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The 5.56×25mm AAI AIWS was an experimental caseless cartridge developed in the 1980s as part of the AIWS program.
It was phased out in favor of 5.56×45mm and 5.56×47mm flechette rounds.
Design Details[]
Designed by Hercules Inc. specifically for use in the AAI AIWS, the 5.56×25mm round uses a propellant body that is made up of nitrocellulouse powder that is compacted into a solid mass with an acetonei/collodion binder. It has a base that is closed by a thin disc of a rubber-like material.
Two different projectile types were experimented with; A 5.56mm jacketed bullet with a steel core and a 4.32mm sub-caliber steel penetrator in a four-part plastic sabot.
Drawbacks[]
The propellant body proved to be fragile, as the industry had not been involved in such fabrication methods for a long time and the knowledge to make stronger propellant bodies had been lost in the American industry over time. Not helping matters is that the AIWS had no way of extracting broken rounds, resulting in stoppages occurring often enough to interfere with cook-off tests.
Gallery[]
See also[]
External Link(s)[]
- 5.56x25mm US Caseless XPL at Municion.org (Spanish)
- ForgottenWeapons subreddit thread: Print Media for AAI's ACR Platform, 1989/1990-ish.
- Docdroid PDF Advanced Combat Rifle program