DoD IG: Army should buy or cancel XM25, no more development

[Zarvan]

A soldier aims an XM25 prototype weapon during testing at the Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland. Source: US Army

The US Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG) has recommended the US Army either move forward or cancel the XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement (CDTE) weapon programme.

Army officials deployed prototype XM25 systems to Afghanistan as part of a 'forward operational assessment' from November 2010 to April 2012, and then sent another set in January 2013.

The weapons were popular with squad-level units as its enfilading fire reportedly helped shorten the duration of attacks on coalition outposts because troops did not have to wait for fire support to engage adversaries taking cover. However, the effort was delayed largely by what DoD IG classified as inadequate training, which resulted in several malfunctions, one that injured a soldier when one of the airburst rounds already in the chamber was prematurely ignited after another round was 'double fed'.

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