US Army/Wikimedia Commons
The US military has long explored the idea of replacing its M-16 assault rifle with something newer and deadlier. From the 1990s onward, German arms giant Heckler & Koch was heavily involved in helping the US Army attempt to reach that objective, creating newfangled firearms that bear considerable resemblances to the guns you’d find in futuristic, sci-fi movies and TV shows.
The XM8 was one of these rifles developed by H&K in the early 2000s as one of a number of alternatives to the M-16 and its derivative M4 carbine. Born as a scaled-down replacement for another H&K prototype — the XM29 — the XM8 entered a limited production run in 2003, concluding just two years later.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
NOW WATCH: Here are the countries the US sells the most weapons to
See Also:
- The Air Force’s ‘rods from god’ could hit with the force of a nuclear weapon — with no fallout
- This attack helicopter is China’s tank-killer
- Military dogs always hold a higher rank than their handlers — these 13 photos show why
