XM25 and other new individual weapons

[jyl]

I'd like to learn about new individual weapons that our military is using or will soon be using.

The M16 and M4 are very old designs. The US military has renewed the search for a new rifle. That's interesting. But there must be weapons that are even more interesting.

Just to get us started. The XM25 has entered limited service in Afghanistan. It looks like a futuristic rifle, but fires 25mm grenades which detonate at a given range. The soldier aims using a sight whose laser rangefinder automatically determines the distance to the target. By pushing a button near the trigger, the soldier can set the round to detonate either at that range, +1 meter after, or -1 meter before. If the enemy has taken cover behind something, "+1 meter after" causes the round to explode over or next to the enemy. Very cool. Reportedly effective.

[RWebb]

I think they just killed the Future Soldier program, BTW