The project manager in charge of commissioning the design of the US Army’s next-generation rifle has likened the task to ‘Steve Jobs and his engineers trying to convert the iPod Touch to the first 3G iPhone‘ …
The new rifle – or Next Generation Squad Weapon in Armyspeak – is designed to replace both the M4 and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.
The Army says that it wants the weapon to revolutionise small arms in much the same way the iPhone did consumer electronics, reports The National Interest.
Like the iPhone, they want the weapon to be software-upgradable as future technology becomes available.
“Imagine that Steve Jobs and his engineers were trying to convert the iPod Touch to the first 3G iPhone,” said Army Col. Elliott Caggins, project manager for soldier weapons. “There were a thousand technologies they could have put in the first iPhone but they were looking to mature the platform before they could actually go onto the system.”
The spec contractors will be asked to meet involves building target-finding tech into the rifle. This will include a tiny version of the positioning and range finder systems currently used in artillery systems, and a combined laser rangefinder and sensor suite that will compensate for atmospheric pressure and wind speed.
Gizmodo notes that the plan is to test prototypes this summer, and to bring the new weapon into service in the fiscal year 2022.
Photo: Shutterstock
