US military unveils 'smart gun'

[Thomas]

Are these weapons(thermobaric) being used in Afghanistan and how effective have they proved to be in cave warfare ? Don't you believe that the use of flame throwers and Napalm will prove effective against these tunnels like against the japs on Iwo Jima ? I'd really appreciate your take on this......
P.S: Would you mind telling me your unit and rank ? I have pretty good friends in the 101st, I even have the regimental pocket knife !

They have been used on caves only a few times as far as I know. The reason is most likely that since Tora Bora the Taliban have learned that caves really don't offer them much protection. the article I linked below offers a good description

Sucking the Oxygen Out of a Cave | The Weekly Standard

"That's absolutely incorrect," Robert Hewson of Jane's Air Launched Weapons told me in an article I wrote then on the Daisy Cutter. "This bomb does not ignite oxygen, turning the air into fire."

But two weeks ago in the Shahi-Kot Valley, 90 miles south of Kabul, the United States dropped a bomb on a cave that, in effect, turned the air into fire. The bomb is the BLU-118/B, better known as a thermobaric bomb. It was the first of its kind used in the war, although variations of the bomb have been used since Vietnam (namely, the 500-pound BLU-118 containing napalm).

Here's how your average fuel-air bomb works: A warhead containing a canister of aerosol liquid such as ethylene oxide or an explosive powder is dropped on a target. "A small initial explosive charge bursts this canister at a predetermined height, allowing the contents to form a concentrated explosive vapor cloud. This cloud is then ignited by a second, larger charge, to generate an intense fireball and blast overpressure. . . . Even if the FAE (fuel-air explosive) fails to detonate completely, it will generate a widespread burning effect," says Jane's. "The temperature can be as high as 3,000 degrees Celsius--more than twice that generated by a conventional explosive. The blast wave can travel at approximately 10,000 feet per second."

there are smaller thermobaric bombs being used in afghanistan adapted to a hellfire missile and 40mm grenade.

 

[unicorn]

And what if accidentally Taliban take their hand on this weapon.It will also be a GAME CHANGER.

 

[Donatello]

actually we can and have in Afghanistan. It's called a Blu-118/B Thermobaric weapon. Which is why rarely does the Taliban fight from caves anymore.

BLU-118/B Thermobaric Weapon Demonstration / Hard Target Defeat Program

Caves?

They are smart too.

That's why they are infiltrating as Afghan Army troops then shoot NATO troops who train them.

When NATO says they want 120,000 Afghan troops, the problem gets multiplied automatically.


Anyway,

this new weapon is not going to change much. Because NATO troops are always in their fortified structures or MRAPVs.


You have to be on foot and take fight to them.

They just do hit and run. When they run they rarely hide behind walls...which kinda makes this new weapon useless.

 

[ARSENAL6]

They have been used on caves only a few times as far as I know. The reason is most likely that since Tora Bora the Taliban have learned that caves really don't offer them much protection. the article I linked below offers a good description

Sucking the Oxygen Out of a Cave | The Weekly Standard

"That's absolutely incorrect," Robert Hewson of Jane's Air Launched Weapons told me in an article I wrote then on the Daisy Cutter. "This bomb does not ignite oxygen, turning the air into fire."

But two weeks ago in the Shahi-Kot Valley, 90 miles south of Kabul, the United States dropped a bomb on a cave that, in effect, turned the air into fire. The bomb is the BLU-118/B, better known as a thermobaric bomb. It was the first of its kind used in the war, although variations of the bomb have been used since Vietnam (namely, the 500-pound BLU-118 containing napalm).

Here's how your average fuel-air bomb works: A warhead containing a canister of aerosol liquid such as ethylene oxide or an explosive powder is dropped on a target. "A small initial explosive charge bursts this canister at a predetermined height, allowing the contents to form a concentrated explosive vapor cloud. This cloud is then ignited by a second, larger charge, to generate an intense fireball and blast overpressure. . . . Even if the FAE (fuel-air explosive) fails to detonate completely, it will generate a widespread burning effect," says Jane's. "The temperature can be as high as 3,000 degrees Celsius--more than twice that generated by a conventional explosive. The blast wave can travel at approximately 10,000 feet per second."

there are smaller thermobaric bombs being used in afghanistan adapted to a hellfire missile and 40mm grenade.

