***UPDATE***Prototype rifle blows up during firing test, injuring 2.

By Matthew Cox
Army Times Staff Writer

The army's rifle of the future suffered a setback Sept 29, 1999 when a
prototype blew up at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD., injuring two
technicians.  The weapon failed during a live-fire test at a remote
firing range. The Objective Individual Combat Weapon was loaded with a
20mm high explosive round when it exploded, spewing shrapnel in all
directions, officials said.  Officials were reluctant to speculate on
the cause of the explosion until an investigation can be conducted.  The
failure followed about 150 successful tests with the 20mm, high
explosive ammunition, said Stepen Mango, civilian project engineer for
the weapon.  The prototype of the weapon that was destroyed cost about
$20,000 for the weapon and $200,000 for the fire control system.
 

The OCSW will demonstrate by FY00 a highly lethal, suppressive, and deployable crew-served weapon system. The OCSW system will provide decisively violent and suppressive target effects, including a high probability of incapacitation against protected personnel (body armor and in defilade) out to 2,000 m and a high potential to damage light and lightly armored vehicles beyond 1,000 m. The OCSW will exploit lightweight, high-strength materials; modular optoelectronic full solution fire control (leveraged from the OICW ATD program); electronic time-set fuzing; and high-explosive air-bursting munitions. The OCSW will be a lightweight, two-man portable, single replacement weapon system for the current 40 mm MK19 Grenade Machine Gun and the Caliber .50 M2 Heavy Machine Gun.

  Specific capabilities to be demonstrated include a weapon system with component weight goals as follows: weapon less than 38 lb, a ground mount less than 12 lb, ammunition less than 0.35 lb, and a fire control less than 7 lb. The system will have the capability to defeat defilade targets and 51mm rolled homogeneous armor.

PRIMEX is the prime contractor for the "Objective Crew Service Weapon" (OCSW) development program. The OCSW is the next generation light infantry weapon. It combines precise, highly effective 25mm High Explosive (HE) airburst and Armor Piercing (AP) ammunition developed by PRIMEX, with a highly accurate lightweight, two-man portable weapon with an advanced fire control system.

DoD requires capabilities of improved range, penetration, and combat effectiveness of guns at lower total acquisition cost over existing systems. The Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) will replace current M16 rifles, M203 grenade launchers, night vision devices, and laser rangefinders with a single integrated system with enhanced operational capability and increased effectiveness. The OICW will deliver 3-4 times the hit probability of existing systems beyond 500 m and an all-new defilade target attack capability out to 300 m. The Objective Crew-Served Weapon (OCSW) will provide a lightweight, two-man portable, single replacement weapon systems for a current 40mm MK 19 grenade machine gun and the caliber .50 heavy machine gun.

Challenges in the guns subarea include packaging constraints for ETC technologies that provide compact, high-efficient plasma ignitors; new high-energy-density/propellant formulation, consistent repeat rate, and desirable life cycles of pulse-forming network; advanced medium-caliber composite barrel with high-efficiency rail design, compact, and affordable pulse and prime power system and ammunition handling technologies for high rate of fire; accurate laser ranging, efficient fragmentation, and systems and weight minimization for OICW; and efficient fragmentation, electronics miniaturization (for fire control and fuze), systems integration, and overall system weight for OCSW.