The Advanced Individual Combat Weapon (AICW) is a prototype assault rifle being developed in Australia. The AICW combines a standard 5.56mm assault rifle with a multiple-shot grenade launcher integrated into a single weapon. It is still in testing stages and may potentially replace the F88 Austeyr by 2010 - 2012. U.S. Military 5. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... Prototypes or prototypical instances combine the most representative attributes of a category. ... M16A2 (US). ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... Steyr AUG refers to a family of firearms, first introduced in 1977 by the Austrian company Steyr Mannlicher. ...

The AICW was developed by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in alliance with Metal Storm and Tenix Defence Systems the AICW received funding primarily through the Australian Government’s Capability and Technology Demonstrator (CTD) program. The AICW aims to provide the infantry soldier with the ability to fire multiple grenades without having to reload, and to switch between 5.56mm ballistic rounds and 40mm grenades without changing sights, trigger or stance, giving the operator the ability to acquire and engage a target with multiple rounds. The Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) is a branch of the Australian Department of Defence which researches and develops technologies for use in the Australian Defence Industry. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Tenix Pty Ltd is the parent company of the Tenix Group, Australia’s largest locally-owned defence and technology contractor. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme, First World War. ... A ballistic body is a body which is free to move, behave, and be modified in appearance, contour, or texture by ambient conditions, substances, or forces, as by the pressure of gases in a gun, by rifling in a barrel, by gravity, by temperature, or by air particles. ...

Since the 40mm grenade launcher entered service in the early 1960s the United States Army has being trying to develop a weapon with a capability similar to the AICW. The latest attempt, the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) project, was launched in 1986. The OICW aimed to use advances in computer technology in a weapon that fired grenades automatically pre-set to explode above or beside targets hidden from view. Fragmentation from the exploding grenades would defeat the target when normal rifle fire would be ineffective. The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces that has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The Objective Individual Combat Weapon or OICW usually meant the next-generation assault rifle competition that was under development as part of the OICW program. ...

While the advanced sights, computer control and air bursting grenades worked well the rest of the weapon did not. It was too heavy and too big to be operated effectively by a soldier, and the performance of the 5.56mm kinetic-energy component had been sacrificed to lower overall weight. After spending more than US$100 million on the OICW project it was quietly dropped last year from the US Army's near-future requirements.

AICW on the other hand with its stacked round grenade launcher does not require the weight, volume and complexity of conventional mechanical loading. This makes the weapon more compact and potentially far lighter.

The United States Army is actively participating in the development of AICW-like Metal Storm weaponry. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

References

"AICW: Australia's Revolutionary Weapon" by Abraham Gubler in DefenceToday, Volume 3, Issue 5, 2005.

"New super-gun to be tested in Feb." by Pamela Hess, UPI correspondent, WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2006.

Popular Culture

-The AICW is seen to be carried by Peruvian Rebels in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

External links

• Metal Storm homepage
• Article from world.guns.ru