By the time you read this, the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System with its uncannily accurate airburst ammo will undoubtedly have drawn its first blood in Afghanistan.  This sci-fi looking individual armament, initially the “grenade gun” upper half of the ill-fated Objective Individual Combat Weapon, has been in combat operational test mode for several months now with selected elements of US Special Operations Command.

It‘s the hottest new man portable grenade launcher anywhere, boasting indirect fire capabilities with “smart” ammo that can kill enemies smugly squatting behind walls and boulders, until now unreachable by squad level weapons.

At their recent press briefing and live fire event at historic Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, top officials of PM Soldier Weapons told Small Arms Defense Journal and reporters for other military and defense industry publications how the XM25’s unique capabilities would have been of particular value to defenders in the now-famous “Keating” firefight.

Among many lessons learned in the near-annihilation of this small, fortified camp in what’s formally known as the Battle of Kamdesh, Afghanistan, they said, is the need for unit level indirect fire capability that is highly flexible and immediately available.

Combat Outpost Keating
More than 300 Taliban fighters launched a surprise attack on Keating in the predawn darkness of October 3, 2009, saturating the small base with mortar rounds, RPGs and heavy small arms fire.

They quickly breached the perimeter, routed the panicked Afghan Army detachment and nearly overran the American soldiers of Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment.

The AN/PSQ-20 Enhanced Night Vision Goggle, seen helmet-mounted in this posed publicity photo, provides significantly improved capability by combining traditional image intensification and long-wave infrared sensors. The resulting output is electronically presented to the wearer in color, giving a much higher recognition probability for man-sized targets out to 300 meters or better. The Multifunction Aiming Light on this soldier’s M4 carbine works with the ENVG, showing a bright aim point even in total darkness. (PEO Soldier)

Bad weather and slow response from artillery and air support assets combined to give the enemy special advantages in their initial assault from the high ground “bowl” around the camp, leaving the defenders below with little more than basic individual and crew-served weapons to fight back with.

Their direct fire arms and single shot M203 grenade launchers were of limited value against battle-seasoned attackers who skillfully used abundant cover from boulders and depressions in the surrounding rough terrain and defensive positions inside the wire.

Relief came slowly but soon built to a decisive level as artillery, helicopter gunships, jet fighters and bombers combined to rout the enemy.

When the smoke cleared an estimated 150 Taliban were dead at the cost of 30 U.S. troopers killed or wounded.

Cost/Benefit Ratio
Richard Audette, Deputy PMSW, responding during the press conference at Aberdeen, to implied criticism in a reporter’s question noting the projected $25,000 cost per XM25, called it a bargain compared to far more expensive weaponry wielded by external support elements like those that turned the tide at Keating.

“They were hitting the attackers with Apache gunships, Hellfire missiles and Excaliber artillery rounds,” he said, “far more costly, cumbersome, and slow to arrive.”

5 May 2010, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. Iron-jawed Master Sergeant Paul Wilcock, Senior NCO for PMSW, stands ready to demonstrate the door-busting capabilities of the 12 gauge M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System in stand alone configuration. MASS is a straight-pull bolt action, magazine fed shotgun that can also be fitted underneath the barrel of M16/M4 series assault weapons. (Robert Bruce)

“The XM25,” he emphasized, “is an immediately available, squad level weapon that pays for itself, but more importantly it saves solders’ lives because it can take out those defilade (behind cover) targets.”

Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Lehner, Product Manager Individual Weapons, underscored the XM25‘s remarkably fast target engagement capability against fleetingly-glimpsed targets.

“In under five seconds I can lase for range, get my adjusted reticle on target and pull the trigger,” he said.  “At four hundred meters it takes another two seconds to get there and explode.  Seven hundred meters another second or so.  It really doesn’t give the Taliban a lot of time to reposition himself.”

Then, adding his perspective on the XM25‘s $25,000 price tag, Lehner invited a comparison to the total cost of the current, less capable combination of weapon and accessories.

“Add up the cost of an M4 carbine with M203 grenade launcher, STORM laser rangefinder, plus night vision and aiming modules,” he said, noting that the XM25 fully integrates these components with the added benefit of a ballistic computer and airbursting ammunition.

SADJ has been closely following the sixteen year saga of this 100 million dollar engineering marvel and we are pleased to know that it has finally made its way into the hands of the snake-eating fraternity.  If all goes well, we’re told, it will be available in limited quantities for muddy-boots grunts in the 2013-14 time frame.

Lehner explained that the plan for fielding this exotic grenade launcher was under development but not to expect it to become a standard squad weapon.  “It’s potentially an arms room weapon,” he said, “like a shotgun or other specialized weapon that you’d draw for certain missions where you need the (XM25’s) unique capability.”

