Few would argue that the important element in any military service is the individual warfighter. Whether soldier, Marine, airman, sailor, or Coast Guardsman, it is the individual who serves as the true “tip of the spear” in military operations. While some actions are still conducted “from afar,” many of the modern operations conducted across the military spectrum still rely on the small arms systems provided to those soldiers.

As in past years, the last 12 months have witnessed a broad range of military small arms developments, with military planners and their industry partners applying new technologies against emerging combat lessons learned to achieve the optimum lethality solution for today’s warfighters.

Examples of these enhanced lethality solutions can be seen in efforts as diverse as the development of new 7.62 mm and .300 Winchester Magnum sniper rounds by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane), to the ongoing limited fielding and combat assessment of a small number of XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement Systems (CDTE) by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier.

Most recently, the task of small arms developers has been further complicated by relatively small geographic changes in operational theaters.

An example of these operational complications was recently highlighted by Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, U.S. Army PEO Soldier. Speaking to the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Joint Small Arms Symposium and Demonstration held in Las Vegas, Nev., during mid-May 2009, Fuller explained that his office was attempting to “increase lethality, increase survivability, and increase the soldier’s ability to operate in any operating environment. Especially as we talk about the transition of forces from the theater in Iraq to the theater in Afghanistan, there’s a lot of discussion that ‘what worked in one theater is not necessarily going to work as well in another theater.’

“Weight is the biggest issue that we have as a topic of discussion in the second environment,” he added.

Against that backdrop of changing user priorities and potential new technologies, Fuller was one of many participants utilizing the NDIA event to offer a glimpse at the impressively wide range of developments taking place in the military small arms arena.

Many of the new developments were noted by representatives of the Joint Service Small Arms Synchronization Team (JSSAST).

Chaired by the commander of the U.S. Army’s Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) Enterprise and Systems Integration Center (ESIC), JSSAST has one voting member from six principal entities: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and U.S. Special Operations Command. Additional “associate” members participate from PEO Soldier’s Project Manager, Soldier Weapons as well as the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. Team members formally meet twice a year and are tasked with reviewing each service’s small arms needs and providing guidance on how to apply the best available resources to meet those needs.

Speaking to the NDIA symposium attendees, JSSAST Chairman Col. Karl S. Flynn pointed to a mission statement that encompassed: intensive management of the DoD small arms tech base; harmonization of requirements; transition to service project managers for System Development and Demonstration (SDD); long-range plans and strategies; and influence of international small arms activities.

Reflective of the weight issue previously identified by Fuller, Flynn noted that FY 08-10 JSSAST themes included the establishment of a joint requirement and transition strategy for Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (LSAT) and building a jointly funded program for the SDD and production phases.

Technology explorations currently focus on both “caseless” and “cased telescoped” versions of rifle and light machine gun ammunition. Using the M249 5.56 mm Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) as current baseline, the LSAT identifies a weapon weight of 17.5 pounds and 600-round ammo weight of 20.8 pounds, for a combined 38.3-pound warfighter burden. Against today’s figures, the project has identified “goal” weights of 11.3 pounds for the weapon and 12.5 pounds for the ammo, reducing the total system burden to 23.8 pounds. Significantly, current examinations seem to indicate that the use of caseless and cased telescoped ammunition designs can actually reduce total system weight (with ammunition) to 19.9 and 24.4 pounds, respectively.

“These aren’t trivial numbers,” Flynn said. “In fact, they are very significant. So we are keen on this program, as we have been for years. It continues to have momentum. We’re looking to really ‘get it over the hump’ and our goal is to get it to a JCTD [Joint Concept Technology Demonstration].”

Other interest areas noted by Flynn included advanced fire control technology for small arms and advanced lethal armament technologies.

Flynn completed his overview by noting that JSSAST efforts between now and the next formal meeting in November 2009 would include continuation of an ongoing operational awareness campaign, continued development of an LSAT transition strategy, and updates to two “living” documents: the Joint Service Small Arms Master Plan (JSSAMP) and the Joint Small Arms Capabilities Assessment (JSACA).

The JSSAMP was initially approved in 1995, with several revisions to the document since that time. Following its upcoming 2009 revision, it is anticipated that the new version will receive full approval in 2010. In general, goals of the new revision are expected to include improved terminal effects against a variety of targets, together with additional capability, improved survivability, and enhanced sustainability. In addition, the overarching desire for lighter weight systems is anticipated.

