New Army "Caliber Configuration Study"

[JASmith]

...I see cheap laser-ranged, air-burst grenades as a game-changing technology, just as the rifled bore made mass troop formations in open country inadvisable and 50 years later the machine gun made them suicidal. Infantry tactics were forced to change to open formations using organic cover. Now ranged grenades help solve the problem of neutralizing infantry under cover...

Laser Guided and GPS/INS weapons have completely changed the aerial bombardment game. We went from an environment where multiple sorties, sometimes dozens, were required to take out a single point target. Today, a single aircraft can reliably service about as many targets as it carries bombs and missiles. We saw a variation of the point target defeat in opening Phases of Operation Enduring Freedom where several JDAM weapons were programmed to take out multiple points along a trench line.

So, I do concur that guided grenades will have a substantial impact on infantry tactics. If implementable with ranges exceeding 1000 meters in form factors that allow loadouts similar to those enjoyed by current 40mm grenadiers, then the need for an MMG may be diminished. I hesitate to predict that it would be eliminated, but that 1,000 meter grenade (or rocket) would, in my opinion, fulfill the MMG role with the added benefit of having an indirect fire capability.

What would the impact on the personal weapon be? A lot would depend on the minimum range for that Grenade/Rocket. If the minimum safe standoff is under 300 meters, the current 5.56 would likely be a good choice. If less than 100, then one could argue for a smaller cartridge than the 5.56.

Where would a Grendel fit into this picture? The DM and LMG both are used largely at longer ranges than the reach of personal weapons and this is an excellent role for it. I assert that it would be superior to either the 7.62 NATO or the 5.56 NATO in this role.