OICW Advanced Assault Rifle

Specifications

1. Caliber / Ammunition :  5,56mm 20x85mm smart grenade
2. Weapon length : 890mm
3. Barrel length : 5,56=250mm / 20mm=460mm
4. Weight : 5,5kg empty / 6,8kg full
5. Magazine capacity : 20 or 30 rounds for 5,56 / 6 rounds for 20mm
   

 
The XM29 OICW, or the Object Individual Combat Weapon was a project funded by the US Army to find a weapon that would be better than the M16 better, almost 200% better than the M16, many prototypes have been introduced to the US Army, but none have ever reached Full Production, one weapon in particular that was part of this program is the famous XM8 Assault Rifle.

The OICW is a big weapon, having a distinctive blocky look to it, the gun is broken up into two parts, the upper weapon system which is actually an airburst grenade laucher with a mounted scope mounted and built-into the weapon, the second system is the Carbine rifle that is mounted under the grenade launcher, this program has had millions of dollars put into it to try and create a replacement for the M16, in other words, the next generation of rifle, while this program has been widely considered a failure, the program has introduced the concept of many innovative weapon systems.

The OICW has achieved what the US Army wanted for a replacement for the M16, but didn't want to put the rifle into full production because of soldiers complaining about the weight of the weapon, and the lack of effectiveness of the 20mm Airburst grenades. After abandonment of the OICW weapon system, many offshoot programs have been developed to try and create new weapon systems of the US Army, a widely talked about system that is in development as we speak is the XM25 25mm Standalone Airburst Module.

The OICW Program has an influence on future development, the XM8 Rifle was developed to meet one of the requirements that the US Army wanted in a new rifle, the XM307, and the XM312 were also derivatives of this program, utilizing the Same Laser Targetting system of the original OICW Rifle Designs.