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HIWS
Lacroix Pyro-Technologies France & FNH
Citat:After experiencing the .408's relatively low recoil, the evaluators found quite a contrast just a few short steps away. There, nestled among FNH's more familiar offerings, was a prototype, shoulder-fired system with a truly intimidating tube - 76mm, to be precise. Through that 3-inch-wide opening - a baseball-sized hole -- the High-Impulse Weapon System (HIWS) is capable of hurling the 2.2-pound payload of a 3.3-pound round more than 700 yards in an indirect-fire mode. In a direct-fire role, the HIWS can engage targets out to 300 yards.
Manufactured by Lacroix Pyro-Technologies of France, the HIWS will be marketed by the FNH team. Touting a sophisticated recoil-mitigation system, the weapon produces no back blast and no overpressure, making it possible to fire the system from an enclosed space - even from inside a vehicle. The HIWS is also relatively quiet: Ear protection isn't needed when firing the system.
Despite a quick rundown on how to arm and fire the HIWS, some of the evaluators clearly had reservations about the system's imposing size and equally imposing statistics. A couple of questions that probably flashed through their minds were: How large a bruise can be caused by a maximum projectile acceleration of 65,600 ft.sec-2? And just how much shoulder pain should be expected from a firing impulse of 22.5 pounds per second?
Perhaps these questions went unasked because Lacroix engineers are considering developing an 84mm HIWS, which would make the 76mm version something akin to a girly-man system. For whatever reasons, our fearless evaluators rose to the challenge.
But one failed to heed the salesman's twice-proffered advice to keep 80 percent of his body weight on his forward foot: A trigger pull later, he did a 180-degree spin to his right, stumbled three steps sideways, and ended up on his butt. And he isn't a little guy. Subsequent shooters didn't have to be reminded.
Lacroix engineers actually have plans for an 84mm HIWS; they've already developed a 66mm version; and they're working on a 40mm variant that's sure to be offered to U.S. forces.
Despite any pain our evaluators suffered firing the 76mm variant, there was nearly universal agreement that the concept is, in fact, worth pursuing. "Excellent potential for less-lethal payloads," noted one. "Great idea," said another. "Its possible uses include less-lethal weapons applications. I'd like to see further development of this concept."
"Tremendous potential to provide the dismounted infantryman with lightweight, shoulder-fired lethality at ranges well beyond our current family of munitions," another observed. "Awesome potential to place 2.2-pound warheads 300 to 400 meters downrange to defeat various target sets."
Other comments suggested that Lacroix designers continue developing and improving the system with an eye toward evolving it from an area weapon to a point weapon system, and that they figure out a way for a shooter to use the HIWS from a prone firing position.
Blackwater shootout 2003
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