Gun Control advocates are really stupid.

[DeltaV]

It's obviously an earth-friendly blowgun with an impact-fused round.

[williatw]

Honestly, advances in ceramic armor are so rapid that even the stuff that gets published is outdated by the time it hits the shelves. Plasma sintering is a cheap process since it's so fast, but the stuff that comes out is still sold for fantastical markup, and the trade secrets here rule. I'm sure no one has better armor than the US Army. The question is just as you note--how much of it has been fielded?

Rumor has it that the last gen of ceramic armor has already been wed with power assist to make a man able to run with a minigun and be fairly invulnerable to small arms fire, though I've no idea if that's true. If it is you can be sure it won't appear on the web.

Has Graphene found its way into the body armor business yet? I understand it is supposed to be one of the strongest man-made materials.

[TDPerk]

GIThruster, the gun and rounds you just showcased would do as much good as throwing sand against the assisted armor you described.

Triples are for lethality.

The nerves going to a muscle deprived of blood for too long to be viable could still drive the sensors running the actuators for long enough for the MI trooper to wipe out a conventional position. Something with the penetration to get to the oxygenating pump or CNS is required, or enough damage to promptly exsanguinate the target.

[Diogenes]

Rumor has it that the last gen of ceramic armor has already been wed with power assist to make a man able to run with a minigun and be fairly invulnerable to small arms fire, though I've no idea if that's true. If it is you can be sure it won't appear on the web.

[choff]

There's more to .50's than the Barrett.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CrUARlmqso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl4_PEbXd8s

It changes the dynamics of a squad on squad firefight when one side can punch through defensive cover like it isn't there and the other one can't.

[GIThruster]

Yes, but those aren't .50 BMG rounds. They're probably about 1/5 the energy of a Barrett. You certainly can't shoot through a car with them. Probably not much more power than a 12 gauge shotgun slug. There are a handful of rounds like it, chambered over the years for the Marlin big bore lever actions, originally the 45-70 and later the Marlin .444 and .450. Those are hard to shoot with so much power to the shoulder. The .458 Win Mag is even bigger IIRC. That usually only finds itself into bolt and double rifles. Point is though, none of these come close to the .50 BMG. And you wouldn't want to shoot one of those from an M4 knockoff as if it didn't blow the gun apart, it would certainly be too much energy in too little time on your shoulder. You need the massive weight of the Barrett to control the round--no way to get around it.