Air burst grenade

U.S. Army Aims to Build a Better Bullet

Pentagon's new airburst round designed to take away enemy hiding places

Sensors crammed into the tip of the grenade trigger the round's detonation once it passes over a wall or other obstacle.U.S. Army

In the olden days, soldiers killed when they fired a bullet at an enemy they could see. Then came indirect fire—lobbing mortars from afar, hoping for a lucky hit.

MORE U.S. Navy Commander Confesses to Sordid Bribery and Vice Plot U.S. Troops Now Under ‘Frequent’ Attack at Iraqi BaseConfusion as French Hunt Magazine Attack Suspects NBC NewsRare Pod of Killer Whales Draws SoCal Crowds NBC NewsBefore the Attack: Timeline of the Muhammad Cartoons NBC News Now the Army is working on a new round, combining the best of both, by reducing the bad guy’s ability to hide.

Troops on the battlefield like to be “in defilade”—protected from enemy fire by physical obstacles. The Army’s new Small Arms Grenade Munition (SAGM) round is designed to remove the advantage offered by such cover: it explodes in midair after it has cleared whatever shield the enemy is hiding behind.

“It has a sensor that will sense defilade or walls or anything that somebody will be hiding behind,” SAGM chief Steven Gilbert says in a Pentagon release. “And basically detects it without the need of a laser range finder.” He has estimated the new round would more than double the lethality of existing grenade rounds at ranges of up to 500 meters.

Such a capability would have come in handy in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where anti-U.S. forces routinely sought shelter in walled compounds. “Warfighter lacks ability to engage combatants in defilade,” a 2012 briefing slide grumbled. “Grenade overshoots the target.”

The new round would give U.S. troops “a higher probability of achieving a first-shot kill against enemy personnel,” Gilbert adds, and could “defeat personnel targets in defilade positions at increased ranges with greater accuracy and lethality.”

Army engineers have spent three years mating sensors to explosives to ensure the round explodes at a “sweet spot” designed to increase the chances of a kill. Chris Boston / U.S.

Army The Army’s Joint Service Small Arms Program, part of the service’sArmament Research, Development and Engineering Center (known to friends as JSSAP-ARDEC) at New Jersey’s Picatinny Arsenal, has been developing the thumb-shaped, four-inch round for the past three years.

It’s the ultimate fire-and-forget weapon: the soldier doesn’t need to do anything before firing, other than point it toward whatever obstacle the enemy is using for defensive cover. “All the soldier would need to do is aim the weapon and fire it,” Gilbert told the Army’s C. Todd Lopez.

“He’d have to have good aim…or the round won’t detect the wall. You have to have some sort of accuracy.”

Among Pentagon wags, “close enough” has long been deemed good enough for nuclear weapons. It could also end up being good enough for the Small Arms Grenade Munition if a formal Pentagon evaluation, set to begin in July, pans out.

JSSAP

FUNCTIONS Joint Service Small Arms Synchronization Team (JSSAST): Purpose and Responsibilities

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Intensive management of the DoD small arms tech base

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Harmonization of requirements and testing

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Transition to Programs of Record

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Long range plans and strategies

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Influence of International Small Arms Activities Membership

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Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and SOCOM

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Service Labs, RDEC's, PM's and PEO's Management Structure

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Chairman: ARDEC MILDEP

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Command Executive Agent: RDECOM

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Staff Executive Agent: ASAALT International Activities:

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Chairman of NATO Non-Lethal Capabilities Sub Group of Dismounted Soldier Systems Land Capabilities Group

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Chairman of NATO Weapons and Sensors Working Group of Dismounted Soldier Systems Land Capabilities Group

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United States Delegate to NATO Weapons and Sensors Working Group of Dismounted Soldier Systems Land Capabilities Group Current Projects:

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Advanced Small Unit Small Arms Technology (ASUSAT) Research Program

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Small Arms Material Process Technology (SAM&PT) Research Program

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Small Arms Grenade Munitions (SAGM) Integration and Evaluation Demonstration Program

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Small Arms Weapons and Fire Control Integration (SAW&FC) Demonstration Program

40mm 精确榴弹的发展 与此同时，军方、工业界在共同努力发展 40mm 精确榴弹，以提高这些榴弹的精度和杀 伤效能。 美 国 陆 军 近 期 完 成 了 一 项 名 为 “ 轻 武 器 先 进 致 命 武 器 （ ALASA ： Advanced Lethal Armaments for Small Arms）”的技术研究计划。该计划从 2008 年开始至 2011 年结束。 在 ALASA 计划中，佐治亚技术研究所开展了 40mm 精确榴弹弹道修正技术研究，旨在 通过解决因发射初速差异引起的弹道偏差问题，从而提高射击精度，已达到技术成熟度 2 级水平。 另外，Battelle 公司的研究验证了利用“定向破片”弹药打击遮蔽物后方目标是可行的。 该公司研究的两种技术均采用了分段战斗部（ Segmented Warheads），引爆方向可以由射 手在射击前选择，也可由弹上的目标传感器选择。 目前正在开展的一项研究计划是美国陆军为期 3 年的“轻武器榴弹弹药（SAGM：Small Arms Grenade Munitions）”研究计划，计划周期为 2012～2014 年，目标是推动相关技术的 成熟度。该计划是验证一种用于 40mm 低速榴弹的灵巧引信技术以及改进的外弹道和终点效 能技术，主要用途是打击遮蔽物后目标。 莱茵金属公司的 40mm 高速弹药采用了一种经过验证的、具有专利技术的推进部件，保 证了膛口初速的稳定，从而达到较高射击精度。公司基于这种技术推出了高爆弹与高爆多用 途弹。使用任何标准的 40mm 高速自动榴弹发射器发射该公司的高爆弹及高爆多用途弹药， 均能达到稳定的初速，并能达到 2200m 的最大有效射程。 具体作用过程是这样的：利用自动榴弹发射器火控系统的激光测距机测出目标距离后 红外编程单元发出一束携带起爆时间信息的红外光束。一旦弹药出膛，抗干扰红外光束对弹 药进行编程，设定起爆时间。编程完成后榴弹上的接收装置将关闭。如果未能完成编程设置，

弹药将采用触发方式起爆。这种弹药适用于城市环境、开阔地域和间瞄射击。 通过在加拿大进行的实弹鉴定测试，高爆及高爆多用途弹药的有效射程最大可达 2200m。该项测试包括了超过 40 项的测试项目，其中难度最大的是战术振动测试。通过这些 测试，莱茵金属公司认为其高爆弹药满足了最新的使用环境要求（如直升机的螺旋桨振 动）、长期储存要求等；同时保险装置也满足“北约标准协议”STANAG 4187 的要求，其具备 电子自毁和定点起爆功能，并可在-46～+63℃的温度范围内保持高可靠性。