Hackworth: Maybe This Time We'll Get It Right
The plastic, no-account M-16 rabbit shooter that our
Army warriors have painfully packed since early in the Vietnam War might at
long last be on its way out.
I can only say "good riddance" to a bad rifle that's been outmatched
by the Soviet AK-47 since Ho Chi Minh became Enemy
No. 1. I condemned it in my first after-action report while I was with the
1/101st Airborne in Vietnam in 1965, but - in spite of many such complaints
across the decades from trigger-pullers wading through the world's killing
fields - that lousy sucker has remained in service longer than any other rifle
in U.S. history. A shameful testimony to the power of
generations of military-industrial-congressional-complex porkers.
The M-16 and its popgun cousin, the M-4 carbine, have neither the range nor the
bang. Nor is their tiny 5.56-mm slug much of a grunt
morale multiplier. Ask the Rangers who fought in
The hot contender currently being tested by the Army to replace these lemons is
the XM-8, a revolutionary smart-weapon being put through its paces by
professionals who, so far, give it two thumbs up. It's a different kind of
rifle, lighter and less expensive, yet it offers additional features and
performance not available in any other assault rifle in the world.
For instance, the XM-8 is a flexible system easily converted into a carbine,
and there's a sharpshooter version for increased range, an automatic-rifle
version for more squad firepower and the ultra-compact carbine variant for
close-in fighting or use by armored-vehicle crewmen.
Whiz-bang options include an easily attachable single-shot 40 mm grenade
launcher with side-opening breech and a lightweight 12-gauge shotgun module.
Either system can be quickly added to the XM-8 in the field without the need
for special tools.
Think of it as a 2005 Mercedes replacing a 1970s Ford Pinto. But that's only if
we're talking an XM-8 with an upgraded 6.8-mm slug that can put an enemy down
and keep him there. That's what is needed to give our soldiers confidence in
their primary fighting weapon.
The best serving master gunner I know says this about the 6.8-mm upgrade that
Special Forces is presently reviewing: "If we are going to go through the
cost of providing a Mercedes like the XM-8, we should be prepared to put
Pirelli tires on it." He asks, "You wouldn't want to have a Mercedes
but run it on low-octane gas, so why have a Mercedes-quality rifle and run it
on 5.56?"
Should the XM-8 get green-lighted,
If everything clicks, the new weapon could start getting into our grunts' hands
as early as 2005 - and at last our soldiers will have a rifle that's GI-proof.
For starters, it's not a jammer. Carbon doesn't build
up inside the receiver group, which greatly reduces the need for cleaning. It
also has a battery-powered sight right out of James Bond's inventory that
includes a red-dot infrared-laser illuminator and a close-combat optic system
with a backup etched reticle that's factory-zeroed.
And last, but far from least, it shoots faster then the Terminator - it can
fire more than 15,000 rounds without lubrication or cleaning, and tests show
that it works as smoothly as a sewing machine in desert environments, which
should make the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan a whole lot happier.
These days there's a lot of flag-waving going down about supporting the troops.
But the best way to take care of our grunts is by making sure they can outgun
their opponents. And no way is that happening when we allow greedy or uncaring
pork contractors, no-time-in-the-trenches engineers and folks in Congress and
at the highest level of our armed forces to stick them with a worthless,
Mattel-like excuse for a rifle.
With the upgraded XM-8, our warriors will finally have a weapon that will do as
good a job punching holes in enemy soldiers in the 21st century as the M-1 and
Browning Automatic Rifles did in the 20th.
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©
2004 David H. Hackworth. All opinions expressed in
this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of
Military.com.