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A Look To The Future: American Tech
The Pentagon has a busy year of military technology tests planned – with some of the equipment potentially being ready for frontline use by the end of 2015.
Plans are in place to develop and introduce new kit including mortar rounds, sniper rifles, uniforms and improvised explosive device (IED) detectors, according to Marine Corps Times.
Weapons such as the M40A6 sniper rifle, an upgraded version of the M40, and the 81mm Non-Lethal InDirect Fire Munition (NL-IDFM) are amongst those due to undergo a series of tests.
It is hoped that the non-lethal NL-IDFM, which can fire 14 flash-bang rounds on a target, will allow troops to more easily evacuate civilians from combat areas as well as supressing enemy fire.
Clockwise from left-right: US Marines use the NL-IDFM, the PERM and a shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapon
The US Marine Corps is also due to perform a live-fire test with the 120mm Precision Extended Range Munition (PERM), a guided mortar weapon that can reach enemies up to 12 miles away.
The year is also likely to see the award of a contract to improve the targeting system of the Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon.
The launcher is to be upgraded with an integrated thermal weapon sight and laser range finder to make it lighter, more accurate and easier to maintain.
Click here to see the US' Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon in action
2014, meanwhile, has already been a busy year for military technology testing in the US.
The country's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) released footage of the first-ever guided .50-caliber bullets being fired from a sniper rifle, whilst earlier this month the US Navy unveiled its new laser weapon system (LaWS).
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