A hand-held grenade launcher with an electronic sighting system will allow you to hit targets with charges bursting a meter away from half a kilometer. This weapon should be especially effective against an enemy entrenched in buildings, shelters, or even a prepared trench. For the effective operation of the projectile, it uses … the global magnetic field of the planet.
According to the calculations of the US military, the new XM25 self-loading hand grenade launcher should significantly complement the firing capabilities of the infantry squad and save soldiers from the need to call in artillery or air support whenever they encounter an enemy that cannot be "reached" by direct fire.
The current prototype of the XM25 grenade launcher was first tested in 2005.
The electronic sighting system includes a laser rangefinder, a compass, day and night channels, and a ballistic computer, which allows you to accurately calculate the distance to the target, say, to a window behind which the enemy is hiding. The next step is the task of the soldier himself - to decide whether to detonate the ammunition a little further or a little closer (within 3 m), and indicate this to the grenade launcher.
Fortified trenches are no longer reliable defenses
As soon as the 25-millimeter charge is fired, the grenade launcher transmits a short radio signal to the microcircuit built into the projectile, telling it exactly the distance to the target. The projectile itself, by the way, is arranged rather cunningly. The spiral of the rifled barrel makes it spin quickly, while the built-in magnetic transducer, rotating in the earth's magnetic field, generates an electric current and allows an accurate count of the number of revolutions, and thus the current flight distance.
The new weapon will give soldiers the advantage when fighting the enemy in cover
The technology that should be implemented in the XM25 will significantly improve the accuracy of shooting, which is extremely important in the conduct of modern wars, especially within urban areas. In addition, this will reduce the cost of hitting the target: if, say, you call support, which usually uses the Javelin portable anti-tank complex, a shot will cost $ 70 thousand, while a shot from an XM25 will only cost $ 25. Despite the cunning technology, the shells are relatively cheap.
There are also plans to equip such grenade launchers with non-lethal weapons that will not kill opponents hiding in the building, but, say, stun them. It is impossible not to notice how useful such a technique would be for Russian special forces, which every now and then have to "smoke out" terrorists who have settled in a house in some North Caucasian city.
Soon XM25 should be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan for field tests, and if everything goes well, the grenade launcher will begin to enter service somewhere in 2012. However, Russian designers in this area will also have something to brag about. Our country is a developer and manufacturer of many models of grenade launchers, which are considered the most popular and best in the world. Suffice it to name the "classics of the genre", the Soviet RPG-7 and its modern descendant, the perfect RPG-30.
