XM25 "good enough"

[Firn]

S
I'm not sure that all the examples you gave can really be seen as needs. Some seem more of a justification to help warrant it's existence. For instance, a buckshot or flechette round seems to me a heavy, bulky and expensive alternative to 5.56 or 7.62. A breaching round however could have merrit.

We will have to wait and see if the XM25 can fulfill it's core and much advertised function, taking out people behind cover through a precisely placed air-bursting round.


Let us talk about the possible functions and the needed ammuntion:

a) Rapdily eliminating or suppressing enemy targets on open ground and in defilade from short to long distances with a low risk of collatoral damage and relative lightweight rounds. The small burst radius should allow a short (10m?) arming range-> HEAB

b) Defeating or stopping lightly armored targets, such as vehicles or personnel behind cover at short to long ranges.-> AP (HEAT?), HEAB

c) Killing enemies at close range, for example while clearing a house or a trench Essentially selfdefense, this task is better left to other soldiers. -> Sabot Slug ( good range, good, safe penetration power), Buckshot/Flechette ( very short range, medium penetration), not armed HEAB

d) Breeching doors. -> Breeching round

e) Crowd/Riot control. Less-than-Lethal rounds -> bean bags, soft slugs. I'm generally sceptical about their use, but it should be possible to create some sensbile ones to give trained hands an important toolset.

f) Training. -> Training round


All in all the 25mm grenades won't replace the 40mm, as it will still be for many uses (smoke, illumination, WP, disposable camera, sheer bang) the better choice.


Firn

P.S: It seems that the XM25 with solid rounds is somewhat between downloaded 6- and 8-bores favorite big game rifles of the 19th century. A thinner sabot will result in less weight and more muzzle velocity.