DefenseTech Military.com
  • Categories
  • Full Archives
  • Monthly Archives
  • About Defense Tech
Subscribe to RSS

About Defense Tech

Defense Tech exam­ines the inter­sec­tion of tech­nol­ogy and defense from every angle and pro­vides analy­sis on what’s ahead.

Tip Us Off

Tip for Defense Tech?

SEND IT!

It’s Confidential!

Categories

  • 'Canes
  • Afghan Update
  • Ammo and Munitions
  • Armor
  • Around the Globe
  • Av Week Extra
  • Axe in Iraq (and Elsewhere)
  • Bizarro
  • Blimps
  • Blog Bidness
  • Body Armor Blues
  • Bomb Squad
  • Brownshoes in Action
  • Bubbleheads, etc.
  • Cammo Green
  • Catch the "Buzz"
  • Chem-Bio
  • Civilian Apps
  • Cloak and Dagger
  • Commandos
  • Comms
  • Contingency Ops
  • Cops and Robbers
  • Cyber-warfare
  • Data Diving
  • Defense Tech Poll
  • Defense Tech Radio
  • Dissent Tech
  • Door Kickers
  • Drones
  • DT Administrivia
  • Eat DT's Dust
  • Extra! Extra!
  • Eye on China
  • Fast Movers
  • FCS Watch
  • Fire for Effect
  • FOS Files
  • Friday Funnies
  • Gadgets and Gear
  • Going Green
  • Grand Ole Osprey
  • Ground Vehicles
  • Guns
  • Homeland Security
  • In the Weeds with Eric
  • Info War
  • Iraq Diary
  • Jarhead Jazz
  • JSF Watch
  • Just War Theories
  • Lasers and Ray Guns
  • Less-lethal
  • Logistics
  • Los Alamos and Labs
  • M4 Monopoly
  • Medic!
  • Mercs
  • Missiles
  • Money Money Money
  • Most Wanted
  • MRAP Edge
  • Net-Centric
  • Nukes
  • Old Skool
  • Our Shrinking Planet
  • Planes, Copters, Blimps
  • Podcast
  • Politricks
  • Polmar's Perspective
  • Popular Mechanics
  • Rapid Fire
  • Raptor Watch
  • Red Team
  • Retro-Futuro
  • Robots
  • Roll Your Own
  • Sabra Tech
  • Ships and Subs
  • Snipertech
  • Soldier Systems
  • Space
  • Special Ops
  • Star Wars
  • Strategery
  • Stray Trons
  • Tactical Development
  • Terror Tech
  • The Deadlies
  • The Defense Biz
  • The Peoples' Site
  • The Sunday Paper
  • The Tanker Tango
  • The View from Av Week
  • Those Nutty Norks
  • Training and Sims
  • Trimble on the Case
  • Uncategorized
  • Video Lounge
  • War Update
  • Ward'z Wonderz
  • You can run…

Archives

  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003
  • September 2003
  • August 2003
  • July 2003
  • June 2003
  • May 2003
  • April 2003
  • March 2003
  • February 2003
  • January 2003

Home » Guns » Left Behind

Left Behind

barney_fife.jpg

Somebody please help the infantry.

Think of how many new gen­er­a­tions of fight­ers, naval com­bat­ants, and fight­ing vehi­cles have been deployed since the 1960s.

Contrast that record to the indi­vid­ual firearm — the rifle, car­bine or hand­gun car­ried and used by almost any one wear­ing a uni­form. The same basic M16 rifle and M4 car­bine first used in Vietnam — with the same basic flaws still uncor­rected — remain the pri­mary infantry weapons for the US mil­i­tary today.

Why?

Surely, a nation that can muster $250-$300 bil­lion to develop and deliver the Joint Strike Fighter, $160 bil­lion to build a new fam­ily of com­bat vehi­cles and $8 bil­lion to develop and build a next-​​generation air­craft car­rier can come up with some spare change to upgrade the infantry’s arse­nal of auto­matic weapons.

All the ser­vices are fond of pro­mot­ing the con­cept of dom­i­nat­ing any poten­tial threat through supe­rior tech­nol­ogy. Yet the M16 and M4 remain matched — if not infe­rior — to the fire­power pro­vided by the weapon of choice for insurgents/​terrorists/​pirates world­wide: the even older AK-​​47 design and its antecedents.

A new gen­er­a­tion of supe­rior guns are avail­able for pur­chase today, offer­ing improved fire­power and less of the reli­a­bil­ity prob­lems of the older gen­er­a­tion. Examples include the Heckler & Koch 416 enhanced car­bine and the FN Herstal Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR).

