Article Posted on : - Mar 31, 2011

XM25 with a US Army soldier

MINNEAPOLIS (BNS): US Army has awarded a $65.8 million Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract to ATK.

The contract comes under the US Army's Programme Executive Office (PEO) Soldier for its XM25, Individual Semi-Automatic Airburst System.

Under the 30-month contract, ATK will do designing, integration, production and testing of full-up systems to ensure the weapon's final design meets performance requirements and is production-ready prior to fielding.

"The XM25 provides the soldier on the ground a precision weapon to quickly and accurately engage targets behind cover or exposed targets, at ranges and accuracies not seen in today's small arms," Bruce DeWitt, Vice President and General Manager of ATK's Advanced Weapons Division said.

"A soldier using basic rifle marksmanship skills can effectively engage targets in less than five seconds while also reducing the chances for collateral damage," he added.

The XM25 consists of a rifle that fires a 25mm airbursting round that is programmed by the weapon's integrated target acquisition and fire control system to detonate directly above an intended target. The system allows soldiers to quickly and accurately engage targets by displaying an adjusted aim point based on range, environmental factors and user inputs.

The weapon's target acquisition and fire control integrates a thermal capability with direct-view optics, laser rangefinder, compass, fuze-setter, ballistic computer, laser pointer and illuminator. These capabilities enable the weapon to be used during day or night and in all weather conditions.