Small arms and ammunition development searches for weight loss and performance gains.
Military small arms are seeing developments that have the potential to alter the way that they are being employed on the battlefield. These developments include not only the weapons themselves but also ammunition and a number of associated ‘add-on’ subsystems. The later which were once often reflected as optional ‘accessories’ are becoming increasingly viewed as essential components. They include capabilities like sighting advances and firing signature mitigation. This reflects the small arm as not simply a weapon but rather as a ‘system’ optimised to achieve a specific set of performance objectives and physical requirements. In this respect the case for a specific small arm is foremost driven by the combat effects desired and the relative importance of each. The connection between each of these ‘requirements’ drive resulting capabilities achievable and their associated physical characteristics. Despite advances in small arms related technologies, the need to balance often conflicting requirements not only remains but has become more challenging. These include historic basic trade-offs related to the soldier’s load or his ability to sustain fires as well as choices over suitable effective engagement ranges and even the assigned role of various soldiers in combat. Many of these questions that are being presented are directly associated with these recent arms developments.
Small Arms Direction
Beginning in the 1970s individual small arms moved away from the .30 calibre to a preference for a smaller calibre. For the US, NATO, and aligned militaries this was the 5.56mm (.223), with the Soviets adopting 5.45mm and the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) using 5.8mm. This extended to small unit/squad weapons including assault rifles and squad automatic weapons/light machine guns. At the same time militaries continued to use the ‘full size’ 7.62 calibre in medium machine guns. This was influenced by studies of actual combat that established that the vast majority of infantry engagements occurred generally well inside 300 meters. It was further evident that establishing fire superiority was often more important than precise aimed fire in small unit engagements. The smaller calibre allowed carrying more ammunition and allowed a lighter weapon even using rapid fire.
Small arms have been evolving from primarily a weapon focus to the small arm as a weapon system. This development approach includes the ammunition, weapon, sights and even firing signature management.
Ammunition
In pursuit of a weapon system the selection of projectiles and ammunition characteristics optimised to achieve specific performance is a key consideration. This has included the introduction of new materials to ammunition design, such as the use of polymers, steel, and hybrid designs. Benefits include enhanced performance with reduced ammunition weight.
On the technical side there has been the increasing substitution of composite materials over traditional use of brass in the cartridge. Texas based True Velocity (TV) offers a proprietary polymer-case ammunition which has advantages in that, according to a spokesperson, “its dimensional characteristics, quality, and strength can be tightly controlled and consistently maintained, something not assured with brass.” The round also uses a stainless-steel head or insert. The resulting round is 30 to 40 percent lighter than a comparable brass-case, thus, a soldier could actually carry three more 30-round magazines at the same weight as brass case ammunition. These additional 90 rounds would be invaluable in a sustained firefight. Other benefits of the polymer case are that it does not conduct heat to the chamber, in fact, fired cases are cool to the touch. This is valuable at high rates of fire typical of automatic weapons. These attributes offer significant value in combat yet in addition the TV rounds further demonstrate exceptional performance consistency, an important consideration in long-range precision firing. In addition, the polymer-case can be coloured eliminating the noticeable pile of shiny spent machine gun brass. TV currently offers its rounds in 5.56, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.8 TVCM, .308Win/7.62 NATO, .338 Norma and .50 BMG. TV was an unsuccessful contender in the US Army NGSW offer with its polymer rounds and a Bull-pup style weapon originally developed by General Dynamics OTS.
The potential of polymer is illustrated by the US military’s Ordnance Technology Consortium (NAC-DOTC) issuing of a contract in June 2022 to PCP Tactical/Gorilla Ammunition to “collaboratively develop polymer cased ammunition… in 7.62mm M8A1 and M62A1… to increase soldier mobility“. The contract seeks to reduce weight by 30 percent. Its intended use is the M240 machine gun, M14 Rifle, M110 Rifle and M134 Mini gun. Interestingly, PCP Tactical was also one of the candidates not selected in the US Army NGSW proposing its Desert Tech MDR with the company’s 6.8mm polymer case-metal cartridges.
Nammo has also introduced polymer case ammunition for the .50 machine gun. Fully compliant with Mil-DTL-10190F it is 30 percent lighter than conventional rounds. It uses a brass head and polymer links (replacing steel) and is available with all current projectiles. As a company subject matter expert shared: “weight savings of polymer ammunition is particularly attractive for aircraft/helicopter mounted weapons where the payload savings can be translated to fuel and addition operating range”. The Nammo polymer solution, in this case, has been adopted by the Poles, the Ukraine, the US Marines and Special Operations.
