Flame on
You know what we haven’t argued about in a while? Fixing the AR-15. So, the US Army is asking the industry for ideas to improve it.
Like past efforts at exactly this effort and efforts to develop the Joint Combat Pistol, it will go no where. Except that some gun makers will probably make some really cool new stuff for us. Except HK.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I’m OK with the idea as long as it doesn’t come from H&K.
September 26th, 2008 at 10:39 am
What, no link on “Except HK“? π
September 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Battlefield technology is changing so rapidly that it’s hard to say what, if anything, that we should switch to.
What will soldiers need for a firearm when every combat patrol has its own unmanned, flying bomb platform circling high overhead? When they can select whatever bomb size they want, everything between a flash bang and a 2000 pounder, designate a GPS location and drop that item on target, what kind of personal weapons will they want to have?
Might be the old .45 ACP Thompson. No need for a long-range weapon when you can drop any size bomb on any target you can see.
What you’d want is something that’s effective for close range self-defense while inspecting the bomb-damaged area for survivors and good for herding prisoners. A lighter version of the old “chopper” might just do the trick, and carrying the legendary Tommy gun might boost morale too.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
The ACR, HK416 and the SCAR seem like obvious choices for evaluation.
Though they are all fairly expensive to produce, IIRC the ACR is the cheapest to produce out of the bunch.
Also I would like to see something like the XM25 as a squad support weapon.
September 26th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
What’s with the HK hate? I love my new HK45…
I can’t remember what the HK416 is; i’ll have to google it.
I’d love to have the MP5, but I don’t have 18K laying around under the sofa. π
September 27th, 2008 at 6:52 am
HK has generally piss poor customer support if you’re not sending in your request on federal stationary or a .gov domained e-mail server.
As for new guns.
FN’s been marketing their SCAR’s pretty aggressively and they’re being well received as versatile and reliable STANAG compatible rifles. Somehow I doubt they’ll start showing up in great numbers due to their price. Maybe the special forces (not just the army ones) will adopt them in small numbers.
I don’t see the US adapting the ACR, the military seems to dislike bullpub rifles and it’s chambered in a new round.
HK, as always, has a shot at re-inventing the old look and feel of the m16 with their new and improved version which I’m sure works great and the grunts are already familiar with it.
I just can’t help but wonder why the army wouldn’t just invest in gas pistons and new magazines, which would deal with the majority of the current issues with the M16/M4 platforms. It would be a lot cheaper, which is a very -if not the most- important factor in these matter.
September 27th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
since when is the ACR a bullpup?