"US Army new rifle, machine gun and optic in 2024" Topic

"The Army's newest rifle and automatic rifle are already in the hands of soldiers for testing and will officially field to its first unit in 2024.

The service delivered the Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle and automatic rifle, known as the XM7 and XM250, respectively, along with its advanced optic, the XM157 fire control, to a platoon in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in late September…"

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Armand

The M16, now the M4 has been around for quite some time. Tech has advanced. However, and '03 or M1 can kill you just as dead regardless. But the best most advanced weapons in the hands of well trained and well lead troops will give you an edge.

I'm sure there good technical reasons for adopting a new caliber cartridge but it seems awkward at a potentially dangerous period of international affairs.

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Armand

A weapon that looks like the Nostromo troubles me.

(smile)

Armand

Well talked to a person in the know who works with the army.
He talked about the transition from M16 to M4 to the new model. Focus was on the length of the barrel which has varied over the decades. The effective range which has shifted from 300 meters to over 700 meters now.
Ammo has also changed from the traditional rise and fall trajectory to a flat trajectory for the entire flight.

They are already working on changes to the yet to be deployed rifle..
They are also working on new tactical aspects.
For example with the new rifle , a snippet team' support gunner has a longer range with more impact than the sniper rifle.

With new tech …. tactics evolve … or should …

The discussions on the formation of new platoons will continue to be entertaining.

Yes, I've seen online some of the proposed reorganization of the Army TO&Es. Interesting …

Much more hitting power and range. Penetrates and degrades cover that the 5.56 couldn't. Basic rifleman just got more lethal.

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Armand

It's an interesting splitting of the difference between the 5.56 and 7.62 rounds. For a long time I favored the 5.56, on the grounds that the greater feasible ammo load more than offset the loss of ability to engage point targets at ranges where most soldiers couldn't hit, anyway. Modern combat optics seem to have changed that, so this seems like a sensible compromise- expand the lethality envelope without dramatically reducing the UBL volume.