Giving the Army more cash may not be the answer. Part of the prob­lem is the way the Army man­ages small arms. Back in the 1950s, the Army was so loathe to develop an auto­matic rifle to com­pete with the AK-​​47 that some think it sab­o­taged tests on the M16. It fell upon Air Force General Curtis LeMay to res­cue the M16 pro­gram and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to com­pel the Army to buy it. Even then, the Army sab­o­taged the M16 by ini­tially fill­ing the car­tridge with the wrong gun­pow­der. (Read more here.)

More recently, the Army aborted its plan to replace the M16 with the XM29, which was can­celled in 2005 after a $100 mil­lion investment.

The good news is that the com­mer­cial mar­ket­place has already solved the Army’s prob­lem. The ques­tion is whether the Army is will­ing to bring itself to make the change.

– Steve Trimble

Share |

February 23rd, 2007 | Guns | 350772 Comments »http://defensetech.org/2007/02/23/left-behind/Left+Behind2007-02-23+12%3A58%3A25murdoc You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

« « Learnin’ From the Muj? | Biometrics Track Bad Guys » »

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

  1. buy dofus kamas says:
    August 6, 2008 at 1:13 am

    Although I already buy dofus kamas to you, and you will not put this in your heart.

    Reply
  2. buy dofus kamas says:
    August 6, 2008 at 1:16 am

    Although I already buy dofus kamas to you, and you will not put this in your heart.

    Reply
  3. cronous money says:
    August 8, 2008 at 8:13 pm

    I started to play cro­nous in col­lege. At that time the cro­nous was not updated, and had lit­tle cro­nous money.

    Reply
  4. Shaiya gold says:
    August 9, 2008 at 2:32 am

    After play­ing game I always write down my feel­ings of this game to share with every­one. Now I was play­ing this Shaiya gold game and want to write a arti­cle about the Shaiya game.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Spam Protection by WP-SpamFree

    Most Popular Posts
    • What Does this Handle Do?
    • Marines Quiet About Brutal New Weapon
    • Starship Troopers Meets G.I. Joe
    • Dowd's Bogus Grief Deficit
    • Semi-auto Grenade Thrower
    • Adapting Women to Subs
    • Fort Hood Rampage
    • Keep it Simple
    • Mystery Drone Revealed
    • REPLACEMENT ARM, GOOD AS NEW
    Recent Comments
    • Fort Hood Rampage
      "And no, the Koran does not say anything about killing...
      bdwilcox
    • Fort Hood Rampage
      When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to...
      DualityOfMan
    • Fort Hood Rampage
      Fascism? Last time I heard, the fascists promoted christianity. Or,...
      DualityOfMan
    • Semi-auto Grenade Thrower
      I see an M16 firing, and I see a 40 mm grenade launcher...
      DualityOfMan
    • Fort Hood Rampage
      "I'd say go read some history on fascist ideology and then compare...
      Sam
    • Semi-auto Grenade Thrower
      No. I am not saying a grenade launcher on a rifle is a hoax. I...
      Zandor
    • Semi-auto Grenade Thrower
      For someone who trashes all the readers of the blog you sure do...
      a1189
    • Market for Acoustic Defense Systems Heats Up
      These devices vibrate tissue and bone not just...
      WJS
    • Semi-auto Grenade Thrower
      So are you saying the grenade launcher is a hoax or the M-16?...
      WJS
    • Fort Hood Rampage
      Dear Cannon Fodder; Only politically correct patriots should be accepted...
      Zandor
    Recent Articles
    • Semi-​​auto Grenade Thrower
    • Market for Acoustic Defense Systems Heats Up
    • Fort Hood Rampage
    • Keep it Simple
    • Airbag Defense
    • Dowd’s Bogus Grief Deficit
    • Did Someone Move the Furniture Around?
    • Lockheed Says Sbirs Still on Track For 2010
    • What Does this Handle Do?
    • Adapting Women to Subs
  • Channels: Military.com | Military Benefits | Military News | Off Duty | Join the Military | Military Education | Veteran Jobs | Military Money | Military Deals | Military Family | Military Community
  • Military.com Network: Military.com | MilBlogging | Defense Tech | DoD Buzz | SpouseBuzz | Fred's Place | GI Bill Express
  • Services: Army | Navy | Air Force | Marine Corps | Coast Guard | National Guard | Military Spouse
  • About Military.com About Us | Advertise With Us | Press | Affiliate Program | Monster Network | Help | Feedback | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | © 2009 Military Advantage