#WhatMightHaveBeen

Quick: What’s the most advanced infantry rifle that was ever designed, but never got the chance it deserved? I’m thinking about a futuristic weapon from Central Europe that fired advanced, lightweight ammunition and featured a high rate of fire “hyperburst” firing mode. Care to take a guess?

1969 was a year of great optimism and achievement for the United States. NASA’s space program took humans to the Moon in July of that year, while the Mariner 6 and 7 probes gave humanity its first close look at the planet Mars. The Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jet” took to the skies for the first time in 1969, and that year also marks the sending of the first ARPANET data packet, heralding the very beginning of the Internet age. In 1969, it seemed as though there was nothing that America could not accomplish, if it wanted to.