The Army Times explores how new powerful munitions and weapons are making our combat forces deadlier than ever. The best improvements in combat performance don’t always come from flashy new platforms but from simply having deadlier bullets. An excerpt:
Recall how bullets bounced off of Superman? That’s because he never was shot with “green ammo.”
A 2006 survey of combat vets found enemy soldiers shot multiple times still kept fighting. One in five U.S. soldiers polled recommended a more lethal round.
The answer was the M855A1 enhanced-performance round, also known as “green ammo.” It provides more stopping power at shorter distances. If it hits the enemy, he is going down.
Much early data is still classified but expected to be released in coming weeks. But soldiers from two battalions of the 101st Airborne Division “praised the hard-target performance of the M855A1 over the M855 and commended the ability to engage targets at longer distances,” said Picatinny Arsenal spokeswoman Audra Calloway. The soldiers were surveyed in December and January during operations in Afghanistan.
The Army plans to produce more than 200 million of these rounds in the coming year, officials say. It’s likely you will soon fire them from a new carbine. The Army is replacing 500,000 M4s with an enhanced version of the Special Operations Command M4A1, which has a heavy barrel and automatic fire. The Army also will replace its 600,000 M16s with the enhanced M4A1 — or something better. A $30 million carbine competition is underway.
If the bad guys take cover behind a vehicle or building, just call for “the Punisher.” That’s the name soldiers have given the XM25. Its target acquisition system calculates range. The data is transferred to an electronic fuse, enabling the 25mm round to explode over the target and rain shell fragments.
“No longer can the enemy shoot at American forces, then hide behind something,” Fuller said. “This is a revolutionary weapon. This is a game-changer.”
All five prototypes were sent to Afghanistan in November. Officials said the weapons “performed flawlessly” with no maintenance issues. Soldiers have been so pleased with the XM25, they are carrying it as a primary weapon and not bothering to bring an M4.
The Army will put 36 Punishers into a battalion in the next 18 months, said Col. Douglas Tamilio, project manager for soldier weapons. Fielding will begin in 2014. The total number is undecided, but estimates are as high as 12,500 — enough to put one in every squad.