Future weapons/equipment and their impact on the structure of infantry units

Waylander

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
I assume that at least for the grenade launcher the different trajectory is no problem.
Getting a little dispersion isn't that bad if one wants to saturate a target area.
 

Firn

Active Member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #62
Sometimes one can't beat nature.

Our mountain troops also have nothing but praise for their mule unit.
Nothing can replace them when it comes to carrying heavy loads in difficult terrain.
I guess that at least three generations of my family, me not included would have agreed with that ;)

Metal storm seems to be an interesting concept but largely unsuited for infantry units. As Waylander said the little differences in range should be not a problem for a GL, at least not until the differences become too large.
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Metal storm seems to be an interesting concept but largely unsuited for infantry units. As Waylander said the little differences in range should be not a problem for a GL, at least not until the differences become too large.
I've been to test firings of MS over the last few tears and did have some peripheral association.

  • not much variation of projectile flight due to barrel length - in fact I've seen rounds basically follow through into the same hole at "nn" metres
  • it will be part of an infantry weapon solution - having seen some of the future personal combat systems touted for future soldier - an MS solution has not been removed and still appears (even as recently as last week) in the material
 

Bonza

Super Moderator
Staff member
I've been to test firings of MS over the last few tears and did have some peripheral association.

  • not much variation of projectile flight due to barrel length - in fact I've seen rounds basically follow through into the same hole at "nn" metres
  • it will be part of an infantry weapon solution - having seen some of the future personal combat systems touted for future soldier - an MS solution has not been removed and still appears (even as recently as last week) in the material
Hi GF,

I was under the impression that MS was still experiencing big issues with reloading in combat conditions, has a solution been found for this? Or does the problem differ between applications, for example automatic fire vs grenade launching?
 

the road runner

Active Member
Silly question about the Metal Storm that I am too lazy to search on the web:

- Can it be reloaded quickly after firing its entire load?
In my previouse ,post number 50.

It dose show the 40mm Mortar being realoded,but not the whole Mortar at once ,just isolated barrels.

Hope this helps
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Hi GF,

I was under the impression that MS was still experiencing big issues with reloading in combat conditions, has a solution been found for this? Or does the problem differ between applications, for example automatic fire vs grenade launching?
Still a problem as far as I'm concerned. but, it needs to be assessed against weapons role...
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Worth buying shares in the company:?2

Do you think Metal Storm has a future,or has it missed the boat?

Regards
IMO (and I'm a shareholder), it missed the good boat and is now picking up the remaining opportunities which IMO are and can be better served by other technologies.

IMO, its now a technology looking for a user as opposed to initially having a window where it was a high priority tech for a user looking for a solution
 

Firn

Active Member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #69
It is interesting that there is seemingly little variation - the ever hotter and longer barrel for the following rounds should make at least some impact. Perhaps the amount of propellant changes according to the position of the projectile in the barrel.
 

Waylander

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
In doubt that. That would mean one needs a lot of different rounds for one weapon.
That would increase the logistical tail as well as raise the price for the ammo itself.
And it would make fast reloading difficult.
 

Firn

Active Member
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #71
In doubt that. That would mean one needs a lot of different rounds for one weapon.
That would increase the logistical tail as well as raise the price for the ammo itself.
And it would make fast reloading difficult.
Hm, given that the groups of rounds are containerized and are reloaded togheter it should not be a big problem for the tail. Anyway I think that only varying amounts of propellants in such an container can make sure that all projectiles strike roughly the same point.
 

Chino

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Noob questions on the Metal Storm...

Is there a need to deliver such a devastating number of 40mm grenades from a vehicle mounted weapon? Would support arty etc be more suited to the job?

And if the MS-mounted AFV is expending ammo at this incredible rate, wouldn't they run out of ammo quickly?

Can the MS role be replaced with, say... twin AGLs on the AFV? (AGLs can fire longer without needing to reload due to its lower rate of fire and belt-feed.)

And reloading an AGL seems simpler, less frequent, and doesn't involve exposing yourself to small arms and shrapnel like with the MS.
 

shihido

New Member
Hmmm... A dry suit? What about heat build up? I hope you know that some military uniforms are sweat wicking to deal with heat build up and permethrin treated (to make the wearer less attractive to mosquitoes and other insect vectors).

