Skip to main content

The Army is testing a smart grenade launcher that can take out hidden targets

To help keep American soldiers safe (and outfitted with the most futuristic gear, of course), the United States Army just announced plans to begin testing of a new smart grenade launcher capable of zeroing in on covered/hidden targets. Officially called the XM25 Counter Defilade Engagement System, this smart grenade launcher comes courtesy of the Virginia-based rocket systems manufacturer Orbital ATK, and aims to allow soldiers on the battlefield to avoid exposing themselves during firefights. The company itself says the weapon increases a soldier’s hit probability out to roughly 1,600 feet by 300 to 500 percent. You don’t need to be a math whiz to like those odds.

In development since last decade, the XM25 is no stranger to the battlefield, having made an appearance during 2010 when the Army’s PEO Soldier program sent prototypes to Afghanistan for use on the battlefield. During these prototype tests, PEO Soldier Lieutenant Colonel Chris Lehner equated the XM25 to other innovative military advancements such as the machine gun or tank, which possess the ability to greatly alter tactics employed by soldiers. Lehner acknowledged that due to the smart grenade launcher’s inherent efficiency, lower cost, and ease of use, it instantly became preferable over airstrikes or mortars.

Recommended Videos

“The system is less expensive, more precise, quicker to deploy, and causes less collateral damage than mortars, artillery or airstrikes,” Lehner points out in a PEO Soldier press release from 2010. “Our Soldiers can remain covered/protected and use their XM25 to neutralize an enemy in his covered position. This will significantly reduce the risk of U.S. casualties and change the way we fight.”

Under the hood, Orbital ATK says the launcher features the ability to accurately strike a target from around 1,640 feet while also possessing the capacity to hit a target with a mid-air explosion at roughly 2,300 feet. Built by the German weapons company Heckler & Koch, the semi-automatic launcher houses a chamber capable of holding five 25 millimeter cartridges per clip. Though the standard XM25 figures to make use of an explosive airbust grenade, Orbital ATK is also developing compatible armor-piercing, door-breaching, and non-lethal rounds for use with the launcher.

During operation, soldiers using the XM25 simply utilize the weapon’s built-in targeting system which accurately selects a desired target, analyzes its distance, and examines possible obstacles. Depending on the distance of the target, the soldier either selects the fusing of the grenade to explode on impact or, for further targets, to detonate mid-air over a wall, foxhole, or vehicle. After making necessary adjustments, the launcher’s onboard computer informs the operator of the new aim point needed to accurately strike the target.

As of now it’s unknown exactly when the Army may officially unveil the XM25 as an everyday addition to its weapons arsenal. Though if tests go as well as they did for the 2010 prototype, it likely won’t be long before every U.S. soldier has access to a smart grenade launcher and better yet, a safer, more efficient method of navigating a battlefield.

Rick Stella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rick became enamored with technology the moment his parents got him an original NES for Christmas in 1991. And as they say…
Google Gemini’s best AI tricks finally land on Microsoft Copilot
Copilot app for Mac

Microsoft’s Copilot had a rather splashy AI upgrade fest at the company’s recent event. Microsoft made a total of nine product announcements, which include the agentic trick called Actions, Memory, Vision, Pages, Shopping, and Copilot Search. 

A healthy few have already appeared on rival AI products such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, alongside much smaller players like Perplexity and browser-maker Opera. However, two products that have found some vocal fan-following with Gemini and ChatGPT have finally landed on the Copilot platform. 

Read more
Rivian set to unlock unmapped roads for Gen2 vehicles
rivian unmapped roads gen2 r1t gallery image 0

Rivian fans rejoice! Just a few weeks ago, Rivian rolled out automated, hands-off driving for its second-gen R1 vehicles with a game-changing software update. Yet, the new feature, which is only operational on mapped highways, had left many fans craving for more.
Now the company, which prides itself on listening to - and delivering on - what its customers want, didn’t wait long to signal a ‘map-free’ upgrade will be available later this year.
“One feedback we’ve heard loud and clear is that customers love [Highway Assist] but they want to use it in more places,” James Philbin, Rivian VP of autonomy, said on the podcast RivianTrackr Hangouts. “So that’s something kind of exciting we’re working on, we’re calling it internally ‘Map Free’, that we’re targeting for later this year.”
The lag between the release of Highway Assist (HWA) and Map Free automated driving gives time for the fleet of Rivian vehicles to gather ‘unique events’. These events are used to train Rivian’s offline model in the cloud before data is distilled back to individual vehicles.
As Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe explained in early March, HWA marked the very beginning of an expanding automated-driving feature set, “going from highways to surface roads, to turn-by-turn.”
For now, HWA still requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road. The system will send alerts if you drift too long without paying attention. But stay tuned—eyes-off driving is set for 2026.
It’s also part of what Rivian calls its “Giving you your time back” philosophy, the first of three pillars supporting Rivian’s vision over the next three to five years. Philbin says that philosophy is focused on “meeting drivers where they are”, as opposed to chasing full automation in the way other automakers, such as Tesla’s robotaxi, might be doing.
“We recognize a lot of people buy Rivians to go on these adventures, to have these amazing trips. They want to drive, and we want to let them drive,” Philbin says. “But there’s a lot of other driving that’s very monotonous, very boring, like on the highway. There, giving you your time back is how we can give the best experience.”
This will also eventually lead to the third pillar of Rivian’s vision, which is delivering Level 4, or high-automation vehicles: Those will offer features such as auto park or auto valet, where you can get out of your Rivian at the office, or at the airport, and it goes off and parks itself.
While not promising anything, Philbin says he believes the current Gen 2 hardware and platforms should be able to support these upcoming features.
The second pillar for Rivian is its focus on active safety features, as the EV-maker rewrote its entire autonomous vehicle (AV) system for its Gen2 models. This focus allowed Rivian’s R1T to be the only large truck in North America to get a Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“I believe there’s a lot of innovation in the active safety space, in terms of making those features more capable and preventing more accidents,” Philbin says. “Really the goal, the north star goal, would be to have Rivian be one of the safest vehicles on the road, not only for the occupants but also for other road users.”

Read more
Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan hit the brake on shipments to U.S. over tariffs
Range Rover Sport P400e

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced it will pause shipments of its UK-made cars to the United States this month, while it figures out how to respond to President Donald Trump's 25% tariff on imported cars.

"As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions, including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans," JLR said in a statement sent to various media.

Read more