With a demonstrated effectiveness of six times that of a grenade launcher or a 5.56 mm carbine, and the ability to take down targets hiding behind walls, trenches or other obstacles, the XM25 carbine is a giant progress in weapon lethality.

For obvious reasons, the following details are neither for the feeble-hearted or for those with mental-emotional issues. This is for the simple reason that it involves killing. Or, at least, hypothetical killing, as the item in question will enter the final field testing stage next month.

The XM25 Individual Air Burst Weapon is what the marines in the movie “Aliens” used, says the US Army. It is six times more effective than a modern grenade launcher or a 5.56 mm carbine and it is perfectly able to kill (or just neutralize) targets behind obstacles. That relies on the weapon's built-in fire control system which can individually program each of the 25 mm rounds wirelessly, in real time. The system is based, in turn, on a thermal optic, day-sight, laser range finder, compass and infrared light in order to precisely measure the proximity of the target, as it programs every round to explode close to the target through the wireless connection.

The round-programming feature is what gives the weapon most of its deadliness, since it allows a bullet to reach an “impossible” target behind an obstacle. For exemplification sake, let's assume that our target lies on the bottom of a trench. The XM25 can be programmed so that each round explodes right above the target, at that specific range, taking it down due to its air-bursting power. The weapon can fire extremely precise 360-degree explosive radius rounds out to 600 meters (656 yards or nearly 2.000 feet).

The gun has also been provided with two types of non-lethal rounds: blunt and air burst, which can only neutralize a target without killing it. All of the rounds are color-coded for better usage: blue (for training) and yellow (high explosive air bursting) are already done, while red (armor-piercing), orange (door-breaching), black (anti-personnel), light green (non-lethal blunt) and dark green (non-lethal air burst) are still under development. The estimated price for such a destructive device is set at $25.000 (13.600 pounds or 17.100 Euros), and $25 (13.6 pounds or 17.1 Euros) for each of the programmable rounds.