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True but Irrelevant: Small Arms Performance in Afghanistan

By William F. Owen
3 Mar 2010

Small Arms Round

William Owen is a freelance writer and military/warfare theorist living in Israel. He disagrees with the suggestions that the current small arms round is under-performing in Afghanistan and that a different calibre is required.

Recent articles in Jane’s Defence Weekly1 and followed up by the popular press, suggested that the UK and NATO-standard small arms round of 5.56mm is under-performing on current operations, to the extent that a case for replacement can be made. This argument again highlights a vast field of woolly thinking and opinion that has traditionally informed infantry equipment decisions in the UK.