JSSAST descriptions note that the JSACA analyses “effectively support the assessment of Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership [and Education], Personnel and Facilities (DOTMLPF) or result in the preparation of Initial Capabilities Documents, Capability Development Documents, and Capability Production Documents for small arms programs.”

After sketching the six-month road map, Flynn turned over the podium to team members to highlight the small arms activities now taking place within their individual services.

JSSAST member Col. Andrew Bianca, program manager for Infantry Weapons at Marine Corps Systems Command, identified several current Marine Corps small arms efforts, including the Infantry Automatic Rifle, Multi-Shot Grenade Launcher, M40A5 Sniper Rifle Modular Stock, Scout Sniper Ballistic Computer, and M16A4 Collapsible Buttstock.

“The first thing we’ve got going is the Infantry Automatic Rifle,” Bianca said. “The idea for an automatic rifle in the infantry came from some work done in the 1st Marine Division back in 2001-2002. The idea of this weapon is not to replace the SAW across the board, but to replace it in the infantry platoon. The idea is to give a little more maneuverability and speed to the fire team.

“The other thing we are finding out from the testing we have done so far is that we can almost quadruple our accuracy at long range,” he said. “So, not only are we getting a lighter weapon that’s better in ‘the urban canyon’ when you’re kicking down doors, but it also [is] better at long ranges in terms of actually hitting a target.

“That’s moving right along. We’re in the process of assessing four candidate systems and we should have a decision some time in the fall,” he said.

The Marine Corps also released a request for proposals earlier this year for a new multi-shot grenade launcher.

“We currently have a multi-shot grenade launcher that’s fielded,” Bianca noted. “It’s the M32. It was done under an Urgent UNS [universal need statement] and it has been extremely successful in terms of giving the infantry platoon an awful lot of firepower in the hands of a guy that’s moving around. That was so successful that we have gone to a program of record and we should be looking at starting testing on that this summer [2009] and making a decision later in this fiscal year.”

Acknowledging that the “A5” suffix signifies that “the M40 has been around forever,” he noted that the latest designation marked the addition of a muzzle brake and suppressor on the end of the rifle.

“It didn’t drop any accuracy when we did it and we got an increase in capability,” he said. “It’s still a wonderful weapon. We are going to continue to improve it and eventually replace it, but [the A5] is just now going into production.

“The next thing we’re going to do on the M40A5 is build a modular stock,” he said. “The intent isn’t to improve the capability, in this particular case, but to reduce our maintenance downtime. Because what we do is take that weapon, which is built in Quantico, Va., by Marines in the precision weapons section, and we have an armorer [fit] the stock against the receiver. That takes an awful lot of time and it also means that we have to take that weapon out of the field and send it back to Quantico to have it rebuilt. We’re trying to get ourselves out of that by going to a modular stock. And we just recently started that effort.

“It’s very similar to what we did on the M39,” he continued. “The M39 is basically a highly modified M14 and it’s also built at the precision weapons section. We don’t have as many armorers as we would like to have sitting in Quantico, Va., because most of them tend to be forward in theater. So we are trying to reduce the amount of maintenance we have going on in precision weapon systems.”

Marine Corps efforts toward the Scout Sniper Ballistic Computer follow those of the U.S. Army to provide the sniper with the ability to punch in data and obtain information that needs to go on the weapon to obtain first-round hit accuracy. Marine Corps fielding of the same system used by the Army begins in the summer of 2009.

Cautioning that “it’s not a done deal,” Bianca noted that the Marine Corps “would be very interested” in replacing the fixed buttstock on the M16A4 with a collapsible version.

“The overriding concern that we have is that we are not willing to give up any reliability to be able to do that,” he said. “We’ve found that pretty much everything out there right now reduces our reliability by a little bit. Now it may be a trade-off in the short term in terms of giving up something, but in the long term, we want a collapsible buttstock on the M16A4 that is just as reliable as a fixed buttstock.”

Looking toward future program efforts, Bianca identified the Rapid Engagement Precision Rifle, Long Range Sniper Rifle, M40A5 Improved Barrel, MEU(SOC) pistol receiver, and foreign weapons kits.