The FN Individual Weapon System (IWS) is a utilising 6.5x43mm (.264) round with a stainless-steel case and head (although a polymer case round was initially a desired option for consideration and could still be pursued in the future). Still even the steel case sees a 20 percent weight reduction over the brass case. Available rounds include Reduced Ricochet Limited Penetration (suited for urban situations), copper open tip match (OTM), and soft nose. The goal is achieving a debilitating impact at 800 meters.
Concerns regarding the smaller calibre’s ability to penetrate body armour had previously generally been addressed by optimising the projectile for penetration. A side-effect was reduced target effect. Combined with weapon configuration changes (like shortening the barrel length of the M4 Carbine as essentially the 5.56mm NATO was not designed for a short barrel) further adversely impacted on its performance. In addition, the US Army in particular, began emphasising general achieving ’overmatch’ in every weapon development have seen renewed efforts toward again introducing a larger round.
An exception to this trend to composites is the 6.8mmx51 SIG being used in the US Army M7 and M20 NGSWs which continue to use a conventional brass upper case body but with a steel base and case-head. This ‘hybrid’ approach was driven by the need to accommodate the higher 80,000psi pressures generated to achieve the increased velocity of the new round. It can be said that the priority given to maximising round ‘overmatch’ as Brigadier General Larry Burris, the Army Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team director, stated was a key driver of the entire programme. This included not only round lethality but accuracy at extended ranges. To achieve this the 6.8×51 uses a 140-grain projectile (equivalent to the 7.62mm M80’s 144 grains) more than two-times heavier than the standard 5.56×45. It is further being fired at a 3,000fps (914ms) from a short 330mm barrel. The resulting round is intended to defeat level 4 body armour at the weapon’s maximum effective range. Winchester, which operates the government owned Lake City facility, has begun production manufacturing of the 6.8mm NGSW ammunition.
Small Arms Designs
A number of military small arms programmes have recently proceeded from development to product introduction. One of the most closely anticipated is the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW). Formally initiated in 2017, its intent was to find a replacement for both the 5.56mm M4 carbine and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). The competition required use of a government specified 6.8x51mm projectile which was selected primarily based on the requirement to penetrate advanced Level 4 body armour and do so at ranges up to 800m. Candidate prototypes from three vendors underwent 27 months of evaluation beginning in mid-2020. It included a cased-telescoping round weapon design, based on the LSAT, which the Army had been developing since 2003 with troop assessments occurring as early as 2011. In April 2022, Sig Sauer’s offerings were selected in a 10 year contract. The new weapons are designated the XM7, a 20-round magazine fed with 330mm (13 inch) barrel rifle and XM250 belt-fed automatic ‘rifle’. Sig Sauer based the XM7 on its established gas operated MCX SPEAR. The company has a 10 year fixed price contract.
Both XM7 and XM250 weapons are currently undergoing pre-production Soldier Touch Point evaluation. Capt. Tyler Morgan, assistant product manager, NGSW, shared that: “The Soldier Touch Point allowed the programme and Sig Sauer the opportunity to solicit direct soldier feedback on the systems post-contract award and inform simple design changes to improve the weapons before going into production qualification, testing and operational tests in the coming year.”
In parallel, but currently unassociated, FN USA’s Individual Weapon System (IWS) development sponsored by the US Department of Defense Irregular Warfare Technology Support Directorate (IWTSD) is, according to an FN representative, achieving the objectives of the programme. (IWTSD is responsible for research and development supporting US and allied organisations on systems for irregular warfare.) The IWS use a new 6.5×43 (.264) round (detailed earlier). Twenty-five of the rounds are loaded into a new Magpul polymer magazine which will fit into the current magazine pouch. The IWS is fully ambidextrous with a self-regulating gas block, a non-reciprocating charging handle, a two-stage trigger, a self-contained operating group, a monolithic upper, a full-length top rail and an MLOK forward, a folding stock and built-in recoil mitigation.
IWS is modular and has three configurations: a 11.5 inch Close Quarters Battle (CQB), 14.5 inch Carbine, and 18.5 inch Recce (Designated Marksmanship Rifle). The versions weigh between 7lbs (3.2kg) and 9lbs (4.1kg), empty. A light belt-fed machine gun (LMG) version, a .264 version of FN’s new EVOLYS machine gun, has also been added to the contract deliverables which will employ the polymer link. Initial evaluations of the 55 weapons delivered in mid-2023 reportedly show a two-fold increase in accuracy over the M4 with nearly 70 percent more impact energy and lethality yet achieving a system weight under 8lbs (3.63 kg). Firing results for the LMG were equally favourable with the under 13lb (6kg) weapon demonstrating significantly improved accuracy over the 18lbs (8.2kg) Mk48 7.62X51 chamber machine gun. The IWS offers a multi-role configurable, modular squad weapon system that meets the search for performance levels above the 5.56mm while retaining many of the favourable physical attributes that have come to be preferred in infantry small arms.
