The Inertial Reticle Technology (IRT) Applied to a .50-cal. M2 Heavy-Barrel Machine Gun Firing from a High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV)

Abstract

Abstract : Motion of the muzzle of a weapon fired from a moving vehicle occurs during firing because of many factors, such as vibrations caused by the vehicle's wheels or the terrain. This motion can have adverse effects on the capabilities of the weapon to hit a target, because the shooter is unable to accurately position the muzzle of the weapon onto the target as the projectile exits the barrel. Large, heavy vehicles, such as the Abrams tank, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the costly Apache helicopter, have very expensive gun turrets that are controlled by very expensive, fully stabilized gun sights to accurately position the muzzle of the weapon onto the target. However, small and lightweight vehicles, such as a small helicopter, a fast attack vehicle, or a high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV), cannot justify such expensive gun turrets and fully stabilized sights. Therefore, to improve the accuracy of a weapon firing from a small, lightweight vehicle, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has developed the Inertial Reticle Technology (IRT). This report presents the complete details of how the IRT was applied to a .50-cal. M2 heavy-barrel machine gun firing from a HMMWV, along with an analysis of stationary and moving vehicle live fire test data. Also presented are analyses of moving vehicle live fire test data from a .50-cal. M2 heavy-barrel machine gun firing from the swivel turret of a standard HMMWV, without the IRT.