ADAPTING EXPERIMENTATION AND TESTING


LIGHTEN UP


Maximizing collaboration and incremental testing to deliver lightweight ammunition to the warfighter.


by Maj. Robert K. Rodell G


iven the significant weight burden of weapons, ammunition, sustainment, protection and mission command equipment that warfighters carry, reduc- ing Soldier load continues to be a top priority for


the Army. Te Product Manager for Small Caliber Ammunition (PdM SCA)—part of Project Manager for Maneuver Ammu- nition Systems (PM MAS) within the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition (JPEO A&A)—contin- ues to support this priority through development and fielding of lightweight small-caliber ammunition. Prototype testing and experimentation with alternative materials such as polymer and steel are in progress to substitute ammunition cartridge compo- nents to reduce weight without degrading performance.


EVERY POUND MATTERS An infantry Soldier’s approach march load, consisting of their combat load and mission-critical equipment, changed from 89 pounds during the Gulf War to 133 pounds during Oper- ation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, to 122 pounds today. PdM SCA is currently maturing lightweight metallic- and polymer-cased 7.62 mm ammunition that provide cartridge weight savings of approximately 15% and 24%, respec- tively. For an M240 7.62 mm machine gun crew, this equates to


approximately 13 pounds of weight savings with metallic-cased ammunition and 17 pounds with polymer-cased ammunition. Beyond the individual Soldier and tactical benefits, integrating lightweight small-caliber ammunition holds significant poten- tial for reducing transportation costs and increasing ammunition throughput capacity across the Army’s logistics infrastructure. Replacing legacy brass cases with polymer would reduce the pallet weight of 7.62 mm ammunition by more than 400 pounds and allow for additional pallets of ammunition to be loaded on stra- tegic transportation assets such as cargo ships and planes.


FIELDING NEXT-GEN SOLUTIONS XM1186 (general purpose) and XM1188 (reduced range) ammu- nition was fielded with the XM7 and XM250 rifles in support of the Army’s First Unit Equipped event for the Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in April 2024. Both XM1186 and XM1188 feature a hybrid metal case design consisting of a brass body and steel head, reducing cartridge weight by more than 20% compared with a brass-cased equivalent cartridge. In March 2024, the 11th Airborne Divi- sion had the opportunity to put the NGSW and ammunition to the test in extremely cold conditions at Fort Greely, Alaska, where temperatures reached as low as 50 degrees below zero


https://asc.ar my.mil 45


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