Smart Ammunition for Modern Warfare

A Bullet for You

Fighting techniques in warfare can save an outnumbered or under-equipped side from total annihilation. Take for instance the Taliban against the US army. The former makes use of concealment to have a fighting chance against the technologically superior US forces. The art of concealment has been at the heart of warfare for decades. Guerrillas apply it, small units up against mammoth troops apply it. Shooting from behind cover is bread and butter of concealment. Here a rock, concrete structure, a ditch or steel structure becomes very handy. Well that was then, not any more, thanks to ATK- an American company, and Heckler & Koch, their German collaborator.  

The two firms have launched field tests for their XM25, a new rifle which hopes to counter the advantages of shooting from a cover. The XM25 fires a 25mm round and weighs 6 kg. The gun borrows an idea from Henry Shrapnel's original artillery shells. You don't have aim directly at the target, aim just at a place in its proximity, fire and the bullet does the rest. A timed fuse tells the bullet when to explode, unleashing the fragments that do the job. Actually a small computer inside the bullet is the fuse.

The bullets are programmed by another computer in the rifle before they are fired. This feeds it with details like the distance to the target. The bullets own computer then takes over once fired. This gives the instruction to detonate the calculated distance has been reached. The shrapnel from the detonation has a kill radius of several meters (specifics are classified).

The rifle has had favorable field testing in Afghanistan, with the US army ordering 36 more units. A complete kit of rifle, thermal sight and a four-round magazine is said to cost $35,000. This according to the company is said to come down as automated bullet production begins at ATK.
In all, the era of the concealed gunman is set to come to an end. Hiding behind cover is no longer a guarantee of safety.
Image source: ATK