Quote:
The OICW got put on hold because of weight?
Gee, we have an opportunity to increase the firepower available to an infantryman by 1000% but it's a little heavier than a M16 so screw it...
That logic is mystifying to me. Our guys liked the BAR despite its weight because it did the same thing the OICW does: increase firepower.
|
Well, it was, like Csspecs said, a pretty good bit over the specified weight for the weapon itself. Plus, I'm not sure what the basic load of 20mm grenade was planned to be, but it was not going to be all that light to begin with . . . and then they decided it needed to be 25mm to get better blast and frag at the sharp end. The official explanations have not (so far as I know) cited ergonomic issues like length of pull, but I'd suspect they enter into the equation somewhere as well. (Another issue may simply have been that OICW is not really the right weapon for the war we're presently fighting now in Iraq.)
I suspect that if they were willing to drop the engagement range for the grenade launcher down from 1000 meters to, say, 600 meters, we'd already have the thing in the field. By 2010 I think we'll see that loaf-of-bread sized optical sight much more reasonably sized, but I don't see the weapon itself getting smaller/lighter while tied to the 1000 meter 25mm greande launcher round.