The Army Is Working On A Mini Assault Rifle That Performs Like An M4, But Is Half As Big
The Army says the core technology could help in the development of lighter, smaller rifles and machine guns, too.
By Joseph TrevithickJune 3, 2019
U.S. Army researchers are working to develop a personal defense weapon that offers the same muzzle velocity as a standard M4 carbine in a package that's half as long, half the weight, and uses smaller, lighter ammunition. The service's engineers say that the design features they are working with to achieve these results are readily scalable and could offer a path to lighter weight rifles and machine guns in the future, too.
In March 2019, the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), situated at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, test-fired an experimental design with a 10 inch-long barrel using ammunition with just a single gram of gunpowder, according to a story from TechLink. The gun demonstrated a muzzle velocity of more than 2,900 feet per second. An M4 firing standard 5.56x45mm M855A1 ammunition, which has around one and a half times as much powder, has an average muzzle velocity of around 2,970 feet per second.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/28349/the-army-is-working-on-a-mini-assault-rifle-that-performs-like-an-m4-but-is-half-as-big
