The Orbital ATK grenade launcher is being called the “next-generation semi-automatic weapon”, allowing users to take out their enemies hiding behind obstructions.
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As of early 2016, the US Army will start acceptance testing for the XM25, a smart grenade launcher that can defeat enemies behind cover. But a new death-dealing machine, called the XM-25 Counter-Defilade Target Engagement System, or less clunkily, as Popular Mechanics tells it, the Punisher, wants to solve the cover scenario by dropping a grenade through it.
“The weapon features revolutionary high-explosive, airburst ammunition programmed by the weapon’s target acquisition/fire control system (TA/FC)”, Oritbal ATK said on its website.
It includes a “target acquisition and fire control system” – basically a computer – that uses a laser rangefinder to calculate distances and figure out where the best place to aim is. These efforts are now undergoing test and evaluation.
During operation, soldiers using the XM25 simply utilize the weapon’s built-in targeting system which accurately selects a desired target, analyzes its distance, and examines possible obstacles. “The soldier places the adjusted aim point on target and pulls the trigger”.
The XM-25 is a programmable grenade launcher that fires 25 mm explosive rounds. No longer will our Soldiers have to expose themselves by firing and maneuvering to eliminate an enemy behind cover. In normal use, all you have to do is point at an enemy (up to 1,640 feet away) and let the XM25’s laser rangefinder decide when your grenade explodes.
In 2010, the Army’s PEO Soldier program office sent prototypes of the XM25 to Afghanistan to see how it would perform in combat.
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“Finally, the system is less expensive, more precise, quicker to deploy, and causes less collateral damage than mortars, artillery or air strikes”. At the moment, the grenades being developed are primarily training ammunition and high explosive air bursting ammunition, but in the future, the firm plans to create grenades that can breach doors, pierce armour and are less than lethal when they hit targets or used in a targeted airburst.