While the wizardry embodied in the XM25 is spectacular, there are several other developments from the dedicated team at Program Manager Soldier Weapons that also deserve special recognition.

Mulberry Point Range
PM Soldier Weapons had wisely set aside several consecutive days for hands-on demos for congressional and military VIPs, efficiently utilizing the considerable time and expense required for such things.  These focused opportunities gave a wide variety of purse-keepers and decision-makers the chance to see for themselves what was in the weapons development pipeline.

Press day was a continuation of the process, with PMSW hoping that knowledgeable reporters would convey to the public how America’s defenders were armed.  More than a dozen reps turned up, from outlets ranging in credibility and seriousness from USA Today to Army Times, with Small Arms Defense Journal in there on the right side of the scale.

5 May 2010, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. Engineers Emmanuel Marasigan (left) and Brian Forsberg of Product Manager Crew Served Weapons, demonstrate the highly realistic computer simulator for low-cost, remarkably effective training on the XM25. Cleverly, it draws on the growing popularity of the ‘America’s Army’ interactive video game that anyone can play online: www.americasarmy.com. (Robert Bruce)

After the obligatory meet, greet and ground rules briefing, Aberdeen Test Center’s Mulberry Point Small Arms Range went hot with a HE (high explosive) demo shot from the XM25.  Safety concerns kept us inside the ballistic glass windowed observation building.  (continued on page 69) 

We could see the gunner just outside the thick glass window and his actions were explained in real time by Lieutenant Colonel Lehner.  Using the weapon’s highly sophisticated fire control system with on-board laser rangefinder, he said, the shooter gets exact distance to the front wall of a simulated building with an open window.

With the simple push of a button he adds a meter to the range and the chambered “smart” round is electronically programmed with the precise distance from launch to detonation point.  In this case right through the window and inside the room.

The fire control’s ballistic computer calculates angle of elevation based on range and displays a red dot in the electro-optical sight with the correct aiming point.  Windage can be programmed as well.

When the round was fired, a computer chip in the 40mm HE warhead counted revolutions in flight and initiated detonation at approximately the center of the “room,” showering it with lethal fragments.  A remote video camera linked to a large screen in the observation building provided dramatic evidence of the effectiveness of this programmable airburst weapon’s precision lethality.

Then, we were herded outside to observe a series of live fire demonstrations of selected current weaponry, starting with the lock-busting 12 gauge M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System and moving down the firing line to see grenade launchers, machine guns, sniper rifles and the new “dazzling” laser on a hulking armored vehicle.

M240 Light
While highly reliable and very accurate, a standard 7.62mm M240B medium machine gun weighs a hefty 27 pounds, making it a burden for dismounted troops on the move.

PM Crew Served Weapons has responded with the M240L (Light), incorporating a titanium receiver and other refinements to drop 5.7 pounds without sacrificing combat performance.

28 July 2008, Fort Hood, Texas. John Moses Browning’s 80 year old “Ma Deuce” M2HB machine gun might eventually be able to enjoy retirement when this new .50 caliber XM806 is fielded in the not-too-distant future. Derived from the convertible .50 caliber XM312 – 25mm XM307 Advanced Crew Served Weapon, it’s about half the weight of the M2 and boasts reduced recoil that facilitates mounting optical sights for superior accuracy. This new weapon is of particular interest to U.S. Special Operations Command as well as the Army‘s light infantry formations. (PEO Soldier)

Further weight reduction is realized when pairing it with the new M192 Lightweight Ground Mount tripod, boasting better stability and an improved traversing and elevating mechanism at a weight saving of six pounds.

Old Warhorse Returns
Soldiers and Marines of a certain age (including a few of us at SADJ) should take special pleasure in seeing the honored return of the post-WW2 generation’s venerable M14 rifles.

This hard-hitting, long reaching 7.62x51mm NATO caliber battle rifle was pushed aside by the pipsqueak 5.56mm M16 in the Vietnam War when it was deemed that an “assault rifle,” characterized by light weight and high volume of fire, was better for jungle fighting.

But now that the battlefields are in Iraq and Afghanistan – mostly treeless, arid plains and mountains – the M16 and its little brother M4 are noticeably lacking in necessary range (maximum approximately 500 meters) and knockdown power.

Spurred by urgent Operational Need Statements from combat units, the Army started pulling mothballed M14s out of storage, adding day scopes, and rushing them off to CENTCOM’s AO for use by “Squad Designated Marksmen.”

This eminently practical solution has since been kicked up a notch at PM Soldier Weapons by creation of the Enhanced Battle Rifle, a classic M14 retro-fitted at the Army’s Rock Island Arsenal with a modern chassis stock and capable of mounting a full range of day and night sights.  More than 5,000 have been fielded so far and 1,700 more are in the pipeline.

