“Judge Dredd” Weapon Is Army’s Newest Device

In yet another case of reality copying fiction, the U.S. Army’s latest hi-tech weapon — dubbed the XM-25 Individual Air Burst Weapon — has some weapons experts thinking of that forgettable Sylvester Stallone futuristic sci-fi film “Judge Dredd”. In fact, the only cool thing about the flick was the gun.

Very similiar in appearance and purpose of Dredd’s weapon-of-choice, the XM-25 is a computerized laser-guided weapon that contains a high-yield projectile, and right out of sci-fi, the projectile can hit targets concealed around corners, behind thick objects such as rock cliffs and thick houses and even hiding in caves or fox-hole trenches, which makes it an ideal weapon-of-choice for current fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Like Dredd’s gun, this one can hit a target even if it isn’t well within the shooter’s line-of-sight. Before the development of this kind of weapon a soldier was forced to call in an air strike on targets not actually visible which almost always resulted in a higher casualty rate of non-targeted persons and/or property. Also, with each air strike called, literally millions of dollars gets spent on the mission that will be saved with the new XM-25.

The XM-25 comes equipped with more than just its laser-guided, time-released projectile. It also has the ability to fire armour-piercing bullets, can act as a door battering-ram and use the less lethal crowd control rounds currently employed in riot situations.

How It Works:
A soldier uses the laser-guidance system to measure the approximate distance between him/her and the target, then the computer in the weapon arms the projectile to not explode until that range has been met after it leaves the device. This has the advantage of killing the intended target while cutting down on collateral damage. The other advantage is a soldier doesn’t need to spend precious time (time that leaves him/her open and vulnerable to attack) waiting for the target to expose himself/itself before firing on it. The range for the XM-25 is impressive, measuring 750 meters, or nearly a half a mile.