The years of development have finally come to the end as the US Army is ready to introduce XM25 CTDE grenade launcher. A new shoulder-fired grenade designated as the XM25 Counter-Defilade Target Engagement System (CTDE) is a semi-automatic grenade launcher designated to fire ‘smart’ grenades which are set to explode in mid-air or near a target, peppering enemy fighters with shrapnel.
The box-shaped XM25 is equipped with various gadgets, including a laser range finder, and a grenade can be adjusted to detonate at a range of up to 10 feet or more. The Pentagon have secured funds for more than 100 of these grenade launchers to be available for US Army.
The US Army has prioritized the XM25 as its “number one meterial solution to mitigate a critical capability gap” for dismounted soldiers in combat and is officially kicking off the program in its fiscal year 2017 (FY 2017) budget request, which includes 105 of them.
“[The] army has requested $9.764 million in FY 2017 for the program and hopes for $14.852 million in FY 2018, $24.930 million in FY 2019, $32.158 million in FY 2020, and $25.798 million in FY 2021,” IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly reported.
The XM25 is a semi-automatic weapon which gives the user a 300 percent to 500 percent boost in hit probability.
“The XM25 is…designed for effectiveness against enemies protected by walls, dug into foxholes or hidden in hard-to-reach places, the weapon features revolutionary high-explosive, airburst ammunition programmed by the weapon’s target acquisition/fire control system (TA/FC),” according to the website of Orbital ATK, the producer of the XM25.
The US Army has already finished testings of the XM25 grenade launcher. It was tested during 14 months of battlefield combat in Afghanistan, where the US Army 101st Airborne Division began field testing it in 2010, with five weapons along with 1,000 hand-made air-burst rounds, which led to further testings and finally approval for the first standard-issue grenade launchers.
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