Ballistic projectiles have been around since the first human threw a stone, but they are becoming smarter, promising greater effectiveness with lower collateral damage and sometimes lower total costs. This last year has, witnessed developments in key programmes across multiple calibres from heavy artillery to small arms which are being reviewed in this article. Persistent concerns about overmatch in small arms fire fights are driving western militaries to revisit the seemingly perennial debate about whether to replace the 5.56×45mm and 7.62×51 mm rounds with an intermediate round of 6.5-7 millimetres. A further push in this direction be found in a quote from the 2014 Army Soldier Weapons Strategy used by independent expert Jim Schatz at the National Defence Industrial Association (NDIA) Small Arms Forum on 3 June: "Near-peer threats are moving towards a common, intermediate calibre to maximise fire-power and efficiencies for the squad in an attempt to increase lethality at close range and accuracy at long-range."
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