New Army Ammo Puts Mean in ‘Green’
May 05, 2011
Military.com Link|by Christian Lowe
new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round
ABERDEEN, Md. — Tell a Soldier he’s loading “environmentally friendly” ammo into his M4 mag and he might be skeptical about whether it’s as effective as its lead counterpart.
But Army officials here say the new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round – with its steel core instead of a toxic lead slug – is far more effective than the current round, doubling the effective range and for the first time giving M4-wielding Joes the ability to penetrate barriers once reserved for higher-caliber rounds.
Read more about the Army’s new M855A1 ammo in Kit Up!
"There’s a stigma among Soldiers about something that’s ‘green,’ " said Lt. Col. Jeff Woods, the Army’s small caliber ammunition product manager. “This is a clear case where making something environmentally friendly works for us.”
Leveraging the science of 120mm tank rounds, Army engineers at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. designed a 5.56mm rifle cartridge that incorporates a jacketed copper slug pushing a sharpened steel “penetrator.” Testers showed during a May 4 demonstration here that the round can punch through quarter-inch steel armor out to 300 yards with ease.
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