Personal infantry weapons: old weapons or new hardware in the coming decades?

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Personal infantry weapons: old weapons or new hardware in the coming decades?

Personal Infantry Weapons

Despite current shifts in world affairs, infantrymen will continue to need effective personal weapons, whether armies are engaged in peaceful deterrence, low-intensity warfare or global conflicts. Generally, infantry weapons have received only marginal attention in defense budgets, but since some 60 to 80 million assault rifles and some 8 to 11 million machine-guns have been built since the early 1950s they cannot be dismissed lightly.

Budgetary allocations for the 1990s will determine if old calibers and weapon types or new hardware will dominate personal weapons procurement in the coming decades. These decisions will not only affect the infantry's effectiveness but the small arms industry.

Given the past emphasis on heavy forces commentators have questioned the utility of such basic weapons as rifles and machine-guns. But ground warfare since 1945 demonstrates that reports of obsolescence were premature. Soldiers equipped with small arms and provided with proper training have had and will continue to have a significant impact on bot...

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