WASHINGTON (AFP) â It looks and acts like something best left in the hands of Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo," but this latest dream weapon is real -- and the US Army sees it becoming the Taliban's worst nightmare.
The Pentagon has rolled out prototypes of its first-ever programmable "smart" grenade launcher, a shoulder-fired weapon that uses microchipped ammunition to target and kill the enemy, even when the enemy is hidden behind walls or other cover.
The gun's stats are formidable: it fires 25mm air-bursting shells up to 2,300 feet (700 meters), well past the range of most rifles used by today's soldiers, and programs them to explode at a precise distance, allowing troops to neutralize insurgents hiding behind walls, rocks or trenches or inside buildings
"You get behind something when someone is shooting at you, and that sort of cover has protected people for thousands of years," Lehner said.
"Now we're taking that away from the enemy forever."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101201/sc_afp/usmilitaryweaponsafghanistan
