--- title: "The US Army’s Strange Inspiration for Its Next Rifle: The iPhone" description: "An Army official told military tech blog Task & Purpose that the military wants its upcoming rifle to be an expandable platform comparable to an iPhone." date: "2019-02-08" modified: "2019-02-08" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/army-next-rifle-iphone-lethality" categories: - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "army" - "military" - "the digest" - "weapon" --- # The US Army’s Strange Inspiration for Its Next Rifle: The iPhone ![An Army official told the military tech blog Task & Purpose that the military wants its upcoming rifle to be an expandable platform he compared to an iPhone]() *\Image: U.S. Army\* ## Killer App An official [told military and veterans site]() *Task & Purpose* that the Army plans for its upcoming rifle to be an expandable platform comparable to Apple's iconic iPhone. "We have hundreds of capabilities we can put into this weapons system, but we want to do it by holistically creating a system that that takes advantage of everything we've done in the past," Army Col. Elliott Caggins, a project manager for soldier weapons, told *Task & Purpose*. "This means its capabilities will only grow, just as the iPhone's did." ## "iPhone of Lethality" The gun —described by *Task & Purpose* as the "iPhone of lethality" — is the Army's upcoming Next Generation Squad Weapon. A lot is riding on the gun, which is expected to replace the M4 and M16 that [many soldiers currently carry](). The Army is [currently soliciting prototypes]() for the next-gen weapon, *Task & Purpose* pointed out — and, according to the interview with Caggins, it sounds like Army officials are looking for a high-tech, platform-style device that can be built up with future add-ons. ## Platformer Basically, it sounds like the Army is looking to build a stable platform, like iOS, that it can build increasingly sophisticated weapon technologies on top of. "Imagine that Steve Jobs and his engineers were trying to convert the iPod Touch to the first 3G iPhone," Caggins told *Task & Purpose*. "There were a thousand technologies they could have put in the first iPhone but they were looking to mature the platform before they could actually go onto the system." *Editor’s note Feb. 8, 2019 at 4:32 PM ET: This article has been updated to describe Task & Purpose as a "military and veterans" site instead of a "military tech blog."* **READ MORE:** [The Army's Next-Generation Rifle Will Be the iPhone of Lethality, Officials Say]() \[*Task & Purpose*\] ***More on weapons:*** [Russian Navy Says New Weapon Makes Enemies Hallucinate]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()