{"id":27679,"date":"2021-04-14T12:50:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T12:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/14\/your-squads-newest-weapons-armed-drones-shoulder-fired-missiles-and-air-bursting-munitions\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:48:26","slug":"your-squads-newest-weapons-armed-drones-shoulder-fired-missiles-and-air-bursting-munitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2021\/04\/14\/your-squads-newest-weapons-armed-drones-shoulder-fired-missiles-and-air-bursting-munitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Your squad\u2019s newest weapons: armed drones, shoulder-fired missiles and air-bursting munitions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most of the attention for Army <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2020\/11\/24\/army-evaluates-machine-gun-suppressors-exoskeletons-backpack-generators-and-more\/\" target=_blank>weapons changes<\/a> has been focused in recent years on the Next Generation Squad Weapon, with versions that will replace both the M4 and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2020\/11\/06\/the-army-is-looking-for-a-new-machine-gun-and-the-marines-might-get-a-new-caliber-too\/\" target=_blank>increased firepower <\/a>on all sides and more threats to handle than ever, the Army is working on improving hand grenades and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/07\/05\/looking-for-a-new-mos-how-about-blasting-rockets-artillery-and-missiles-out-of-the-sky\/\" target=_blank>shoulder-fired rockets<\/a>, and finally finding a fix for the pesky problem of hitting enemy troops under cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some of the ongoing efforts, and new details, were revealed April 7 during the Maneuver Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate\u2019s industry days at the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/11\/06\/army-launches-new-effort-to-tackle-no-1-squad-capability-gap\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/nightime-mortar-fire.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Army launches new effort to tackle \u2018No. 1\u2019 squad capability gap<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The new weapon must work with advanced systems, be able to fire 1,000 meters and have a \u201cfamily of ammunition.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First off, a problem that\u2019s been lingering for more than a decade but was put at the top of the priority list late last year \u2014 counter-defilade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Right now, the best a soldier or Marine can do when enemy fire is coming from out of hand grenade range and behind a barrier is to hope for an airstrike to arrive quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Col. Rhett Thompson, director of the Soldier Requirements Division at MCDID, told attendees that the biggest problem remains getting a counter-defilade weapon into the hands of soldiers at the squad level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new approach, which has replaced the cancelled XM25 program, is dubbed the Precision Grenadier System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a \u201cflat velocity, high-velocity multi-shot weapons system,\u201d presenters said, which has \u201cfirefight-ending lethality and precision\u201d when compared with the current M203 and M320 grenade launcher systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They want it to arm and strike at distances of 35 meters all the way out to 500 meters. To do that, it will need to be programmable, so soldiers can sight in the threat and tell the munition when to fire, much like tanks and other combat vehicles can do with certain munitions now, only in a much smaller package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe real sweet spot is the 300m range band,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re looking to do that in less than 15 seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Out farther than the 500m maximum range, or even around urban corners, the Army wants an armed drone that is more sophisticated than what they have now for squad level, beyond-line-of-sight counter defilade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lt. Col. Christopher Kennedy, lethality branch chief for SRD, said Army leadership wants more than the existing Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System, or LMAMs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The system has to be returnable, reusable, Kennedy said he was told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat sounds like armed Unmanned Aircraft Systems at the squad level,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While there are some good fixed-wing options for simply striking a target, especially the \u201csuicide drone\u201d options such as LMAMs. They don\u2019t fit into every scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThink about urban, heaven forbid a megacity,\u201d he said. \u201cFixed-wing moves too fast to engage targets we need to engage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rotary wing systems can fly over, do persistent sitting and staring, and get to the backside of buildings and terrain features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added that it would be helpful to have embedded software that would allow the drone to lock onto a human target without someone having to fly it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Basically, the operator establishes the target, then the drone goes and finds it and follows it, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But grenade launchers and squad-level armed drones are not the only non-rifle solution for soldiers at the tactical level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kennedy\u2019s team is also looking to vastly improve shoulder-launched missiles, putting much more capability into a single package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently, soldiers have almost too many options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The M141 Bunker Defeat Munition, a disposable, single-shot, 83mm rocket, can take out field fortifications such as bunkers and urban structures, that range from 8-inch reinforced concrete to 12-inch triple brick walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then there\u2019s the M72 Light Anti-Armor Weapon, or LAW, a disposable 66mm rocket in use since the early 1960s, the AT-4, and upgraded variants of the 84mm, single shot, disposable, unguided anti-tank weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the next seven years, the Army expects to have a single shoulder-fired rocket that can defeat all of the threats the old trio of rocket options handled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soldiers will be able to fire that rocket, the Individual Assault Munition, from a confined space, strike at multiple targets, have a better hit probability and lethality, reach the farthest ranges of the current rockets, about 500m, and do it all while weighing less than 15 pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By about 2030, the Army expects to go a few steps further, with the Next Generation Squad Multi-Target Munition that can do all of what the IAM can do but also hit targets in defilade and reach ranges of up to 1,000m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To prepare for near-peer conflict, where squad-level soldiers would face increased firepower and have to handle a greater variety of threats, the Army is working to improve the weapons they need to prevail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":59859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":27,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,14,36,27,167],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3481],"class_list":["post-27679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-land","category-newsletters","category-unmanned","category-unmanned-systems"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OZIJZST6NRA57IQU62DHQZU4VE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2021\/04\/14\/your-squads-newest-weapons-armed-drones-shoulder-fired-missiles-and-air-bursting-munitions\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Your squad\u2019s newest weapons: armed drones, shoulder-fired missiles and air-bursting munitions - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To prepare for near-peer conflict, where squad-level soldiers would face increased firepower and have to handle a greater variety of threats, the Army is working to improve the weapons they need to prevail.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your squad\u2019s newest weapons: armed drones, shoulder-fired missiles and air-bursting munitions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To prepare for near-peer conflict, 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