“The Rapid Engagement Precision Rifle is basically a replacement for our M39 and the Mk. 11 [Navy 7.62 mm sniper rifle] that was fielded as an Urgent UNS for Iraqi Freedom,” he said.

Moving on, he added, “For the Long Range Sniper Rifle, we are working very closely with USSOCOM [U.S. Special Operations Command] – they have a PSR [Precision Sniper Rifle] – and we have a very similar capability requirement that’s developing. We actually don’t have the capability document yet – it’s in the process of being written – but we’ve been working with USSOCOM quite a bit in terms of our requirements to be very closely related to what PSR is doing.

“The M40A5 Improved Barrel is another effort to keep the ‘A5’ in the field until we get the [Long Range Sniper Rifle]. And what we are looking for there is a shorter barrel that’s lighter, and we don’t want to give up any accuracy or capability in the process of doing that. It’s a tough thing to say and do but that’s what we’re looking for,” he said.

Describing the MEU(SOC) pistol as “basically a highly modified M1911 that is hand-built by the precision weapon section armorers at Quantico,” Bianca acknowledged the current requirement to “go through about 10 receivers of the old M1911s before we get one that is within tolerance to use on an MEU(SOC) pistol. We believe that ultimately we will have to go to a commercial source and we would be interested in doing that in the near future.”

Finally, the Marine Corps JSSAST principal highlighted the future requirement for foreign weapons kits, describing them as: “Basically a giant collection of Soviet-made weapons from AK-47s to PKMs to all kinds of things.”

“We’re putting them into the hands of Marines because they’re running into them on the battlefields,” he said. “They are training [others on] foreign weapons and how to use them. And they need to know it themselves. We have three kits in the field right now and we just got a requirement update and funding to go for eight more.”

According to Capt. Pat Sullivan, representing the U.S. Navy’s Program Executive Office for Littoral and Mine Warfare, Navy Special Warfare, the Navy began a small arms modernization program around 2006, focusing on a range of what were presented as “obsolete” weapon systems.

“And we’re nearing the completion of that modernization, we expect, in FY 10,” he said.

In medium machine guns, for example, the Navy modernization program is replacing M60s with M240N/B and M60E3/Mk. 43 with the Mk. 48 lightweight machine gun. Likewise, the inventory of naval surface small arms mounts – including Mk. 26 MOD17, Mk. 64 MOD4, Mk. 82, and Mk. 58 – are being replaced by the Mk. 93 universal mount and Mk. 97 mount. In carbines, the plan has been phasing out the Colt 727 carbine for the M4A1 carbine. Rifle plans have been replacing both M16A1HB (heavy barrel) and M14 with M16A3/5, while M79 40 mm grenade launchers have been replaced by M203 models. Finally, to fulfill the role of surface ship machine guns, the plan is replacing the Mk. 19 grenade machine gun and Mk.  44 “mini gun” with twin M2 heavy-barrel machine guns and twin M240 machine guns, respectively.

In terms of future needs from industry, Sullivan pointed to several issues, including a continuing service interest in new and improved maritime coatings; lighter, smaller, and more compact weapons and ammunition; and automatic round counters.

Along with these naval small arms activities, representatives at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division have been working with industry to develop several new ammunition options to enhance the effectiveness of Naval Special Warfare elements and other forces for both sniper and assault weapons.

One example of these U.S. Navy small arms ammunition advancements for sniper systems is the 7.62 mm Special Ball, Long Range, Mk. 316 MOD0, designed to replace the M118LR cartridge to enhance the effectiveness of the Mk. 11 sniper rifle. Likewise, the new .300 Winchester Magnum Match Product Improvement Mk. 248 MOD1 will extend the effective range of Naval Special Warfare sniper rifles like the Mk. 13 MOD5.

In terms of assault effectiveness, NSWC has also fostered the development of new 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm ball ammunition, designated Mk. 318 MOD0 and Mk. 319 MOD0 respectively, that will optimize the performance of the new Mk. 16 and Mk. 17 Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifles (SCAR).

Another maritime JSSAST participant, the U.S. Coast Guard, has been conducting its own small arms activities, ranging from the continued fielding of a new handgun to use of precision fire weapons out of helicopters.

