The 'time on weapon' has been reduced to once a year for most troops which isn't enough time to reliably zero your weapon let alone become intimate with it's in's and out's. Remove the scopes (lighten the load) go back to a decent battle sight (a la Marine corps micrometer sight and the training that goes along with it) with a carrying handle at the point of balance and start teaching marksmenship on a quarterly level. Don't have to use the ranges...can use gallery rounds in a gymnasium with the C10 sub cal units. The situational training video stations are rarely up and operational so let's either scrap them or fix them to be more reliable. Train the operators to be troubleshooters of the equipment and not wait for the next computer whizbang to come along a few days later (I digress).

Everyone appears to want that special piece of kit that will get them out of any particular jam at the time the shit hits the fan (M203 for example) but not a lot of soldiers want to spend the time on triggers to accomplish the task. Time was when the best way for a unit to show their prowess as an infantry regiment was to demonstrate it on the ranges with all the weapons at the disposal of a battalion. Haven't seen that for 20 years...but then the last flogging in the CF was 1964. Time for a change; you tell me!

All the Best

ANDREW KOCH
JDW Staff Reporter
Washington DC

The US Army has given approval for the formal acquisition programme of its next generation infantry weapon. The army gave a team headed by Alliant Techsystems (ATK) a $95 million contract for programme definition and risk-reduction (PDRR) of the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW), fielding of which is expected to begin in Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09).

Under a new programme schedule, revised last March, the OICW will not be ready for deployment to the initial units that will receive the service's integrated Land Warrior individual combat system. Army officials expect to begin fielding the Land Warrior no later than FY07.

The OICW is intended to be the primary weapon for close combat infantry units, replacing some M16 series 5.56mm assault rifles, M4 5.56mm carbines and M203 40mm grenade launchers. Under existing plans, the army will equip four members of a nine-strong infantry squad with the OICW.

As part of the risk-reduction efforts, ATK will build five full prototypes before the programme enters engineering and manufacturing development in FY04. According to Barbara Moldowney, the army's assistant product manager for OICW, the weapon will be redesigned and additional capabilities added during PDRR. These include a laser rangefinder, digital camera, combat identification system, integrated thermal fire control and laser illuminator. Pre-planned production improvements (P3I), including the use of multifunctional lasers are also being considered for the weapon, Moldowney added.

ATK business development manager Tom Bierman said improved battery technology is another area for possible P3I upgrades. Live fire tests of the redesigned weapon are due to be conducted at Aberdeen Proving Grounds at the end of FY03.

The OICW will be capable of firing both standard 5.56mm kinetic-energy ammunition as well as a new 20mm high-explosive airbursting round that the army is describing as a revolutionary advancement because it can attack concealed targets with greater precision at 1,000m. The electronic fire-control system, built by Brashear, will have a laser rangefinder that can transmit data directly to the fuse in the 20mm airbursting round.

The programme has suffered setbacks and criticisms that the weapon is not rugged enough, is too heavy and overly expensive. The largest setback came in September 1999 when a 20mm round detonated in the OICW's barrel, injuring two personnel (Jane's Defence Weekly 3 Nov 2021). That problem has now been fixed and live-fire tests will be held in October 2001 to prove those solutions, programme officials added.

The officials said that reducing the weapon's weight remains the largest technical hurdle to overcome. The weapon's weight currently stands at 8.17kg, but is expected to be reduced to 6.81kg by the end of PDRR and to a maximum of 6.36kg before entering production. All of these weights include eight rounds of ammunition in the magazine, ATK said.

The army is expected to buy 20,000-40,000 weapons for an estimated $8,000 to $10,000 per unit. That, critics say, is expensive compared to the M16's cost of $586. However, Beirman argues, the OICW offers five times the effectiveness of an M16 mounted with an M203 grenade launcher and requires fewer munitions to be fired while providing greater survivability and reduced life-cycle costs.

The OICW will be capable of firing both standard 5.56mm kinetic-energy ammunition as well as a new 20mm high-explosive airbursting round
(Source: Alliant Techsystems)
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The G36's secondary sight is actually a red dot relex sight, which is designed to be used for close quarter battle.

MP53... I've had no personal experience with this weapon. It was only produced in limited numbers as I recall, and according to US SPECOPS personnel who have tested it, the weapon was prone to stoppages resulting from receiver dents. I suppose that's what you get when a weapon is stamped from sheet metal.

I am quite suprised that the Elcan is actually considered to be one of the top combat optics out there. I'm a fan of iron sights myself though. I think one possibility the CF can look into is the system that the Danish army has. Their troops recently got issued with Elcan equipped C7s, and with each rifle, there also comes a rubber rear sight which can be mounted on the rail should the Elcan fail, or they are moving into FIBUA conditions. The backup rear sight resembles the previous looped upper rear sight on the C7, except that there is no looped carry handle; only the rear sight.

For FIBUA though, the Elcan probably isn't so much of a problem because the engagement distance is often so short, and things happen so fast that you simply bring the rifle up and fire, using only the top of the sight as alignment towards the target.

The mythical quality you refer to is far from mythical...you point the weapon at what you wish to destroy; it's dead. Simple, straightfoward and deadly. Easy to train both inexperienced and skilled shooters in load/clear/IA's, a controllable rate of fire and a flash signature that is nothing compared to the way an M4 lights up the country side.

I don't really want to get in a pissing match as to the 'best' weapon because there isn't one. What ever works best in the deadly confrontational environment where you happen to encounter live targets is the best at the time.

A skilled soldier/LEO with the weapon he is most secure with will devastate any other individual with any other weapons system. A prime example is the sniper. Another example is Assault teams from Law Eenforcement HERT groups or Covert Ops teams. Intimate knowledge of the capabilities of the weaponry they apply at the target designated by the operational requirement.

If you truly want to be impressed by the destructive capacity of a sub 20mm automatic weapon, check out the GPMG teams from the northern Scottish islands called the Orkneys...the best that the Brits have ever produced reside in the Regiment known as "The Highlanders" (formerly the Seaforth, Glengarry and Camerons). To watch them lay, engage and destroy targets well beyond the specifications established originally by FN with the MAG58 is a joy to behold. It makes this old soldier a little moist in the corner of at least one eye.

All the Best