13 juin 2019 | International, Autre défense

SOCOM wants a new armor piercing sniper bullet. Here’s one option engineers are developing

By

As the U.S. military shifts its focus back to fighting more traditional, near-peer adversaries like Russian or Chinese troops, the services are building out plans to revamp their gear to deal with better-equipped forces backed by money and technology from world powers.

That extends all the way down to the clothing and equipment each of these adversaries could be wearing into battle, including sophisticated body armor.

That's why SOCOM is reportedly looking at replacing its decades-old armor piercing small arms round.

“Snipers in USSOCOM units have a capability gap in their ability to penetrate enemy body armor, small boat engines and concrete barriers,” Crane researchers said in a slide presentation at this year's National Defense Industries Association Armaments Symposium.

The current round uses a discarding sabot the shields a sharpened tungsten penetrator that'll beat most armor and hard targets.

But that round is expensive at more than $10 per cartridge, can damage modern small arms accessories like suppressors and muzzle brakes and doesn't hold zero when switching from a traditional jacketed round to the AP round. That makes it difficult for snipers to go from one round to another and hit their target in the heat of battle.

So researchers at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana, are looking at a new way to make the rounds cheaper, easier on snipers' guns and more ballistically consistent with common, jacketed bullets.

Dubbed “aeroshell” projectiles, the Crane engineers want to build and test bullets with a tungsten penetrator jacketed in a polymer shell. Federal Ammunition, a civilian ammo company, makes rounds with similar characteristics dubbed “Syntech."

These rounds are typically used by competitive shooters who shoot many rounds in practice and at matches and want to preserve barrel life and diminish spawl from hitting steel targets.

Crane researchers want to take the same thought process and apply it to a new AP round. The actual penetrator could have a slightly different shape than the current rounds, with more of a traditional bullet profile than today's needle-like AP round penetrator.

Researchers plan to create about 150 rounds of this new aeroshell AP round in .338 Norma Mag, 300 Norma Mag and 6.5 Creedmoor. They plan to test the rounds against representative body armor at 100, 400, 800 and 1,000 meters.

https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/gearscout/kit/2019/06/11/socom-wants-a-new-armor-piercing-sniper-bullet-heres-one-option-engineers-are-developing/

Sur le même sujet

  • Joly says Canadians ‘want to do more’ to help Haiti as military intervention looms

    3 octobre 2023 | International, Aérospatial, Sécurité

    Joly says Canadians ‘want to do more’ to help Haiti as military intervention looms

    “Canada has always been involved in issues related to Haiti. We will continue to be,” Joly told reporters Tuesday morning on Parliament Hill, in French.

  • Schiebel Camcopter® S-100 to perform Coast Guard services for European Maritime Safety Agency in Finland

    8 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

    Schiebel Camcopter® S-100 to perform Coast Guard services for European Maritime Safety Agency in Finland

    Vienna, July 6, 2020 – The Finnish Border Guard will operate the CAMCOPTER® S-100 for maritime surveillance purposes. The Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) service is offered by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and will also extend to Estonia and Sweden. The CAMCOPTER® S-100 will support the Finnish authorities in carrying out Coast Guard functions, such as search and rescue, monitoring and surveillance, ship and port security, vessel traffic, environmental protection and response, ship casualty assistance, as well as accident and disaster response. The S-100 will execute these tasks equipped with an L3 Wescam Electro-Optical / Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera gimbal, an Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch, a Becker Avionics BD406 Emergency Beacon Locator and an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver. EMSA awarded the multi-year maritime surveillance contract for a Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) RPAS to Schiebel in November 2018. In execution of this contract, Schiebel provides simultaneous maritime surveillance services to several EU member states and EU bodies. Currently, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 is also operational in the Republic of Croatia supporting the Maritime Safety Directorate of the Ministry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia. Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group, said: “The S-100 has extensive experience in the maritime domain. It is the UAS of choice when it comes to sophisticated maritime surveillance. We're proud to be EMSA's chosen RPAS providing vital surveillance services to its member states.” About Schiebel: Founded in 1951, the Vienna-based Schiebel Group focuses on the development, testing and production of state-of-the-art mine detection equipment and the revolutionary CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS). Certified to meet AS/EN 9100 standards, Schiebel has built an international reputation for producing quality defense and humanitarian products, which are backed by exceptional after-sales service and support. With headquarters in Vienna (Austria), Schiebel now maintains production facilities in Wiener Neustadt (Austria) and Abu Dhabi (UAE), as well as offices in Washington, DC (USA) and Shoalhaven (Australia). About the CAMCOPTER® S-100: Schiebel's CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) is an operationally proven capability for military and civilian applications. The Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS requires no prepared area or supporting equipment to enable launch and recovery. It operates by day and by night, under adverse weather conditions, with a beyond line-of-sight capability out to 200 km / 108 nm, over land and sea. Its carbon fiber and titanium fuselage provides capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance combinations up to a service ceiling of 5,500 m / 18,000 ft. In a typical configuration, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 carries a 34-kg / 75-lbs payload up to 10 hours and is powered with AVGas or JP-5 heavy fuel. High-definition payload imagery is transmitted to the control station in real time. In addition to its standard GPS waypoint or manual navigation, the S-100 can successfully operate in environments where GPS is not available, with missions planned and controlled via a simple point-andclick graphical user interface. The high-tech unmanned helicopter is backed by Schiebel's excellent customer support and training services. For further information, please contact us: Tel: +43 (1) 546 26-44 Email: pr@schiebel.net www.schiebel.net View source version on Schiebel,: https://schiebel.net/press-releases/

  • French 2023 defense budget adds $3 billion to fund 'war economy'

    28 septembre 2022 | International, Autre défense

    French 2023 defense budget adds $3 billion to fund 'war economy'

    The increase was forecast by Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu when he met with French lawmakers this summer.

Toutes les nouvelles