everything else

russiankid, I don't think russia have come up with any new guns, but i do love it's new tank, the black eagle hehehe

and i don't think it will, cause they need a lot of it, but it will replace the M16, M4 etc. when time goes by.

yea i think that it will replace the m4 and m-16 but the m16 will never be forgotten

The XM8 looks like the weapons the soldiers in starship troopers were using.

Originally posted by wezzgy
The XM8 looks like the weapons the soldiers in starship troopers were using.

lol hehehe, maybe the US military copied the design since the show is older than the gun lol