The Coast Guard handgun replacement project is replacing the 9 mm M9 Beretta with the .40-caliber SIG SAUER P229R-DAK. Type classification of the new handgun is being conducted by NSWC Crane, with approximately 85 percent of the Coast Guard already transitioned to the new weapon as of this writing.

Other near-term goals include refinement of the tactics, techniques, and procedures for three new weapon initiatives in the Coast Guard inventory: the Mk. 11, designed for precision engagement; and the M14T and M107, both of which are designed for support of “airborne use of force” operations.

The Coast Guard is also developing a new Precision Service Shotgun (PSS), intended to deliver flash/bang rounds, rubber anti-personnel rounds, and copper slugs for “disabling fire.”

Although there are no small arms programs or activities being led by the U.S. Air Force, that service also participates in JSSAST and works to further interoperability with sister services and components in DoD by partnering on programs that they are developing. Within the Air Force, primary emphasis is on sustainment and product improvement of the current small arms inventory as well as improving and expanding small arms training and range capabilities.

Wrapping up the service elements of the JSSAST symposium overview, Lt. Col. Tom Henthorn, chief of the Small Arms Branch at the U.S. Army Infantry Center, pointed to the Army’s current 2009 weapons development strategy.

Broken into three time frames, the development strategy outlines a near-term 0- to 2-year window on small arms fielding, a short-term 2- to 5-year window of fielding and development, and a mid-term 5-plus-year window of development and evaluation.

The strategy’s near-term fielding window contains expanded M4 series carbine issue, expanded fielding of the M320 grenade launcher and M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System, a new rifle combat optic, continued fielding on the M110 Semi Automatic Sniper System (SASS), fielding of the M240L, and fielding of the M2A1.

The M2A1, as one example, is a lighter weight .50-caliber machine gun that will eventually replace every M2 in the field.

Far less specific on specific nomenclatures, programs on the 2- to 5-year horizon include individual carbine, subcompact weapon, long-range anti-personnel rifle, dual combat optic, heavy machine gun day optic, modular handgun system, suppressors, and new machine gun configurations.

Finally, the 5-plus year time horizon includes the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System now receiving its initial theater field assessment, as well as a range of potential future weapon projects, such as advanced ammunition, advanced fire control, weapon concept commonality, and even potential lightweight small arms results from the JSSAST LSAT initiatives.

In fact, other presentations delivered during the NDIA symposium highlighted an array of “weight lightening” studies and initiatives taking place outside of the JSSAST umbrella.

One representative example has already been under way for several years. In July 2005, the U.S Government National Small Arms Center solicited the members of the National Small Arms Technology Consortium “for Lightweight Small Caliber Ammunition Program to reduce the overall weight of typical 7.62 mm caliber ammunition by at least 20 percent without reducing current performance, reliability, or operating conditions.”

While a 20 percent reduction falls well below the 36 to 52 percent ammunition weight reductions sought under JSSAST’s LSAT caseless/cased telescoped efforts, it could still provide a significant near-term benefit to warfighters. To quantify that benefit, a 20 percent weight savings would eliminate 5 pounds from the weight burden of a machine gunner carrying 400 rounds.

Unlike the dramatic technology departures of caseless or cased telescoped designs, the Lightweight Small Caliber Ammunition Program is looking at smaller changes to the 130-year-old brass cartridge case design, attempting to identify lighter cartridge case materials that exhibit the same expansion and contraction characteristics as brass.

Wrapping up the JSSAST symposium overview, Flynn noted that during his visits to both current combat theaters, he “made a point to talk to warfighters about ‘kit.’ And certainly small arms and ammunition were one part of that kit. And without question, overall I received positive comments. We all know that everything’s not perfect. But the good thing is that we, this community – the Army, the other services, OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense]  – we’re listening. We’re taking those comments that are coming back from the field, whether they arrive as [operational need statements] or are fed back through the logistics community through FSRs [industry field service representatives], and we’re making changes. Those changes are getting into the field and the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines all recognize that. That’s a positive and that’s reflective of this community.”

Photo Credit:

• The U.S. Army expects to field 35,000 M26 12-gauge Modular Accessory Shotgun Systems (MASS) in the fall to infantry, MPs, and Special Forces troops in theater. The MASS was designed to attach to an M16 or M4, but also comes with a collapsible stock to be used as a stand-alone weapon. U.S. Army photo courtesy of PEO Soldier

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