Possible or vaporware?
The Army’s Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle looks to do it all:
The aim is for the NGSARs to fire bullets at pressure levels similar to those achieved by tanks when they fire. Rounds will smash through advanced adversary body armor even at a distance, allowing soldiers to accurately shoot while maintaining a safe distance from the threat whenever possible.
The Army would like the new weapon chamber pressure to be between 60 and 80 KSI (kilopound per square inch). To put that into context, the Armys M1 Abrams main battle tank fires at that chamber pressure. Assault rifles tend to be around 45 KSI, so this will definitely be higher.
July 19th, 2018 at 5:22 pm
So they want to go back to the 30-06.its chamber pressure is 60 kPSI. Everything old is new again.
July 19th, 2018 at 7:19 pm
Jody knows; Yeah, let’s compare it to a tank’s gun, because “tank” = spectTACular! (“WrrAAAAH!”) But the 300 Weatherby’s SAAMI-rated maximum average pressure is 65 KSI, so…fuck you; they standardized that cartridge back in the 1940s, bitches, and we have better steel alloys nowadays.
(and all I had to do was crack open an old Speer reloading manual just now. It took all of about a minute – huh…)
Also; peak pressure and projectile velocity (even for a given bullet weight) are only loosely related, contrary to what some might think is “obvious”. Notice, in the manuals, how some powders peak out at lower velocities than other powders, for example.
July 19th, 2018 at 7:27 pm
Shit’s gonna get heavier..
July 19th, 2018 at 8:04 pm
Good grief, this is a contract for a “functional prototype”, not even for a number of weapons for field tests. You can’t call it ‘vaporware’ – yet – but right now, it’s nothing much more than a validation of concept.
Recalling the 15 years the military convulsed for simply changing pistols the “…could be in the hands of soldiers as soon as 2022.” is a bunch of crap.
Ms Barrie has either fallen for they hype, or more probably been paid to shill for Textron.
July 19th, 2018 at 10:51 pm
Aren’t tank rounds very erosive on the barrels? As in shooting a few hundreds and the barrel is shot out?
Not the model I would want for a fully automatic weapon used for sustained fires..
July 19th, 2018 at 11:23 pm
Jeff Cooper used to write about the RPG being the preferred weapon of most third world militaries, a weapon usable by the common man. He deplored the Age of the Common Man, but admitted that RPGs worked well on the battlefield.
July 20th, 2018 at 3:05 am
My oh my that’s a retarded comparison. The size difference is Pi*R^2 which means even a slight increase in diameter can be a significant percentage decrease in pressure. Oh it’s 45k for the tank huh? Oh well… what’s the diameter again? What they needed to use was muzzle velocity or energy at some distance, not chamber pressure.
Whoever came up with the tank barrel comparison needs to be pulled off that project immediately.
July 20th, 2018 at 9:14 am
“We’ll get this job done if it takes every penny the DOD has.”
Unknown defense contractor.
July 20th, 2018 at 11:55 am
Man, that article is a hot mess written bbg someone who jotted down DoD talking points on a napkin but didn’t know what they meant.
July 20th, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Who in the world decided ‘kilopound’ was a thing? Are we going to start using decafoot and kiloyard as well?
July 20th, 2018 at 1:59 pm
@Wolfman, I’ll give up the attoparsec per microfortnight as a measurement for velocity when the last shovelful of earth is thrown over my casket.
July 20th, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Its a very stupid article
July 20th, 2018 at 8:39 pm
“”I cannae change the laws of physics!”
But if the reader doesn’t KNOW any physics you can B.S. you way to a byline.
July 21st, 2018 at 1:13 pm
So… They want to bring back the Garand?
July 22nd, 2018 at 7:38 am
“Allison Barrie is a defense specialist with experience in more than 70 countries who consults at the highest levels of defense and national security, a lawyer with four postgraduate degrees, and author of the definitive guide, Future Weapons: Access Granted, on sale in 30 countries.”
When Ms. Barrie says “KiloPound” is a thing, you bitches best learn your manners and bend knee at Her Eminence. What part of “HIGHEST LEVELS” did you not understand? She probably has direct access to SecDef’s undersecretary’s, yoga instructor’s, neighbor’s, third-cousin, twice removed.
Sheesh. It’s no wonder she hosts a new show called “Tactical Talk” on Fox.