OK, this looks pretty darn cool and quite innovative in my opinion. Does anyone know much about this new type of gun?

https://motherboard.vice.com/e...our-rounds-at-a-time



https://youtu.be/aMLXXMVeQak

Sounds like the soldier would be carrying lots of ammo.

That article was written by a 2 year old

The biggest innovation is that the "charge block" is the chamber so all the heat ejects out with it. I can see it making for a great LMG if the charge block stack isn't too unwieldy.

I like that the Army looks into all these things, we need to be pushing and pursuing innovation.

Odds of it being standard issue? .00000001%.

But maybe it will lead to the next innovation/evolution that will be adopted?

It's all fun and games until the L6 comes along...

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
It's all fun and games until the L6 comes along...

That would be perfect.

The comment to bypass the normal ordinance testing and procurement process is reminiscent of Robert McNamara doing the same to rush the early non chrome bore, no cleaning kit M16's to Vietnam.

Sometime the best lesson to learn is someone else's failure.

So now the troops would be able to miss 4 rounds at a time?

That's very interesting. I don't like that it's electronic ignition and requires a battery. They claim a full charge can produce 15,000 ignitions.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:
So now the troops would be able to miss 4 rounds at a time?

According to the article, you can fire the rounds individually as well.

VERY Cool....That right there is an example of real American Innovation, and IMO has some REAL potential!

Here's the video from the linked article:



I gotta say, while the video does provide a compelling overview of technology, it definitely has a 'Starship Troopers' kind of feel to it!

And seriously, 'Ribbon Gun'?? Who came up with that moniker? Definitely needs a cooler name like the 'L5 Sabre Rifle' or something similar.

quote:

Originally posted by pessimist:
That's very interesting. I don't like that it's electronic ignition and requires a battery. They claim a full charge can produce 15,000 ignitions.

So the enemy lights off an EMP burst and now everyone's rifle stops working?

I really don't see the advantage of firing 5 rounds at once. Sure, you can fire 1 at a time, but any rifle can do that. How is this an improvement on current weapon systems?

I don't see a bright future for this gun.

Although I don’t see the advantage of firing five bullets at the same time and turn the gun with a 30-round block of ammunition into a six-shooter, I am curious about the caseless ammunition.

People have been trying to perfect caseless ammunition for decades without any significant success. Questions I would have are how durable is the stuff; what happens if a block is dropped into the sand or mud and then loaded into the weapon; what happens after only a few rounds are fired and the gun is unloaded, can the partially-expended block continue to be used after a reload? There’s not much information about how the weapon functions with those ammo blocks, but I can imagine many possible issues.

But the most critical question of all: Where’s the bayonet lug‽
They expect our warfighters to go into battle without being able to take knives to their gunfights?

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
The biggest innovation is that the "charge block" is the chamber so all the heat ejects out with it. I can see it making for a great LMG if the charge block stack isn't too unwieldy.

I like that the Army looks into all these things, we need to be pushing and pursuing innovation.

Odds of it being standard issue? .00000001%.

But maybe it will lead to the next innovation/evolution that will be adopted?

Agreed - I think we have to look at anything that isn't crazy. You never know what the next big thing might be.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
The biggest innovation is that the "charge block" is the chamber so all the heat ejects out with it. I can see it making for a great LMG if the charge block stack isn't too unwieldy.

That was all I took from this 'news'.

The Army, much like the other services, has been seeking an 'revolutionary', 'tranformational' design to replace their standard system of rifles for the last 20-years. Instead of focusing on incremental improvements, (ACR, SCAR, etc...) they want leaps n'bounds jumps. They continue to issue solicitations to industry, industry comes out with the latest and greatest, then the PEO Managers brush off all the offers as not good enough. I get a sense that some of these decision makers are watching a bit too much television/movies and not understanding how things comes about.

Kinda look like a shotgun that can control how many pellets are fired. How much muzzle energy will these caseless rounds have?

quote:

Originally posted by highroundcount:

quote:

Originally posted by pessimist:
That's very interesting. I don't like that it's electronic ignition and requires a battery. They claim a full charge can produce 15,000 ignitions.

So the enemy lights off an EMP burst and now everyone's rifle stops working?

The rifle will come equipped with a small protruding side handle that you will be able to wind up a quick charge per firing; it will play “Pop goes the weasel” while winding...

quote:

Originally posted by phydough:
Kinda look like a shotgun that can control how many pellets are fired. How much muzzle energy will these caseless rounds have?

You are not allowed to ask zis question.