Assault Rifle - The Future

The Future

Small arms technology including the assault rifle can be described as a mature technology. However, changes in battlefield realities can be expected to lead to technological changes. As weapons evolve, the delicate balance for assault rifle systems between power, weight, recoil and terminal effects will likely shift once again in an attempt to defeat body armour, to match the range of full-power cartridges, and to penetrate through wind shields and thin-skinned vehicles while still producing good terminal effects. Possible future directions are armour piercing or saboted sub-caliber tungsten darts, more powerful cartridges, application of new composite materials such as carbon fiber or carbon nanotubes, and use of exotic metals such as titanium and scandium. As personal body armour technology improves, for example from the development of Magnetorheological fluid-based smart materials, assault rifle designs will be forced to adapt in order to remain effective. Changes in assault rifle technology may come from maturation of other fields - as camera technology becomes more advanced, cameras may be integrated into rifles. Much research and development has already been put into integration of rifles with advanced electronics.

The future of the assault rifle may not be entirely in the design of the firearm itself, but rather in the ammunition it fires. Reducing weight and cost being one of the original reasons for the development of the intermediate powered round and subsequently the assault rifle, that goal has been taken to a whole new level with the development of caseless ammunition which does away with the weight and cost of shell casings. Limitations of current technology prevent this idea from being successful but the concept is still being researched. Recent progress with the Lightweight Small Arms Technologies program has made the concept of caseless ammunition a step closer to reality.