New Army "Caliber Configuration Study"

[stanc]

I spent a lot of time doing research, reading and applying my own hard earned lessons learned in the process of educating the future officers. Based on a lot of reading, I have come to the following hypothesizes...

Excellent post, Michael. I agree with pretty much the entirety of your analysis.

In trying to sum up some stuff, and get this thread back on track, I would recommend everyone who wants to talk about the future small arms/individual weapons of the future; Consider what will be most applicable in a non-permissive urban environment with a lot of neutral civilians to hide the bad guys. Big calibers with the ability to over-penetrate a target may not be the answer.

I doubt that a military rifle/MG ball round of any caliber won't pose an over-penetration hazard. Combat ammo needs to be capable of punching through barriers, with sufficient retained energy and momentum to be lethal. The requirement for barrier defeat capability is in direct opposition to the concern about over-penetration. IMO, it's unrealistic and pointless to be concerned about over-penetration.