http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2008-10/08/content_10163526.htm
美國最新XM25單兵空爆武器可隔墻殺傷目標
2008年10月08日 09:31:39 來源：中青在線-青年參考
據美國《軍事》網站9月26日報道，經過歷時近十年、耗資數十億美元的漫長研發，美軍新一代步兵支援武器XM-25榴彈槍終于“修成正果”。日前，制造商德國赫克勒-科赫(H＆K)公司已將該槍的原型交付駐德美軍，技術人員定于10月對其進行整體性能測試。如一切順利，該槍將于2014年大規模裝備部隊，比原計劃提前數年。
近年來，伊拉克和阿富汗反美武裝在“貓捉老鼠”的遊戲中越來越狡猾，其“打一槍換一個地方”的戰法讓美軍防不勝防。而在很多情況下，那些藏在暗處的敵人是迫擊炮、火箭彈、手榴彈之類的常規武器對付不了的。在這種背景下，開發一種能有效殺傷障礙物後的敵人的武器，就顯得極為必要。
XM-25的全稱是“XM-25單兵空爆武器”，作為美軍飽受爭議的“個人目標戰爭武器”項目(該項目研發的武器以致死方式殘忍、殺傷率高著稱)的組成部分，它最突出的特點就是可以實現“隔墻殺傷”。在談到XM-25的革命性意義時，H＆K公司產品主管安迪·克蘭宣稱：“這就像機關槍初次投入實戰一樣重要。”
據介紹，XM-25的高射擊精度要歸功于其優異的火控係統。該係統首先通過激光測距儀測得目標數據，並傳送給待發的25毫米榴彈；彈丸出膛後，根據事先輸入的參數在飛臨目標頭頂時準確引爆，從而給藏在墻後、建築物內或散兵坑內的敵軍以巨大殺傷。
美國陸軍步兵武器項目經理巴勃·穆爾多雷指出，XM-25稱得上是美軍現役武器以及民用武器的綜合體——長度同M4步槍差不多，重量相當于M16步槍加上M203槍榴彈發射器，後座力則與普通散彈獵槍接近。在使用空爆榴彈時，該槍的直接殺傷概率是現有武器的5倍，並可在16～600米范圍內全方位射擊，堪稱巷戰中的一大利器。除碎片爆破彈外，XM-25今後還將配備穿甲彈和其他非致死性彈藥。
美國陸軍的輕武器換代計劃一直進展不順。早在去年6月，《防務新聞》網站就爆出XM-8步槍因採購機制效率低下而流產的消息。今年夏天，《陸軍時報》又稱最新型的M-110狙擊步槍還不如老槍穩定，甚至受到駐阿富汗部隊的抵制。現在，XM-25項目的“勝利在望”讓軍方欣喜不已，《防務新聞》也評論稱，它的成功有望讓美軍從多次受挫的換槍計劃中恢復過來。
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/004440.html
Starship Troopers Meets G.I. Joe
For once it seems the Army is actually turning fiction into science.
After nearly a decade in the shadows -- with billions spent on earlier versions long since abandoned -- the Army is moving quickly to field a revolutionary new weapon to Joes a lot sooner than anyone had ever imagined.
It's a weapon that can take out a bad guy behind a wall, beyond a hill or below a trench, and do it more accurately and with less collateral damage than anything on the battlefield today, officials say. It's called the XM25 Individual Air Burst Weapon, and by next month the service will have three prototypes of the precision-guided 25mm rifle ready for testing.
"We've done a lot of testing with this, and what we're seeing is the estimated increase in effectiveness is six times what we'd be getting with a 5.56mm carbine or a grenade launcher," said Rich Audette, Army Deputy Project Manager for Soldier weapons.
"What we're talking about is a true 'leap ahead' in lethality, here. This is a huge step," Audette added during a phone interview with Military.com from his office at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.
Born of the much-maligned and highly-controversial Objective Individual Combat Weapon -- a 1990s program that sought a "leap ahead" battle rifle that combined a counter-defilade weapon with a carbine -- the XM25 only recently gained new momentum after the Army formalized a requirement and released a contract in June for a series of test weapons.
Current infantry weapons can shoot at or through an obstacle concealing enemy threats, but the Army has been trying for years to come up with a weapon for engaging targets behind barriers without resorting to mortars, rockets or grenades -- all of which risk greater collateral damage. After fits and starts using a 20mm rifle housed in a bulky, overweight, complicated shell, technology finally caught up to shave the XM25 from 21 pounds to a little more than 12 pounds.
If the XM25 does what its developers hope, it will be able to fire an air-bursting round at a target from 16 meters away out to 600 meters with a highly accurate, 360-degree explosive radius.
The XM25 is about as long as a collapsed M4, weighs about as much as an M16 with an M203 grenade launcher attached and has about as much kick as a 12-gauge shotgun, said Barb Muldowney, Army deputy program manager for infantry combat weapons.
The semi-auto XM25 comes with a four-round magazine, though testers are looking at whether to increase the capacity to as much as 10 rounds.
Brains are what really makes this Buck Rogers gun work -- it has them. The weapon combines a thermal optic, day-sight, laser range finder, compass and IR illuminator with a fire-control system that wirelessly transmits the exact range of the target into the 25mm round's fuse before firing.
A Soldier can aim the XM25 at a wall concealing a sniper, for example, but "dial in" or adjust the distance by an additional meter above the target. When fired, the Alliant Teksystems-built round will explode above the enemy's position, essentially going around the obstruction, Muldowney said.
"It's so accurate, that when I laze to that target I'm going to be able to explode that round close enough that I'm going to get it," Audette added.
The service hopes to field several types of 25mm rounds for the XM25 -- for breaching doors, piercing armor, even non-lethal air burst and impact rounds, and an anti-personnel round.
Testers at Picatinny plan to put the XM25 through its paces over the next several months, certifying it as safe for a Soldier to operate and tinkering with the weapon's effectiveness and durability.
The weapon costs about $25,000 each, but experts were quick to point out that a fully-loaded M4 for optics and pointers costs pretty close to $30,000. Each ATK-made 25mm round costs about $25.
As Heckler and Koch, makers of the weapon itself, and L3 Communications -- which makes the fire control system -- crank out more weapons, the Army plans to push them out to the field for testing beginning in March 2009. That could include the first use of such a weapon in combat, Cline said.
If all goes according to plan, Soldiers might have their first XM25s in hand by 2014, far sooner than the Army's small arms community had predicted even last year.
The program "came very close to ending," Audette explained. "But the Army took a look at all the work that was done -- and the testing that projected the kind of lethality increase that we could get -- and they said 'we've got to do this.' "
-- Christian
September 26, 2008 07:38 AM
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