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I couldn't believe this either. They even posted a picture:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...aq_hello_OICW
By SLOBIDAN LEIKC, Army Times Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Army officials here tell me that they have began receiving the first shipments of an advanced new grenade launching system the Army has been developing known as the OICW-KT. Field trials are to begin next week.
This rifle is said to be 4 billion times more effective than the M-16A2 rifle currently being used. The OICW-KT fires teflon-coated high-explosive grenades up to 30 kilometers. When the greade reaches its target, it automatically detects the odor of the enemy and explodes above him.
"This is a great advance for the fighting soldier," said Army spokesman Kevin White, "It allows us to target only the most rotten of enemy combatants, leaving women and children alone. "
Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, criticized the new weapon system. "These things might be more effective, but at $400,000 a shot, can we really afford them?"
Soldiers are welcoming what some say is the best feature of the new gun, it's traditional ammunition backup. The previous weapons known simply as the OICW had a large and bulky backup system made by a German company. It was overpriced, and has only been used for 10 years, so it cannot be said to be reliable yet.
Instead of the large, bulky backup rifle, the Army has chosen off-the-shelf technology from an American company to attach to the grenade launcher. This backup system gives the soldier what he wants, a last-ditch chance at survival if his grenade launcher runs out of ammo.
Criticism of the combination centered mostly on its small bullet size. Captain John Williams of the Army's 12th Regimental Combat Corps cleared up the confusion, "Well, this bullet is 380 caliber. Since 380 is bigger than 224, we feel confident that it will make a bigger hole. Besides, we coat the bullets in teflon like we do the grenades. That makes them cut through the enemy's bullet-proof sheets like butter."
As everybody knows, the M-16A2 rifle that the Army now uses jams when it gets near sand. This is, of course, the reason why decorated war hero and Medal-of-Honor hopeful Jessica Lynch was not able to fight off her attackers in the recent Iraq war.
"We've put the OICW-KT through its paces. Through the exhaustive 3-round test, no failures of any kind were noted. We feel confident in fielding this system now," added Williams.
The central problem in the earlier XM-29 OICW, which everybody knows is dead, is that it was heavy and is too darned German. Some felt that the Krauts were pushing their hardware on an unsuspecting Army. The Army contends it solved both problems with the new weapon.
"We put American flags on the sight to show our support for the USA," said Hans Schultz of Heckler & Kosh. "We designed the brakets which hold the American designed and made kinetic bullet launcher portion of the gun. The designer of these brackets has an American sounding name, so it's okay now, right?"
Although the grenades are expensive, the launcher is comparatively cheap. The Army reportedly paid $8 Billion dollars for the first 100 development launchers. The backup portion of the system cost about $230 apiece at the local gun show.
(See attached photo)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...aq_hello_OICW
By SLOBIDAN LEIKC, Army Times Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Army officials here tell me that they have began receiving the first shipments of an advanced new grenade launching system the Army has been developing known as the OICW-KT. Field trials are to begin next week.
This rifle is said to be 4 billion times more effective than the M-16A2 rifle currently being used. The OICW-KT fires teflon-coated high-explosive grenades up to 30 kilometers. When the greade reaches its target, it automatically detects the odor of the enemy and explodes above him.
"This is a great advance for the fighting soldier," said Army spokesman Kevin White, "It allows us to target only the most rotten of enemy combatants, leaving women and children alone. "
Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, criticized the new weapon system. "These things might be more effective, but at $400,000 a shot, can we really afford them?"
Soldiers are welcoming what some say is the best feature of the new gun, it's traditional ammunition backup. The previous weapons known simply as the OICW had a large and bulky backup system made by a German company. It was overpriced, and has only been used for 10 years, so it cannot be said to be reliable yet.
Instead of the large, bulky backup rifle, the Army has chosen off-the-shelf technology from an American company to attach to the grenade launcher. This backup system gives the soldier what he wants, a last-ditch chance at survival if his grenade launcher runs out of ammo.
Criticism of the combination centered mostly on its small bullet size. Captain John Williams of the Army's 12th Regimental Combat Corps cleared up the confusion, "Well, this bullet is 380 caliber. Since 380 is bigger than 224, we feel confident that it will make a bigger hole. Besides, we coat the bullets in teflon like we do the grenades. That makes them cut through the enemy's bullet-proof sheets like butter."
As everybody knows, the M-16A2 rifle that the Army now uses jams when it gets near sand. This is, of course, the reason why decorated war hero and Medal-of-Honor hopeful Jessica Lynch was not able to fight off her attackers in the recent Iraq war.
"We've put the OICW-KT through its paces. Through the exhaustive 3-round test, no failures of any kind were noted. We feel confident in fielding this system now," added Williams.
The central problem in the earlier XM-29 OICW, which everybody knows is dead, is that it was heavy and is too darned German. Some felt that the Krauts were pushing their hardware on an unsuspecting Army. The Army contends it solved both problems with the new weapon.
"We put American flags on the sight to show our support for the USA," said Hans Schultz of Heckler & Kosh. "We designed the brakets which hold the American designed and made kinetic bullet launcher portion of the gun. The designer of these brackets has an American sounding name, so it's okay now, right?"
Although the grenades are expensive, the launcher is comparatively cheap. The Army reportedly paid $8 Billion dollars for the first 100 development launchers. The backup portion of the system cost about $230 apiece at the local gun show.
(See attached photo)