Army tests ‘smart’ high-explosive
weapon for Soldiers

by Lt. Col.
Christopher Lehner

PEO Soldier - Soldier Weapons
A Soldier successfully shoulder-fired a “smart” high-explosive airburst, or HEAB, round for the first time Aug. 11, from the XM-25 weapon system at Aberdeen Test Center, Md.

The Army plans on purchasing more than 12,500 XM-25 systems starting in 2012, which will be enough to put one in each infantry squad and Special Forces team, according to officials at Program Executive Office Soldier.

At first glance, the XM-25 looks like something out of a science-fiction movie. It features an array of sights, sensors and lasers housed in a target acquisition fire control unit on top, an oversized magazine behind the trigger mechanism, and a short, ominous barrel wrapped by a recoil dampening sleeve.

Unlike a Hollywood prop, however, this weapon is very real and designed to accurately deliver an explosive round that neutralizes targets at distances of up to 700 meters — well past the range of the rifles and carbines that most Soldiers carry today.

“What makes this weapon system truly revolutionary is the ability to target the enemy, pass on this information to the sensors and microchips of its 25 millimeter HEAB round, and have that round detonate over the target,” explained Maj. Shawn Murray, a Soldier weapons assistant product manager in PEO Soldier, the organization responsible for developing the XM-25.
“When the HEAB round explodes, the target is peppered with fragmentation,” Murray said. “Our studies indicate that the XM-25 with HEAB is 300 percent more effective at incapacitating the enemy than current weapons at the squad level.”

Because of the XM-25’s unique TAFC and HEAB round, Soldiers will be able to engage enemy forces located in the open or behind cover, such as walls, rocks, trenches, or inside buildings.
The semi-automatic weapon’s magazine holds four 25 millimeter rounds and can be employed at night or during inclement weather thanks to the XM-25’s built-in thermal sight.

After only five minutes of instruction at the Aberdeen Test Center, Sgt. Logan E. Diveley from the 180th Infantry Regiment was able to put his first HEAB round through a building’s window and take out an enemy mannequin at 200 meters.

“I’ve been in over nine contacts with the enemy during my two tours in Iraq. Their ambushes were usually initiated with an (improvised explosive device) and followed up with small arms fire from behind walls and buildings — places where it was hard for us to get at them. The XM-25 would have taken care of things and made our jobs much easier,” said Diveley.

Once downrange and in the building where the defeated enemy mannequin lay, Murray noted the limited collateral damage associated with the XM-25.

“Because of its pinpoint accuracy and relatively small warheads, the XM-25 can neutralize an enemy without the need to destroy a whole building,” he said.

“For our counterinsurgency operations to be successful, it is important to keep collateral damage to a minimum and to protect the civilian population. I think the XM-25 will prove itself many times over in Afghanistan,” Murray added.

The XM-25 is being developed by PEO Soldier, the Army acquisition organization responsible for nearly every piece of equipment worn or carried by Soldiers. This includes socks, weapons, and advanced sensor and communication devices.

PEO Soldier bases much of its work on the feedback from individual Soldiers, developing or procuring solutions to meet those needs.

The development of the XM-25 is one such program, designed to provide Soldiers a solution for dealing with enemies in the open and behind cover that is more precise, quicker to employ and more cost effective than mortar, artillery or airstrikes.