New XM3 among lighter breed of small arms at AUSA

[CommunityEditor]

Marine snipers are using a new rifle in Iraq that’s lighter and more compact than anything they’ve shot with in the past.

Iron Brigade Armor’s new XM3 was on display at the Association of the United States Army 2007 Annual Meeting and Exposition after returning from a recent trip to Iraq.

The 7.62mm NATO caliber bolt action rifle began as a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency program to “incorporate the best available technology into a sniper weapon system that addresses current operational concerns on size, weight, target detection … day/night operations and the use of Titanium,” according to information from DARPA, SureFire L.L.C. and Iron Brigade, the three organizations that developed the XM3.

The XM3 features a 20-inch barrel, compared to the Marine Corps M40 series sniper rifle’s 24-inch barrel.
The weapon weighs 18 pounds, when equipped with the night scope, SureFire’s Fast Attach Suppressor, five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and a sling and bipod. The M40A3 equipped with AN PVS 10 scope weighs about 24 pounds.

The weight reduction is made possible by the lightweight Titanium used in several points of the weapon as well as the decreased barrel length, Philip Maher of SureFire, the firm that makes the weapon’s suppressor.
Also on display at AUSA was the XM312 — Program Executive Office Soldier’s futuristic lightweight .50 caliber machinegun.

The XM312 is actually a conversion kit the XM307, another futuristic crew-served weapon that fires 25mm airburst ammunition and features a high-tech fire control system.

The Army began developing the XM307 for its Future Combat System in the 1990s, but the program has faced funding challenges from FCS budget cuts.

The XM312 program, however, could be fielded to combat units by 2011, said Lt. Col. Mike Ascura, product manager for Crew Served Weapons. The Infantry Center recently released a new requirement for a lightweight .50 caliber machinegun in May, Ascura said.

The new requirement is included in the M2E50 .50 caliber machinegun program, which is designed to improve the venerable M2 with a quick-change barrel and set timing and headspace.

This opens the door for weapons officials at PEO Soldier to accelerate the XM312 program.
The latest prototype weighs 30 pounds, compared to the 84 pound M2.

The rate of fire on the XM312 is also much slower — 250 rounds per minute compared to the M2’s 500 round per minute rate. This helps to make the XM312 more controllable and more accurate, weapons officials maintain.

The lighter recoil also means that the 312 can use aluminum in its frame instead of a more rigid steel frame like the M2, which greatly reduces weight. The latest version of the 312 also uses the same M9 linked ammunition that the M2 uses.

The ParaScope Urban Combat Sight -— made by MTC Technologies — gives combat troops the ability to aim their weapon around corners and shoot enemy fighters from behind cover.

It works with any red-dot style optic for the M4 carbine and M16 rifle. The ruggedized, high-grade prism device weighs 13 ounces and mounts to on the M4/M16’s M1913 Picatinny rail system. The simple design uses no magnification and gives the shooter an actual size image of the target.



Article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/ausa/story.php?F=3098444