U.S. Army’s Next Rifle Fires at Pressure Equivalent to a Tank

The U.S. Army is working on a rifle that will fire bullets “at the pressure equivalent to what a tank would fire.”

Task and Purpose quotes Col. Geoffrey A. Norman saying, “The chamber pressure for the standard assault rifle is around 45 KSI [kilopound per square inch], but we’re looking for between 60 and 80 KSI … the chamber pressure when an M1 Abrams tank fires is on that order.”
Norman added, “We’re looking to reach out around 600 meters and have lethal effects even if the target is protected by body armor.”

The weapon, dubbed the Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle (NGSAR), is part of the Next Generation Weapons System and the goal is to have it ready for battle by 2022.

Current combat rifles–M4s and M16s–are chambered in 5.56. The NGSAR is designed to fire a larger round–6.8mm–yet weigh less than the current rifles.

The Military Times reports that the development of the rifle is part of an “Army program,” yet Marines and members of Special Forces have also played a role. Marines and Special Forces will also get the new weapon once it is ready for the battlefield.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said:

This is a weapon that could defeat any body armor, any planned body armor that we know of in the future. This is a weapon that can go out at ranges that are unknown today and that you can see accurately. There is a target acquisition system built into this thing that is unlike anything that exists today. This is a very sophisticated weapon, and we think it’s very resilient. It will stand all the rigors of weather, terrain, and soldier use, and all of that kind of stuff. This is a pretty impressive gun.

Milley added, “It will be better than any weapon on earth today, by far.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.