LTC Lehner says that the EBR’s dramatically increased effective range, as much as 800 meters in capable hands, has forced the Taliban to “change its tactics,” backing way off when initiating an attack.

More Sniper Stuff
The 7.62mm M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System (SASS) from Knight’s Armament – apparently just about everything it needs to be already – will be outfitted with a collapsible buttstock, deemed better for close quarter engagements.

The awesomely powerful .50 caliber Barrett M107 Semi-Automatic Long Range Sniper Rifle is going to lose a little weight, get a specially designed suppressor and a new protective exterior coating.

The United States Government (TACOM) has just announced an order has been placed with U.S. Ordnance, for 548 M2HB Flex .50 caliber machine guns. SADJ is pleased to bring the story of US Ordnance’s “Ma Deuce” to our readers as the US Government is gearing up its inventory.

U.S. Ordnance is a woman owned manufacturing defense contractor located in McCarran, Nevada, just outside of Reno.  U.S. Ordnance is rated as a small business, and they are “cutting chips” daily and manufacturing is in-house.  Among their other products such as the M60E4/MK43 machine guns, they manufacture their M2HB .50 caliber machine guns in their new 68,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility.  With newly purchased state-of-the-art equipment and an indoor firing range, U.S. Ordnance has the ability to accurately and efficiently produce and test their products to the industry’s highest standards and the company is ISO 9001:2000 certified by DNV.  Using the latest manufacturing techniques, U.S. Government monitoring and responsible sales ethics, they deliver reliable and comprehensive products and services to their customers.

U.S. Ordnance manufactures and provides firearms that are extensively tested, safe, and battlefield proven effective.  In April 2000, U.S. Ordnance was licensed by Saco Defense (now General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Inc.) to manufacture the complete line of M60 machine guns.  The initial licensing agreement transferred the contractor owned technical data, processes and procedures, contractor owned tooling, gages and fixtures to U.S. Ordnance.  In February 2006, the balance of the required Government owned production tooling used on the M60 machine gun was transferred from Saco Defense to U.S. Ordnance.  Since then, U.S. Ordnance has manufactured thousands of complete M60 machine guns (models M60E4, M60E3, and M60D) for the U. S. Government and other commercial and foreign contracts.  Starting in early 2007, they started developing their M2HB machine gun.

Standard U.S. Ordnance M2HB shown with M3 tripod. (US Ordnance)

All U.S. Ordnance products are developed and tested to NATO specifications and made to the original technical data package.  A critical consideration for the company was maintaining those original specifications.  U.S. Ordnance customers benefit from extensive environmental endurance testing, such as drop tests, ice, mud and water immersion, to deliver the most reliable firearms.  Each U.S. Ordnance machine gun produced undergoes proof firing, as well as function and accuracy testing before it leaves the factory.  This 100% testing ensures quality control.  Due to the success of their firearms worldwide and current production for the U.S. Government, U.S. Ordnance can assure availability of replacement parts in the future.  In addition to their M2HB and M60 line they offer the M16/M4 variants, M203 grenade launcher, and M40A3 sniper system.

M2HB Background
The M2HB .50 caliber (12.7x99mm) is an air-cooled, belt-fed, machine gun that fires from a closed bolt, operated on John Browning’s venerable short recoil principle.  This weapon system first went into design in the early 1920s, and was in full use by the mid-1930s.  Affectionately called “Ma Deuce,” it fought through World War II, Korea, Vietnam, countless wars and conflicts around the world including Iraq and Afghanistan today.  The current iteration of the M2HB is capable of both sustained automatic and accurate single shot fire.  The M2HB machine gun is used extensively as a vehicle, boat, helicopter or aircraft mounted weapon by the United States and most NATO countries.  Ammunition may be fed from either the left or the right side of the gun making it suitable for use by both infantry and in armored vehicles.  The M2HB is in service with the U.S. Military and the armed forces of over 23 nations and is the world standard in heavy machine guns.

U.S. Ordnance flaming Bomb logo and 1NZN0 acage code on a newly manufactured M2HB machine gun receiver. (U.S. Ordnance)

Key Features of the U.S. Ordnance M2HB

• Parts interchangeable with M2HB machine guns produced in the United States,
• Can be fitted to all types of armored, light and heavy vehicles, patrol boats, helicopters and aircraft,
• Fires all types of ammunition: Ball, Tracer, AP, API, APIT, AP and Multipurpose rounds,
• Left or right hand ammunition feed and cocking,
• Can be fired manually or by solenoid.

