| Author | Message | ||
     Sifo |
US deploys 'game-changer' weapon to Afghanistan http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/sc_afp/usmili taryweaponsafghanistan
I saw a prototype of this technology on a Future Weapons episode on TV a few years ago. Nice to see it going into service. Sure glad it's on our side! | ||
| Cataract2 |
Anyone have a link to that episode on Future Weapons. I want to see that in action. | ||
| Xl1200r |
$30,000 EACH!?!?! It better end the war fast... | ||
| Sifo |
Not from the Future Weapons episode, but it give you the idea... | ||
| Geforce |
What a small world... it's being developed about 30 feet away from where I work on my crap. Counter Defilade is a "neat feature" to have. You'd be surprised at all the cool weapons and tech we get to play with. Well... for now. The vast majority of the awesome stuff is getting canceled due to budgeting. I won't elaborate anymore on that topic. | ||
| Sifo |
$30,000 EACH!?!?! It better end the war fast... If it works as advertised, that's a lot of capability for $30K. Not giving our troops ridiculous rules of engagement would help end the war fast. | ||
| Geforce |
30k a pop may sound like a lot of money... it's not. That price will reduce once the X drops off the program and they get approval for what we call FRP or full rate production. You don't even want to know what 1 TOW missile costs, or 1 Javelin round... then factor in the required launcher, or CLU, the training the Soldiers need on the system... Ahh welcome to the fun world of acquisitions. Where everything is designed by a committee. | ||
| Sayitaintso |
I remember trying to put 203 rounds through the "windows" on the range and in moderate to high winds it was almost impossible for anything but the closest of targets. If this thing works as advertised it'll be a game changer for grenade launchers, without a doubt. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
The MK-19 mounted to a Amtrac is lethal We were cutting trees down with a single shot at the range. 300 to 400 yards away... | ||
| Geforce |
The one we have here is very heavy... One of my weapons has been in OEF for a little bit and it has done nothing but hurt the program... Why you may ask? It wasn't finished. When Soldiers get a hold of something that is still in it's infancy and figure out all sorts of ways to break it that we never thought of they tend not to use it for lack of confidence in said equipment. It's great for testing, but I don't want my Soldiers to have to "test" in combat. I want them killing stuff and moving on. If the program manager does it right he/she will get some good feedback and make product improvements based on lessons learned but this weapon won't be in the hands of average joe. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
my old job... | ||
| Hootowl |
Know what a guidance package for a bomb costs these days? And they're not reusable. $30K seems like a bargain for that kind of capability. | ||
| Blake |
>>> $30,000 EACH!?!?! It better end the war fast... Care to compare the cost of that weapon spread over multiple engagements and multiple targets versus calling in air support or smart bombs/artillery? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
This just gives me wood... listen to the rate of fire.. When the MK-19 is fired, the round travels so slow you can watch it fly and impact 5 to 15 meter radius of death and destruction per round | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
sorry... but I'm having fun watching this stuff... another reason Amtracs was/is a great MOS | ||
| Court |
I evaluate all this in terms of how many baseball bats you could buy for $30,000. Wouldn't it be fun . . . doing my "absent rules of engagement" fantasy . . to have some •••••• pop up . . fire a round and let Paulie Mazzanado from Brooklyn take a ball bat to him. The word would spread quickly . . . | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
"in the hands of soldiers and surprising the enemy in Afghanastan as early as next year" Something tells me they won't be to surprised. Unless ofcourse they don't have t.v. or internet. Or any communication with the other countries... Why don't we just not advertise this stuff and just use it and really surprise them? Or maybe we've been using it?.. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Not giving our troops ridiculous rules of engagement would help end the war fast. Agreed. 30k a pop may sound like a lot of money... it's not. That price will reduce once the X drops off the program and they get approval for what we call FRP or full rate production. They've put in an order for 12,500 of these things - hardly sounds experimental to me. Care to compare the cost of that weapon spread over multiple engagements and multiple targets versus calling in air support or smart bombs/artillery? Apples and oranges, so no, I don't care to compare. These weapons, as great as they are, will never replace artillery or air support. I guess I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around a $30,000 gun. And we've ordered 12,500 of these things. That's $375,000,000, not including the ammunition, which I'm sure is a pretty penny as well. It sounds like an immensley impressive peice of kit, just not sure if it's worth the asking price just yet... | ||
| Xl1200r |
I take that back, I won't say never, as I could see it replacing light air support in many situations. | ||
| Geforce |
"They've put in an order for 12,500 of these things - hardly sounds experimental to me." The order is on contract only. Until the program is approved for full rate production it is considered eXperimental. This of course has everything to do with certain milestones during the acquisitions process. The current numbers being sent forward are under a LRIP or low rate initial production. This portion of the process is normally for testing, development, and about 30 other acronyms I won't bore you to death with. The X will fall off when the system has undergone limited user testing, operational test command testing, and approval from the army test and evaluation committee. At that point, from a Soldier standpoint, it becomes and program of record and goes straight to fielding based of the published and approved basis of issue plan. Now... if the program manager is operating under an ONS or operational needs statement... then he/she can forward deploy an unapproved or eXperimental item based upon contingency only. As for the details on the system. Well. The video will have to suffice. Just like the systems I work on... what is presented to the public has been given clearance and we wouldn't be that concerned with it. Wiki Leaks and that kind of crap is a different story. (Message edited by Geforce on December 01, 2010) | ||
| Ourdee |
$30,000.00 is not that much. I shot up $24,500.00 in 40mm out of a m-203 one afternoon at a range while I was in. I could drop one into an open hatch on a tank at 100 meters from the hip by the time I got done shooting. I had empty cardboard boxes laying all over the shooting line. I miss those days. |
