Firing the Army’s Biggest, Baddest Guns

It's not too often I get to play with military-grade weaponry, and the military is usually pretty wary about reporters handling firearms. But yesterday I traveled to Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD to see the latest improvements in soldier weaponry.

Reporters had the chance to test out a range of weapons, from the M4 Carbine to the M107 sniper rifle. It was also an opportunity for the Army to show off the XM25 airburst weapon. The XM25 is an advanced grenade launcher that fires a smart 25mm round automatically programmed to go off just above or behind its target: The idea is to create a devasting, pinpoint-accurate infantry weapon that can hit targets that are "in defilade" (behind a wall, or dug into the ground).






This screen grab from a high-speed camera shows the round detonating just inside a window target. Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, the head of PEO Soldier, told reporters that the $30,000 weapon had already been delivered to the Special Forces and they "going to be taking it downrange this summer."

The service also showcased some less-lethal equipment. This is the CROWS remote weapon station, outfitted with a nonlethal green laser. It's part of an "escalation of force" package the military fielded last month in Afghanistan.







Maj. Michael Pottratz, who made the trip to Afghanistan last month to issue out the new kit, told Danger Room the system had been installed on different variants of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle. The idea is to prevent incidents like the recent deadly bus shooting in Kandahar, where coalition forces failed to warn off an approaching vehicle with a flashlight and flares, and then engaged the bus with gunfire, killing several civilians.

Pottratz, who said he had tested the dazzler on himself, said the effect of the green laser was "exactly like looking at a very bright light, like a welding torch or the sun, for just a fraction of a second."