Moral of the Story: The client isn’t always right.

The OICW – Objective Individual Combat Weapon – was part of a program in the 1980s and 1990s to replace the whole lineup of US small arms with a consolidated group of new high-tech ones.

The XM29 (as it was designated) was a 15-pound clumsy and awkward boat anchor of a weapon. While the many capabilities may have looked good on paper, the XM29 was pretty awful for regular soldiering – heavy to carry and slow to use.

The OICW was basically [supposed to be] a mashup of a 5.56mm carbine with a semiautomatic 20mm grenade launchers.

The grenades could be programmed with a laser rangefinder to detonate at any desired range. Just past walls, just inside windows, that sort of thing. The weapon had a big multi-function optical sight that would allow both day and night vision and a bunch of other features.

[12:21] https://youtu.be/Ez4DPz-Eo88?si=

Edit: Turns out Daewoo made their own version the k11 (see below)