US deploys new "game changer" weapon

Subject: US deploys new "game changer" weapon Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:50 am

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/sc_afp/usmilitaryweaponsafghanistan
The Pentagon has rolled out prototypes of its first-ever programmable "smart" grenade launcher, a shoulder-fired weapon that uses microchipped ammunition to target and kill the enemy, even when the enemy is hidden behind walls or other cover.
After years of development, the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, about the size of a regular rifle, has now been deployed to US units on the battlefields of Afghanistan, where the Army expects it to be a "game-changer" in its [color:eb7c=#366388 ! important][color:eb7c=#366388 ! important]counterinsurgency [color:eb7c=#366388 ! important]operations. "For well over a week, it's been actively on patrols, and in various combat outposts in areas that are hot," said Lieutenant Colonel Chris Lehner, program manager for the [color:eb7c=#366388 ! important][color:eb7c=#366388 ! important]XM25. The gun's stats are formidable: it fires 25mm air-bursting shells up to 2,300 feet (700 meters), well past the range of most rifles used by today's soldiers, and programs them to explode at a precise distance, allowing troops to neutralize insurgents hiding behind walls, rocks or trenches or inside buildings.

US deploys new "game changer" weapon Capt.photo_1291172230373-1-0