The first is OICW.
OICW
The Objective Individual Combat Weapon has been officially named XM29 by the US Army. The XM29 is an individual combat weapon developed for the "Land Warrior" and is an important part of the Army's "Future Combat System" plan. Now that the "Land Warrior" has become part of the Army's new "Ideal Force Warrior", the Army has asked ATK to provide a new rifle based on the XM29 kinetic energy weapon - the XM8, which will serve as a part of the Lightweight Family of
Weapons) are in service together with the XM29, replacing the currently used M16 series and simplifying the maintenance operations of field troops. Adding an M203 grenade launcher under the barrel of the M16 rifle improves the weapon's combat effectiveness, but reduces the weapon's portability and shooting accuracy. Since the early 1990s, the United States has been considering the possibility of developing an assault rifle and A single weapon consisting of a grenade launcher. To this end, the Pentagon's JSSAP committee proposed a demand plan for this weapon, which is called the "Ideal Individual Combat Weapon," or OICW for short.
The first stage is to propose indicators and attract investment
The US military launched a tender for various OICW products in 1994, requiring each manufacturer to express its opinions on the operability of the proposed requirements and propose For suggestions on developing corresponding weapons, the indicators put forward by the military are generally as follows:
Can be operated by both left and right hands
The rifle and grenade launcher share a launching mechanism
Adopted Smart Grenade
Range against point targets 500m
Range against opposite targets 1,000m
Weapon length less than 33 inches (838mm)
Including 30 energy rounds and 6 high-explosive rounds, the total mass of the weapon is no more than 14 pounds (6.35kg). These indicators reflect the highest requirements of the military, some of which cannot be achieved by the current technical level. For the grenade caliber in the index, if the caliber is large and the trajectory is low, the recoil impulse when launched will be high; if the caliber of the small weapon is light, it can be fired from the shoulder but the killing effect will be affected. As a compromise between the two, the 20mm caliber was finally chosen. As for some other indicators, in order to be operable, the military fully listened to the opinions of the industrial sector. Because the OICW system consists of three parts: the weapon itself, the optical sight and the ammunition. One manufacturer cannot master multiple technologies at the same time and must rely on the cooperation of multiple weapon manufacturers. To this end, several strategic groups were formed to bid. Each group is composed of One manufacturer takes the lead, and several manufacturers are working on various technologies.
In December 1994, based on the research plans submitted by each group, the military decided that the two groups would continue the next step of development work. One is a group led by AAI, and the other is led by ATK (Alliant Techsystems).
AAI Group includes FN Company and Olin Company. The weapon system itself is in charge of FN Company, the 20mm high-explosive bomb is in charge of AAI Company and Olin Company, and the sight system and other subsystems are in charge of other companies. Some companies are responsible.
ATK Group includes HK Company, the weapon system is handled by HK Company, while Alliant Company is responsible for the 20mm high-explosive bomb, and the sight system is developed by Contravis Company.
The second phase of developing subsystems
This phase started in February 1996. The goal is to develop each subsystem that can meet the predetermined indicators. By the end of this phase, a single demonstration report will be submitted. . In the OICW system, the easier one is the 5.56mm assault rifle, because it can draw on a lot of experience from other products. The problem is the development of a semi-automatic grenade launcher and the requirement to operate it on both sides.
At this stage, ATK's sample gun uses two barrels side by side. This black and white photo is the OICW sample of HK Company. The rifle barrel and the 20mm barrel are side by side, which makes it look smaller from the side. In fact, the horizontal volume is very large, so it is inconvenient to operate, and it is actually much heavier than the AAI Group sample. The AAI Group submitted a convincing weapon functional module. The two groups compete fiercely.
Phase 3 Prototype Gun Demonstration
The goal of Phase 3 is to submit a prototype gun that can be combined together and demonstrated. From the end of 1996 to the beginning of 1997, HK Company regrouped its prototype gun, changing the two barrels side by side to one above the other, and changed it into a weapon system with the same structure as the AAI Group's OICW. After a year of intensive development, it came up with the first The three-stage prototype gun held a conclusive technical demonstration in February 1998, and the first shot of the HK company's prototype gun was fired. In the concluding technical demonstration, ATK finally defeated its competitor AAI Group and obtained a contract to manufacture six preliminary prototype guns.
The fourth phase of the prototype gun test
The development of 6 prototype guns was completed from April 1998 to the end of June 1999. The prototype guns were sent to Fort Benning in July 1999 Infantry School, which also provides approximately 25,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition (5,000 high-explosive rounds and 20,000 target training rounds), is conducted by the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division (the combat unit nicknamed "Tropic Thunder") on the range, Tests in jungles, deserts and various harsh environments provide systematic reference materials for future improvements of OICW. During the test on September 29, 1999, a 20mm grenade exploded in the barrel, and some people were injured, but it did not seem to affect the overall process of OICW. On August 8, 2000, ATK signed a $95 million contract with the U.S. Army for OICW program definition and risk reduction phase research. OICW is officially approved as the next generation infantry weapon and is expected to be equipped with troops in fiscal year 2009. Therefore, it is estimated that ATK has a potential contract worth the equivalent of US$103 million. lt;Collapse