Available Options and Improvements

• Improved quick adjustment sighting system with Integrated M1913 Picatinny rails for mounting optics and laser aiming devices,
• Optional positive safety selector for the trigger mechanism to prevent accidental discharges when they are traveling over rough terrain while manning the weapon system,
• Optional flash reducer/suppressor,
• M2QCB – Quick Change Barrel option also available.

U.S. Ordnance understands the importance of ensuring interchangeability for mature weapons systems such as the M2HB.  They have already successfully demonstrated full interchangeability for the M60 weapons system with those produced by Maremont Corporation and Saco Defense.  Their ISO established processes, procedures, quality assurance controls, production testing, and methods of manufacture ensures the level of quality required for all components of the M2HB machine gun are also maintained.

Newly manufactured U.S. Ordnance M2HB receiver components just prior to riveting. (U.S. Ordnance)

Production Capabilities
In 2007, Norman Justice (see sidebar) and U.S. Ordnance senior management agreed to fund development of a U.S. Ordnance M2HB weapon system.  The initial stage involved designing and building the necessary tooling and fixtures required to assemble the various components and design and ordering of the tooling to produce the required castings and forgings.  This process required four full-time tool and die makers to develop and build tooling and production fixture and inventories of $2.5 million worth of weapons grade material, castings, and forgings were ordered.  In 2007, the economy was booming, metal prices were at an all time high, and weapons grade metal castings and forgings took 28 weeks from order to delivery.

In October of 2008, U.S. Ordnance took occupancy of its company owned, 68,000 square foot facility in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center.  This custom building included expanded capabilities, such as an automated Phosphate Coating System, and an indoor live fire test range that can handle full auto .50 caliber Standard Ball Cartridge and .50 caliber High Pressure Test Cartridges, and a high security customs bonded warehouse.

This building expansion occurred at just the right time because over $5 million worth of new equipment dedicated to their M2HB production was starting to arrive.  Their prior facility did not have sufficient floor space for this larger equipment and they had exhausted their available electrical supply.  This new equipment under Norman Justice’s guidance and prior experience was grouped into cells and dedicated to their M2HB and/or M2HB subcomponent production.  In layman’s terms this translates into very accurate volume production.  In most cases these cells run 20 hour shifts, five days per week.

In September 2008, U.S. Ordnance received a contract from TACOM-RI for 859 Non-standard M2HB for Afghanistan.  This contract had an aggressive delivery schedule with the first delivery occurring just 60 days later in November.  While actual monthly production figures are confidential SADJ was able to confirm that U.S. Ordnance delivery schedule of 100 per month is current.  In addition to this they have supplied several foreign allies with undisclosed quantities of M2HB weapon systems on DSP-5 export license as part of their direct commercial sales program.

Downrange view thru the U.S. Ordnance improved weapons sight. (U.S. Ordnance)

Process and Product Improvements
As part of their continuous effort to improve the M2HB weapon system, U.S. Ordnance has perfected the fabrication process associated with the barrel extension to mitigate cracking of this critical component.  Cracking of the barrel extension is a common problem with the M2HB after prolonged use.  Within the last year, an improved barrel extension was provided to Special Tactical Services and used in the course of their training programs.  Over 120,000 rounds were fired with no degradation of the barrel extension.  The changes made reflect modifications to the manufacturing process while the resultant design completely conforms to the M2HB TDP

Another product improvement developed by U.S. Ordnance is their improved sighting system.  With its simplicity of use, the user can concentrate on the target allowing for rapid target acquisition.  The large heads-up ballistic compensation knob can quickly be changed without losing eye contact with the target, and can be accomplished even while wearing gloves.  An integrated Mil-Std 1913 Picatinny rail allows for mounting optics, IR or visible lasers.  The front and rear sight fold out of the way for a clear sight picture when using optics or aiming devices.  Any U.S. made M2HB can be retrofitted with the U.S. Ordnance improved sighting system.

Small Arms Readiness Evaluation Team with Repair (SARET-R)
U.S. Ordnance offers their customers a Small Arms Readiness Evaluation Team with Repair (SARET-R) program.  U.S. Ordnance technical experts supplement existing customer SARETs by assisting in the inspection and maintenance of their small arms.  As a manufacturer, U.S. Ordnance can supply just-in-time components necessary to maintain and repair their customer weapons systems.  “Ensuring proper function and safety of our customer’s military equipment is an essential part of our service offering,” said Daniel Fassler, Director of Operations.  “We have assisted our customers in developing SARET-R programs around the world and have helped to dramatically increase their overall weapons readiness.”

U.S. Ordnance has achieved large-firm M2HB manufacturing capability while maintaining the small-firm customer focus that has made their M60 program so successful.