Reply With Quoteyour not gonna see much for a few years. There are pistol trials going on, but right now nothing much finished with the FCS program.
U.S. forces new weapon?
I have heard conflicting stories about the OICW, PDW, and the X-M8 as being the next general issue weapon. So basically I was wondering what the latest was on the replacement of the M-16. links and stuff would be great.
your not gonna see much for a few years. There are pistol trials going on, but right now nothing much finished with the FCS program.
id say the M16 for atleast 5 more years probably 10.....
None of the above. The SCAR has been adopted for SOF, and like all other SOF goodies it would not suprise me to see the conventional forces adopt it as well. The XM-8 is dead thank God, the rest are still research projects at this point.
Yup -- PDW is unrelated, but H&K Probably has that in the bag after the XM-8. The JCP is up in the air, either a Browning Based railed M1911 SS in DA/SA, or more likely, the HK45 (Glock34 in ACP = lame).
M16 will remain issue weapon for a while to come, decade at the least. SCAR-L might be an option, as would the H&K 416, but I don't see them overcoming the Colt M4A1 platform in value (for non-SOF troops).
The OICW is dead for the moment, and the six-shot 40mmLV 'dumb' grenade launcher should take hold before the XM25 25mm 'smart' times fuse system becomes practical.
I'd love to see the piston driven XM8 platform implemented as soon as possible.Nothing more fun than cleaning a dirty M16..unless it's your turn at s*it burning(not it!)
The reliability should be similar to the AK platform(both are piston driven) and the guns seem Marine proof..ammo supply shouldn't be an issue either.
The only thing I wonder about are the Electro-Optics sights..I would like to see a backup iron..just in case.
Any1 see the Surefire Rail-ed G36? Nice gun.
A bit offtopic, sorry but I really couldnīt help...
Lame? Excuse me but what exactly is lame about the HK45? HK45 modernized the solid design of the USP series via added functionality, enhanced ergonomics and some minor flaws corrected.Originally Posted by tehllama
By the reports I have seen it works really well, is reliable and a joy to shoot. So there really should be nothing to complain or niggle about other than aesthetics and other personal opinions about a gun you most propably havenīt even handled yet.
And what does a Glock design have to do with an HK design unless it is an exact clone? They both are polymer framed pistols with an accessory rail under the barrel etc. like so many other designs on the market today, nothing that revolutionary inside of them...
Or do you think that a competing business bringing out a similar product is lame? How about the various M16 or M4 like weapons by different manufacturers, are they lame when compared to the one Colt manufactures? Or do you find Colt lame because the original design was bought from Armalite?
I think he meant that the Glock 34 itself would be a "lame" entry, this not related to the HK45.
Its by far not only the piston that decides upon the reliability of a gun. There are many parts that influence reliability, strating from small things like a bad spring up to the quality of the ammuntion.
And the XM8 had a flipup iron sight, it is hidden in the carrying handle. The optic was easily removed via one lever.
The OICW is all but outta the picture. Don't know to much about the PDW but I am pretty sure The XM8 will replace the M-16. There are also a some people who say we should start useing the G36...
I guess the military telling H&K, "Thanks but no thanks" didn't convey to you that it's chances of replacing the M16 are pretty low. Almost non existant one could say.
And I say there is nothing wrong with teh M4. I have over 300 guys who trust their live to them in the field, and while there are problems with it (Show me a perfect weapon system and I will show you someone with lots of reading experience and no field experience to speak of) all of my guys will take it over the G36. We got to test the G36 that the Lith SOF units had in Afghanistan and they were ok.
If you have an M series weapon that is not preforming in the field, look to your leadership for lack of training or yourself for not maintianing the weapon the way it needs to be. There are lots of other factors that have gone wrong with the weapon system that are not the systems fault. Everyone complains about them gumming up when using CLP in the desert. How is that the fault of the weapon system? It is the fault of the lube, or soldier who puts too much lube on it. Right Jessica?
Extractor problems? Yep. With the original M16 extractor spring it had issues. What do you expect? You make a big modification to the weapon and expect it to work the same without having to tweak it? Change the spring and drive on, which is what they did.
Gas systems not working properly? Same thing. Cut down the barrel and not open up the gas ports and this is what you get. They did the same thing when they went down to the 10.5" barrel. Open it up some more! And now it works just fine.
It sickens me that there is whole industry that is preying on the fears of shooters saying that they can make the M4 more reliable. There is nothing wrong with the current M4 system. Maybe some issues with the lube, maybe with the rounds in that twist rate and barrel length, but not the gun. When Crane comes down and says they need us to fix this or that, I will. They are not in the business of selling magazines to the masses, or fixes for problems that dont exist in the real world. They are in the business of keeping warriors alive so that they can kill the bad guys. So when they say there needs to be a fix or a change of system, thats when I will take it seriously.
Generally I agree with your post, but I think the DoD (and various military branches) is doing a very good job themselves in undermining the renown of the AR-15 platform. There have been what... like 6-8 different programs in the past decades to find a better combat rifle (granted, some of them were not intended to lead to a change)? I wouldnt blame the industry for adjusting to this apparent unsatisfaction by one of the biggest customers imaginable.
It's a pity that all the NATO Countries can't get together and produce a rifle they can all accept with a standard ammunition
The HK416 is gas piston. And the HK416 is lower cost than the XM8 too. And theres more platforms to add you SOPMOD **** too.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for developing new weapon systems. The SCAR is not new at its core, but they have taken several different features from old guns and combined them with new ones to give an even greater amount of flexability to the end user. Without the XM-8 and other programs we would not have gotten some of the new ideas and features for future weapons. But I would like to see the whole thing finally go down as a failed project so we have to stop hearing about it. It was a rather spectacular failure in many ways and we learned a good deal from the project, now lets move onto the next research project to see what comes from it.
I would not say that the industry is going after the government for these "fixes" but rather the customers in the civilian market. We have APG, Crane and others to help find fixes for the military issues (and thankfully civilian companies, especially the lube companies that have stepped up to the plate and gotten the new lubes into service quicker than the military channels could have). But I get so sick of customers that come into the shop after reading the latest article in guns and posers about the M4 who think they have to get this or that done to fix their gun. These are armchair commandos who have not even taken a course like a Front site or Gunsite course to see what their rifle actually does or does not do. But they read it is some $#!tty rag magazine so it has to be true.
My favorite was the guy who wanted me to open up his gas tube (on a current production gun, so there is no real gas issue) so it would get more gas into the system and aid in reliability. But since it would also reduce the lock up time and increase the cyclic rate (casuing more problems for the extractor and possibly the mag springs if he had old mags) he wanted me to add the heavier buffer and M16 BCG to slow it back down. And all he had done so far was put one mag thru the gun to zero it, with no malfunctions. He had not even broken it in yet, let alone shot it enough to know if he had problems with it or not. But he had to have this stuff done because he read about it on the net.
But the 416 is too heavy! *tear*
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