XM25: A 25 MM round explodes shrapnel over the bad guys.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://www.economist.com/node/21542716

This is an awesome weapon. The above link has a picture of the weapon and many details about it.

If a Taliban is hiding behind cover at say, 300 meters, the XM25's rounds will travel the 300 meters, then explode
as shrapnel over the position. The kill zone will be several meters wide (exact distance classified for now).

SIA

[The Annoyed Man]

I saw this demonstrated on 'Weaponology' a couple of years ago. Cool stuff. The thing is, this will likely be a squad level weapon. At 13 lbs (not counting the weight of 25mm ammunition) this would be too heavy for a standard infantry rifle. My guess is that it would likely replace whatever is in use for a grenade launcher today.

[snatchel]

Yep. I think this would be a perfect addition to every squad...

Why didn't I get to play with this when I was in :(

[C247]

My troop actually organized and ran one of the first ranges that demonstrated that weapon for the Army. When the range was complete and everyone went home we were allowed to see them more closely. (The soldier in the picture was a friend of mine. ) Most fun I had while in the military. The range included a handful of weapons (one of which was supposed to either replace or modify the current M2HB).

Its definitely a great concept and the air burst feature was amazing.

[CEOofEVIL]

Supposedly, one of the few shortcomings is that its pretty dang expensive to buy and keep fed! If thats the biggest issue though, I suppose thats a good thing.

[AEA]

Looks like a very upgraded M79 with laser/ranging/heat seeking sight. COOL!

[surprise_i'm_armed]

C247:
Please explain which weapon an M2HB is. IIRC an M2 is the .50 caliber machine gun. If so, what's the HB suffix mean?

CEO of Evil:
Even though the current price of one round of XM25 is about $400, consider this - the US military has many times
used a Hellfire missile to kill 1 Taliban. One source I saw quoted the price of a Hellfire as $77,716.

For $77,716 you could have 194 rounds of XM25.

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Everyone:
We all know the XD from Springfield Armory is for eXtreme Duty.

Could the XM25 stand for eXploding Munition?

SIA

[pbwalker]

M2HB

The design has had many specific designations; the official designation for the current infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_Browning

[pbwalker]

Everyone:
We all know the XD from Springfield Armory is for eXtreme Duty.

Could the XM25 stand for eXploding Munition?

SIA

In the military, XM stands for Experimental Model (or something close to that). Would be pretty awesome if it was eXploding Munition. That sounds cooler.

[threoh8]

M2HB = M2 (.50 caliber machine gun) with the heavy barrel. It is air-cooled, as opposed to an earlier water-cooled version.