A design that has continued to achieve notable success across a number of militaries is the Heckler and Koch HK416A7. A conventional gas-operated selective fire weapon its demonstrated reliability and ergonomics have seen it selected by Norway, France, Germany (G95) and the US Marines (M27) as their primary service assault rifle as well as use by 24 countries special forces. Provided in 5.56×45 NATO its weight is 8.47lbs (3.85kg) while the collapsing stock bring the length to 34 inches (850mm) with a14.5-inch (368mm) barrel. It uses a 30-round magazine. The Marines have found the M27 equally effective as a squad automatic rifle which has allowed them the flexibility to assign the role to any member of the squad based on the tactical situation. That a 7.62×51/.308 version of the HK416, the MR308, is also offered it is likely that the weapon could be adapted to other calibres.
Sighting/Fire Controls
A common trending characteristic of military small arms has been the expanding application of optical sighting systems. Once limited to a specifically trained assigned riflemen, optical sights are now commonly employed by not only in individual weapons of combatants but often even those of support troops. The US Marines adopted the ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight) from Trijicon with a fixed magnification initially for the M16A4, later moving to the 4 Power Rifle Combat Optic on the M4. Marines found the magnification particularly valuable in searching for and identifying targets, as well as general surveillance. Recently the Marines have moved to Trijicon’s Squad Common Optic for both its M4 and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle with field distribution to be completed in 2023. The SCO has the benefit of 1x to 8X variable magnification.
The Raytheon ELCAN Specter DR 1-4x rifle combines reflex and telescopic sighting allowing its use for close-up or distant targets. It mounts to a Picatinny/STANAG rail with an ambidextrous lever allowing instantly changing from a 4x magnified sight to a 1x CQB (Close Quarters Battle) sight. The sight is employed by 11 militaries and is favoured by special operations units. In 2022 the German armed forces began fielding it as their main combat sight in a cooperation between Raytheon Elcan and Leonardo Germany with 107,929 sights to be delivered.
The US Army adopted the TA01 ACOG for the M4 in 2004 to enhance target engagement. However, its NGSW is taking a more sophisticated approach with a ‘fire control optic’. Vortex Optics’ design which was selected over an L3 proposal includes variable magnification, back-up reticule, laser rangefinder, aiming lasers, atmospheric sensors, digital display, and ballistic calculator. The sight will provide a corrected aimpoint to the shooter based on the target range. The provision of this level of accuracy as well as investment being provided to every infantryman is largely unprecedented and will likely be closely watched by other militaries.
Signature Management
The benefits of attachments that mitigate the signature presented by firing have been recognised for some time with their use by special units common. However, their broad infantry application is just being now seriously pursued. Nick Kostin director of Test and Evaluation at Radical Defense, a solution developer, shared that the principal challenge is assuring “each suppression feature (sound, flash, concussive force, ground disturbance, blow back, toxic fumes, etc.) is effective without compromising its Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) attributes and maintaining an agnostic effect on the host weapon platform.” For combat especially acoustic signature reduction should be only one of the objectives. Ground disturbance and dust thrown up and flash, especially by rapid fire, are equally important and critical to reducing an opponent’s ability to detect a firing position. Kostin further explained that the differing characteristic of each weapon means solutions may need to be optimised and fine-tuned to each.
Use of suppressors was accessed, for example, by the US Marine’s in various field exercises as early as 2016. In 2021 it decided to introduce them for all riflemen selecting the Knights Armament NT4. A driving reason was that the reduction in firing noise allowed voice commands to be heard. The US Army Armaments Center has also developed a suppressor referred to as “the smuzzle” which is 3inch (75 mm) long and .5lb (.23kg) it has been demonstrated on the NGSW (which includes a suppressor requirement). Still, it is the use of suppressors with automatic weapons/machine guns where the greatest benefits will likely be achieved. Both the US Army and SOCOM are actively evaluating suppressors for the M240 machine gun with the Maxim Defense MSX-240 among those considered by the former and a Radical Defense product by the later. The realisation of the importance of reducing “signatures” on the battlefield should offer the necessary impetus for suppressors as a standard item.
Future Direction
Technology advances are opening potential opportunities to achieve some of the long-desired characteristics sought in small arms including reducing the soldiers combat load, improving performance, increasing lethality, and more. Yet, it should be recognised that the conditions of the battlefield and the conduct of combat remain essentially the same as past experience. The infantry small arm remains even with enhanced performance the means with which they close with and destroy the enemy at close quarters.
by Stephen W. Miller
