The 'Cancelled' American Grenade Launcher Whose Fire Control Survived Into The Army's Newest Rifle -

The XM25 was cancelled, but the Army ordered 250,000 computerized rifle sights that do what it pioneered: range the target, compute the shot, and solve defilade with math instead of guesswork. The XM25 Punisher was a 25mm airburst grenade launcher built to kill targets behind cover by programming each round to detonate above them. It reached Afghanistan in 2010, earned field respect, then injured three operators and slipped five years behind schedule before the Army terminated the contract in 2017. The program spent roughly $185 million and delivered twenty weapons. What survived was the requirement and the lesson. The Army's new M7 rifle carries the XM157 sight—laser rangefinder, ballistic computer, compass, and sensors—standard across the close combat force. The Precision Grenadier System competition now demands a launcher under 14.5 pounds that works with that sight, because the capability the XM25 had to carry alone is now infrastructure every rifleman has.