The Advanced Individual Combat Weapon (AICW) was an Australian prototype combination assault rifle and grenade launcher developed as a technology demonstrator.
[1] The AICW combined a standard 5.56 mm assault rifle based on the successful F88 Austeyr[4] with a superposed load grenade launcher developed by Metal Storm.
[4] The weapon was not intended to enter service, but rather as a concept demonstration to "generate ‘advance-thinking’ within the ADF about the future of small arms".
This meant the grenade launcher was loaded in a similar manner to the tube magazine of a pump-action shotgun: an induction coil around the barrel was used to provide ignition.
Figures for the tested variant are somewhat lighter, with the DSTO Scientific Officer in charge of the AICW CTD, Stephen Forbes, stating that a production version could have weighed as little as 7.5 kg fully loaded, after a predicted 380g weight reduction from the VX3 prototype.