Army wants their new rifle to be like an iphone

[awesome_refrigerator_123]

Link: https://gizmodo.com/the-army-thinks-their-new-rifle-will-be-like-an-iphone-1832495883

Quote

Officials at the Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center at New Jersey’s Picatinny Arsenal told military and veterans news site Task & Purpose this week that the goal of the Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) project, in which the military is soliciting bids to replace its increasingly haggard M4 rifle and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon with a new generation of 6.8mm rifles, is to create an iOS-like platform for shooting people. Really.

After three years the rifle will become the equivalent of a Russian roulette machine just to force the military to upgrade.

[Drak3]

It's just another attempt at a smart gun. They've been doing this for decades.

[minibois]

This headline (used by various sources, I might add, so not singling out OP) sounds like a highly clickbait title inviting title because of these quotes:

Quote

"Imagine that Steve Jobs and his engineers were trying to convert the iPod Touch to the first 3G iPhone," said Army Col. Elliott Caggins, project manager for soldier weapons. "There were a thousand technologies they could have put in the first iPhone but they were looking to mature the platform before they could actually go onto the system."

[...]

"We have hundreds of capabilities we can put into this weapons system, but we want to do it by holistically creating a system that that takes advantage of everything we've done in the past," he added. "This means its capabilities will only grow, just as the iPhone's did."

https://taskandpurpose.com/army-next-generation-squad-weapon-iphone-lethality

 

It's merely a analogy, that may be taken a bit too far. I know nothing of weaponry, so no clue if this is a good move or whatever.

[Gix7Fifty]

It's just an analogy.

[Drak3]

Just now, Minibois said:

I know nothing of weaponry, so no clue if this is a good move or whatever.

Unless it's special issue, it's not. They're going to end up with either a needlessly heavy rifle, or one that can't handle the abuse of US military grunts.

 

And the end goal is still achievable with the AR platform.

6.8mm cartidges? You can buy/make 6.8 SPC chambered ARs now.

Laser designators and range finders? You can buy either scope mount or picatinny rail mounted ones. It also wouldn't be hard to design a handguard to incorporate those.

Modularity? The only gun more modular is the Stoner 63 design.

 

I don't see them adopting anything to replace their AR platform, especially when the Marines are replacing some of their 249s with a piston driven AR.

[colonel_mortis]

It looks like the iPhone part is nothing more than an analogy about it being a platform, so it's not really tech related as far as I can see.

Moved to Off Topic.

[awesome_refrigerator_123]

honestly the list of requirements they made for this revamped platform is more like a wish list. Just reading what they have in mind makes you doubt how reliable the end product might be or just how much it may end up costing. 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

7 minutes ago, awesome_refrigerator_123 said:

honestly the list of requirements they made for this revamped platform is more like a wish list. Just reading what they have in mind makes you doubt how reliable the end product might be or just how much it may end up costing. 

It's sounds like straight out of X-COM. So yes, pretty much a roulette  

[Emanbaird]

They'll never replace my thicc M249

[Subway]

School shooters and terrorists also want their rifle to be like an IPhone too. 

 

[aezakmi]

add the banana magazine

[Guest]

Why don’t they just get an ak47 or galil? 

[soldier_ph]

Welp, that's one way to kill yourself when you get a phone call and pick up your iPhone. 

[Drak3]

19 minutes ago, fpo said:

Why don’t they just get an ak47 or galil? 

Neither of those are more reliable than an M4 if you follow proper maintanence, and neother design is as accurate.

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Neither of those are more reliable than an M4 if you follow proper maintanence, and neother design is as accurate.

The m4 isn’t complex to use. Idk why they’d risk downgrading then. 

 

If war Gaming tells me anything about real conflict, better gear often translates (with better training) to much better performance. 

 

Unless i misunderstood & they want to make some stupid electronic gun. 

[Drak3]

4 minutes ago, fpo said:

Unless i misunderstood & they want to make some stupid electronic gun. 

The goal is to increase hit probability and to eliminate the need for dedicated troops running things like laser designators.

[minibois]

1 hour ago, aezakmi said:

add the banana magazine

 

Hmm... As a collector of them, I don't think I have ever seen that Nintendo DS accessory. 

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

The goal is to increase hit probability and to eliminate the need for dedicated troops running things like laser designators.

Why don’t we just use the ray gun on robots? 

 

The thing that boils your water under your skin. 

[Salv8 (sam)]

*shooting something with friend*

excuse me

*stops shooting and answers gun phone thing*