The Case for a New NATO Rifle and Machine Gun Cartridge
Updated: January 9th, 2013
Tony Williams, the co-editor of Jane’s Ammunition Handbook, gave a presentation entitled “The Next Generation: The Case for a New NATO Rifle and Machine Gun Cartridge” at the National Defense Industries Association (NDIA) Joint Armaments Conference last month. He has posted an extended version of the presentation on his website. It is well worth reading.
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The most fascinating tidbit of info to me from the Williams paper is the relationship of caliber to sound. Is it true that the sound generated by a passing bullet is so directly related to the bullet's diameter? That's new to me.
If that is true, the best caliber for LMG duties may actually be the old 7.62 x 39 cartridge. It has most of the benefits of lighter weight and lower recoil, while in theory it should provide just as much a suppressive effect as the larger 7.62 NATO.
One point I very much disagree with the Williams paper is his willingness to throw out some assumptions regarding new small arms while still clinging to others. That doesn't make sense. Why must the new individual weapon be a carbine length selective-fire weapon? I suspect it's because that combination of assumptions leads to his preferred outcome of a new replacement cartridge for universal use.
If anything, current practices and experience shows that a mix of specialized weapons and calibers may be the ideal small arms selection. At the Fire-Team level, how about a red-dot sighted 7.62x39 RPK for the fire team automatic weapon and ACOG sighted 7.62 NATO semi-auto AR for the individual rifleman?
If a cartridge is developed that has the terminal ballistics of 7.62x51 and all of the advantages of the smaller 5.56x45 with none of the disadvantages of either, I say hell ya. Developing/integrating a whole new set of weapons systems is the real hurtle.