"The US Army Is Working On A Mini Assault Rifle ..." Topic

…That Performs Like An M4, But Is Half As Big

"U.S. Army researchers are working to develop a personal defense weapon that offers the same muzzle velocity as a standard M4 carbine in a package that's half as long, half the weight, and uses smaller, lighter ammunition. The service's engineers say that the design features they are working with to achieve these results are readily scalable and could offer a path to lighter weight rifles and machine guns in the future, too.

In March 2019, the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), situated at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, test-fired an experimental design with a 10 inch-long barrel using ammunition with just a single gram of gunpowder, according to a story from TechLink. The gun demonstrated a muzzle velocity of more than 2,900 feet per second. An M4 firing standard 5.56x45mm M855A1 ammunition, which has around one and a half times as much powder, has an average muzzle velocity of around 2,970 feet per second…."
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Amicalement
Armand

But would it be any good in a Zombie Apocalypse? As compared to the current Barbie guns?

Yes, but where's the bayonet…?

Surely greater length and girth boost sales, shortening the barrel seems counterproductive.

I'll wager Napoleon would have liked a few at Waterloo!

I hate to be picky, but why is this on a Napoleonic board? Has the bug struck?

They're only looking for a smaller, lighter weapon so they can add twice as many accessories for three times the weight.

For every pound a soldier sheds, somebody figures it frees up two pounds of extra gear to carry.

So a smaller weapon means somebody will find a way to strap on a device the size of a minifridge and call it vital.

Not to mention the sergeant who seems to be paid a bonus for each extra pound a soldier carries into battle.

And then people are surprised that vets in their late 20's and 30's need knee and back surgery …

Shorter gun barrel for urban fighting, ease of transport and egress from vehicles, lighter ammo means you can carry more ammo.
That being said, the combat load of most infantry hasn't changed in weight since Roman Empire, i.e. what Patrick said.

But, Conan's combat load was basically just a sword…oh, he must have been before the Roman Empire.

I wonder what effect the shorter barrel will have on accuracy, or if it matters.

Yes, any way to lighten the Infantry's load has always been a goal. And still keep them effective and efficient.

As noted with new tech comes more stuff to carry. Hopefully it is light and small and still worthwhile to use and carry.

The p90 does all that, already exists, and looks awesome.

I read that the average infantryman's load was about 40 lbs. from ancient times up until the 1900s – but after that, it bumped up dramatically:

"ignorance of the historical facts that throughout history soldiers were carrying up to 40lbs of equipment?"
Thats ignorance of the historical fact that soldiers since WW1 have been carrying more then 40lbs of equipment….
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"From the ancient Greek hoplite all the way up through the American Civil War infantryman, the overall weight carried by a foot soldier changed very little, holding steady at about forty pounds. Infantrymen didn't see a significant jump in their load until the beginning of the twentieth century. During World War I infantry loads increased by 50 percent, up to over sixty pounds. World War II saw those loads increase again, to 80–100 pounds, depending on the type of weapon system the soldier carried.

Napoleonic Board….?

Amicalement
Armand

And then people are surprised that vets in their late 20's and 30's need knee and back surgery

Very true, we also ran in boots until they realized it could cause long term damage. And we went to athletic shoes. Now I didn't read the studies, but I can clearly state, running miles in boots, just plain sucks !

I wonder what effect the shorter barrel will have on accuracy, or if it matters.

IIRC e.g. once the M16's "carbine" version, with a shorter barrel, the CAR-15/16. Came into limited production, for Spec Ops, etc. It's range and accuracy was reduced by @ 20%. But in the jungle where the US was currently engaged in combat at that time. It generally didn't matter, for the most part.

World War II saw those loads increase again, to 80–100 pounds, depending on the type of weapon system the soldier carried.

Very much so as I stated with increased tech came increased weight. Even if they tried to make everything lighter. You end up carrying more light stuff. Which just gets heavier, e.g. 2 or 3 light things, ends up being heavy …

We generally considered a Fighting Load @ 25-30lbs. An Existence Load @ anything over 30lbs +. We had quick releases on our ruck sacks/back packs. So if need be we could drop'm and go into the assault, etc. Plus the longer and farther you carry a heavy load, regardless of what physics says … it gets heavier.

The p90 does all that, already exists, and looks awesome.

Generally the US likes to use it's own's weapons designs. But not always – e.g.the M249 SAW, M240 MG and 92SB …