The Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) was introduced in the late 1990’s as the next service rifle and would replace the M16, M4 and some M9 service weapons. There have been multiple designs, but the most infamous of the OICW family if the XM-8. This weapon was hailed as the answer to consistent complaint over the malfunction and dissatisfaction of current weaponry. Given that the United States Army discontinued testing the XM-8 in 2005, there have certainly been issues with the weapon. The XM-8 would serve little to no purpose in the current theatre of operations, such as Iraq. However, the continual development of OICW technology remains a vital part to developing future weaponry and concepts.
The United States uniformed services have been looking for a replacement rifle to the M16 and M4 weapon series for quite some time. Recently, however, with the complaints of weapon complication and malfunction in Iraq reaching all time highs, changes needed to be made. (Wheeler, 9). Although OICW was already underway when the war in Iraq began, the testing and implementation were pushed ahead of schedule to try and meet soldiers’ demands. Some scholars note this as the main reason why OICW was scrapped in 2005 by the United States Army. (Kemp, 37). Other people believe it was the fact that other weapons manufacturers were not given an equal opportunity to develop their own series of weapons for testing. (Laurenzo, 26).
The advantages of an OICW system are said to be its versatility. The soldier is provided with a standard issue weapon which can be easily configured to meet a variety of needs, such as grenade launcher and sniper rifle. (Kemp, 39). However, little has been discussed about the actual logistics of carrying this equipment and time needed to switch the parts for the type of operation. Also, given the auspicious conditions of Iraq, soldiers need confidence in their equipment, but especially in weapon systems. These advantages could also be seen as disadvantages. For example, in order for weapons to be reconfigured, some variable parts must be removed. This removal and reattachment, over time, can ware out various pieces and ultimately cause problems with the OICW.
Objective Individual Combat Weapon technology has served the purpose of getting the uniformed services to think about and develop alternatives to their current weapon systems. The need for replacement is long overdue and has become much more evident in areas such as Iraq. Among the advantages of OICW is its versatility to be reconstructed to meet multiple fighting needs. However, the Army felt that OICW was not the answer for their needs and decided to move in a different direction in 2005. There were a few reasons for this, but the most notable was the pressure to field the weapons and the fact that no other companies were given a chance to compete with Heckler-Koch for the contract. As such, OICW has become a distant memory and would not have served the best interests of the fighting forces had its implementation remained intact.
Works Cited
Kemp, Ian. “Assault Rifles in a 5.56 mm Evolution.” Armada International 31.2 (2007): 36-40.
Laurenzo, Ron. “Gun Shy.” Aviation Week & Space Technology 163.19 (2005): 26-29.
Wheeler, Winslow T. “Outside View: Our Troop’s Unmet Needs.” UPI Security & Terrorism (2006): 26 pars.