ARMY AL&T FIGURE 2. HARD TARGET PERFORMANCE Results are for M4 Battle Barrier Surrogate (3/8" steel)
Concrete Masonry Unit
(M855 won't penetrate)
M855 M855A1
The good news is that all of these performance improvements come with no weight increase to the Soldier.
M855 M855A1
(meters) 0 150 300 450 Results are for M16 Battle Barrier Surrogate (3/8" steel)
Concrete Masonry Unit
(M855 won't penetrate)
M855 M855A1
M855 M855A1
(meters) 0 150 300 450
Soldiers Are the Focus Soldiers will surely discuss the M855A1 EPR during their ritual debates on guns and ammo. The new M855A1 will greatly increase Soldier perfor- mance on the battlefield, but inevitably, Soldiers will have the final vote as they must maintain their weapon systems, train, aim, and engage their targets. As always, good marksmanship skills are critical for success in small-arms engagements. No matter how good the bullet, it can’t do its job if it doesn’t hit the target.
is this performance much better than the M855’s with its smaller steel pen- etrator, it is vastly better than the M80 7.62mm round.
Additionally, the EPR can penetrate concrete masonry units at ranges out to 80 meters with the M16 and 40 meters with the M4. The M855 can’t penetrate this type of battlefield barrier at any range.
Also notable is the EPR’s excellent performance against softer intermediate barriers such as car doors, windshields, or Kevlar fabric. The thinner metal found on car doors poses no problem. When engaging targets behind wind- shields with the EPR, ARL has shown an increase in the probability of hitting the occupant, due to both the steel pen- etrator and the copper slug remaining intact through the glass. Furthermore, ARL tested the round against 24 layers of Kevlar fabric out to 1,000 meters, but discontinued the test as the Kevlar showed no sign of being able to stop the EPR. The EPR also penetrates some
35 OCTOBER –DECEMBER 2010
lesser-quality body armors designed to stop 7.62mm ball rounds.
Another benefit Soldiers will see from the new round is its effectiveness when engaging soft targets at longer ranges.
As a small-caliber projectile’s velocity decreases, it eventually will reach a point at which it can no longer transfer most of its energy to its target. Below this velocity, which equates to range, the round is more likely to pass through its target with little effect. The M855A1 can maintain consistent, desired effects at a much lower velocity, resulting in excellent effectiveness at far greater ranges along its trajectory.
In addition to the above-mentioned performance improvements, the EPR is more accurate than the M855. Accuracy testing during production lot acceptance has shown that, on average, 95 percent of the rounds will hit within an 8 x 8-inch target at 600 meters. It also uses a flash-reduced propellant optimized for the M4’s shorter barrel.
During the past 50 years, 5.56mm general-purpose ammunition has evolved to a level of performance that addresses all of the major warfighting needs of our services. The M855A1 EPR is a significantly improved 5.56mm round that provides excellent soft target consistency and vastly better hard target performance, and increases our Soldiers’ effectiveness at extended ranges with better accuracy—all without increasing their load.
The M855A1 represents the most sig- nificant performance leap in small-arms ammunition in decades. Our Soldiers deserve the best, and with the M855A1 EPR, they get it.
LTC JEFFREY K. WOODS is the Product Manager for Small-Caliber Ammunition in the Office of the Project Manager Maneuver Ammunition Systems, PEO Ammo. He holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Texas and an M.S. in operations research from the Florida Institute of Technology. Woods is also a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and Defense Systems Management College, and is a U.S. Army Acquisition Corps member.
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