Hmmm... I get it, you must have been reading up on Harry Porter and his invisibility cloak as an idea for next generation camouflage. What spell do we need to cast to merge defence technology and magic into a single product?[/QUOTE]

Actually i think i get what he means. To make the combat attire comfortable, but a modular camoflague component would allow the attire to be adapted to the combat environment, ie. desert, urban, jungle.
 

fixdeluxe1

Banned Member
I beleive that the Modern/Future infantry squad should posses an AT/SAM missile launcher,standard assault rifles,sniper rifle,and an intergrated HUD and COM system.

Aircraft operate in sqaudrons and Vehicles operate in Platoons.Same unit-based principle.

All small arms should posses electronic sights and crosshairs in the HUD,ammo readers,40mm Multipurpose launchers(sticky cams,smoke,Explosive,stun,shotshell etc) and fire High-Explosive Armour Piercing ammuntion.

That's what I would like to see,as well as an intergrated battle network and video/audio/text communications in real-time.Rations should be assesed individually by Militart Medicals who asses the nutritional and health needs of that individual.
 

StevoJH

The Bunker Group
Enjoy paying for it. :)

I'm sure infantry squads would love to have a MANPAD per squad, except for the people who have to carry the launcher and spare missiles that is. :duel
 

fixdeluxe1

Banned Member
Enjoy paying for it. :)

I'm sure infantry squads would love to have a MANPAD per squad, except for the people who have to carry the launcher and spare missiles that is. :duel
I think the Chinese,Russian,American and German armies with support from Israel and tech experts in Japan are working on something along the lines of this.I think that it's called some thing along them lines of Infantry of the future.
 

StevoJH

The Bunker Group
Lots of countries are working on future Infantry Unit Structures and equipments. I'll break your previous post down point by point.

I beleive that the Modern/Future infantry squad should posses an AT/SAM missile launcher,standard assault rifles,sniper rifle,and an intergrated HUD and COM system.
At the moment most infantry squads are broken down into a two or three fire teams. Within each fire team of 4-5 people you might have one with an M203 equipped rifle, one with a dedicated marksman rifle, for example the L86 in the UK, one with a Minimi etc. LAW's can be issued on an as needed basis. Heavier weapons are held at the battalion level in a weapons company.

Aircraft operate in sqaudrons and Vehicles operate in Platoons.Same unit-based principle.
Aircraft:
- Flight
- Squadron
- Wing
-Group
- Airforce

Vehicles
- Troop
- Squadron
- Regiment
- Brigade

Infantry
- Fire Team
- Section
- Platoon
- Company
- Battalion
- Regiment (Ceremonial and Admin)
- Brigade (Operational)
- Division

All small arms should posses electronic sights and crosshairs in the HUD,ammo readers,40mm Multipurpose launchers(sticky cams,smoke,Explosive,stun,shotshell etc) and fire High-Explosive Armour Piercing ammuntion.
If you check out a few of the recent You Tube messages you will see that most soldiers have an ACOG, EOTECH, AIMPOINT or similar scope on their rifle. Some have M203 Grenade Launchers.

That's what I would like to see,as well as an intergrated battle network and video/audio/text communications in real-time.
Look up the US Stryker BCT or UK Bowman system.

Rations should be assesed individually by Militart Medicals who asses the nutritional and health needs of that individual.
Have fun with that.

Regards,
Stephen
 

Onkel

New Member
Enjoy paying for it. :)

I'm sure infantry squads would love to have a MANPAD per squad, except for the people who have to carry the launcher and spare missiles that is. :duel

I guess normally a squad won´t need a Manpad. Those weapons are still heavy compared to AT-Weapons (and nobody wants to carry the AT-Weapon) and a squad without a vehicle has a lot burden without it. Most modern forces have AA-Forces as mobile as infantry units, such as light AA-Troops with Stinger or Igla. The next step are light Vehicles, such as Ozelot or Avenger or Mistral-Troops. They are deployed not far behind the front line. Heavier Vehicles likes ZSU 23-4, Gepard can defend theirselves against ground forces and are deployed close to tank and mechanized units.

Normally, the radar equipped AA Forces will see incoming aircraft long before the riflesquad.
 
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