XM25 Individual Airburst Weapon System

Remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoons? Where Elmer Fudd would shoot his double barrel shotgun and the buckshot would zip over and around things and then tap you on the shoulder and wave, right before they exploded. Funny right? Not, so much anymore.

Individual Airburst Weapon System is currently under development and intended to address the capability gap of defeating defilade targets. The weapon has the capability to hit point targets at a distance of 500 meters and area targets at 700 meters. 25mm munitions currently in development include High Explosive Air-Burst (HEAB), armor piercing, door breaching, anti-personnel, and two types of non-lethal munitions – blunt and agent dispersing airburst.

XM25 will be able to set the fuse of each round to explode over the target, to create maximum effect. After placing the aimpoint on the target and activating the laser rangefinder, the system calculates the range to the target, and converts it to time of flight for fuse setting. XM25 will utilize the XM116 integral fire control system, which will include day and night channels, laser rangefinder, fuse setter, compass, ballistic computer and an internal display. At AUSA 2006 the XM116 sight was displayed by L3 (Formerly Brashear).

The XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, allows soldiers to program the ammunition to explode at precise distances by measuring how far it is to a target using the laser site and then dialing in where the ammunition should explode, such as at the corner of a building. The “bullet” has a magnet inside that generates AC current as it spins, and a microprocessor that measures the spin to determine how far it has travelled, and when it will need to.. well, let’s just say….tap the enemy on the shoulder.

The weapon has an array of ammunition to choose from, including non lethal rounds meant to stun, rather than kill the enemy. Individual rounds start at about $24.

How do you guard against something like this? My suggestion? RUN

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/