SO why has it taken you 8 years in afganistan ?
Got kick in the butt ?
I mean come on , Tali are not Adva or at least I was told by some one from your country on this very forum.

 

[humza_313]

Yes indeed!!!

1 bomb can take out a pretty large cave complex in 1 shot without risking troops.

well i should be agreeing with xyon..! but thomas...! ive seen weapons like these in games..! but my point was that the taliban are not that easy to fight.>! they are a pain in the *** especially fr the ppl of pakistan.>!

i hope the weapon can take them out and ________!

p.s. i love hornetts..!

 

[gambit]

This XM-25 weapon system was long time coming in the US arsenal but it has some serious drawbacks.

Is this from experience?

a. Its too cumbersome & relatively heavy to carry and use by a grunt in the field along with its ammunition which is almost the size of a 40mm grenade!!

No...It is not. The M249 light machine gun weighs 7.5kg empty. The XM25 weighs 6.5kg empty.

b. It only works for shelters that are exposed from a side (like a broken wall, behind a large rock, behind a tree, a road-side ridge etc).

No...It is more versatile than that. Plus...You are underestimating the ingenuity of the average soldier out in the field. Anyway...The items you listed are most readily available in most combat situations. In Afghanistan, there are not that many urban areas with buildings several stories tall. Finally, after first shot, everyone scramble for cover, a large rock or a tree five meters away is better than an APC fifty meters away.

It will not work if the shooter is perched inside a building or a built-up shelter.

If there is an opening, one of these XM25 grenade rounds can be launched inside.

c. The rifle requires practice in precision shooting by the soldier something similar to that of a sniper. One has to first select & aim at the right spot and then shoot. This requires good a minute or two to get done in day and night using either day scope or TI. Generally in a field fire-fight, the soldiers do not have that much of the time in hand to return rapid fire using M-16 variants.

Wrong...The laser range finder is only a 'ruggedized' version of the venerable police speed radar or the kind used by hunters. Laser rangefinders such as these...

Nikon Rangefinders - Rangefinder Laser : Cabela's

...Do not require one minute warm up time or any more technical sophistication beyond the typical house light switch.

Here is another example...

Nikon Monarch Laser 1200 Rangefinder 7481 Nikon 1200 range finder gold 8358 8358-DEMO

The Nikon Monarch Gold Laser 1200 laser range-finder measures ranges in either yards or meters, has full scanning capability and features an automatic power shutoff after the reading has been displayed for eight seconds.

Reviews for Nikon Monarch Laser 1200 Rangefinder 8358 - View or add your review!

After a long search, I was left with two choices. This Nikon 1200 or the Leica Rangemaster CRF 1200. Leica has the better name and finer laser but it has three big drawbacks. 1) only water resistant up to 1 meter. 2) $150+ more than the Nikon 1200. 3) relies on an antiquated "reflective" laser ranging. This Nikon is waterproof! It also ranges in the dark since it does NOT use reflective technology like most other laser rangefinders! At under $400, it's a great value for something that ranges up to 1200 yards/meters. Easy one-button operation and one-button mode change. Nice battery saver feature and the 7x zoom is FANTASTIC! The view is also not cluttered with a bunch on useless junk so you get full view of what you want to range. It also has a backlight feature for low light use. The ranging time is fast... almost instantaneous. FREAKING AMAZING! No regrets here!

A hunter cannot afford to wait a minute for the laser rangefinder to power up and measure. The prey could be lost. So if the Nikon 1200 can auto shut off after eight seconds it can be power on quite instantly. The XM25 is sophisticated enough to make training and usage as simple as possible and the manufacturer succeeded.

However, let us see the claimed effectiveness of this weapon system in the field trials in Afghanistan. However I have serious doubts that it will replace the user-friendly 5.56 or 7.62 rifle system currently used by millions of soldiers!

Not every trooper will be assigned this grenade launcher. One per squad will be enough, and because it is so simple to learn and use, anyone can pick it up in a fight if necessary. If there is an explosion over your head and shrapnels are not merely raining down upon you but is actually propelled, if you are not killed or crippled, you will move and that could expose you to small arms fire.