[Military and military sub-plane] Author: Friedrich Lau
According to news from the US military on April 19, the US military will sign a 10-year stable price follow-up production contract with the arms company SIG-Sauer for manufacturing for the US military. and delivered two next-generation squad automatic weapons (NGSW) XM5 rifles, XM250 automatic rifles and 6.8mm general-purpose ammunition. The contract, with an initial delivery order value of $20.4 million, will provide for the upfront procurement of weapons and ammunition for testing. At the same time, the contract also includes firearms accessories, spare parts and contractor support, etc., and also provides other U.S. defense departments and foreign military sales countries with the opportunity to purchase new rifles. Previously, in addition to Sig Sauer, Textron and General Dynamics also launched their own firearm designs to participate in this competition.
▲The NGSW-R rifle (bottom) and NGSW-AR machine gun (top) launched by Sig Sauer for the NGSW program (Source: Guns&Ammo)
The US military’s next-generation squad automatic weapon (NGSW) program was launched in 2017 , the research and development and evaluation work cycle lasts 27 months. The main content of the plan is to launch a new rifle (NGSW-R) using the universal 6.8mm bullet and a automatic rifle (NGSW-AR) to replace the current US military Equipped with M4 carbine , M249 squad machine gun and M240 general machine gun.
▲The M4A1
equipped with M68 optical sight and M203 grenade launcher is based on the NSGW project. The US military will plan to purchase 250,000 new weapons and then distribute them to front-line infantry, combat engineers , artillery observers, combat medics and scouts. By fiscal year 2025, 122,000 units will be purchased. In the fiscal year 2022 budget, the U.S. Army submitted a plan to spend $97 million to purchase 12,217 NGSW rifles, four times the number planned for fiscal year 2021 (3,983).
▲M249 machine gun
According to the plan, the new XM5 rifle will replace the M4/M4A1 carbine in the hands of close combat troops, and the XM250 automatic rifle is the planned replacement for the M249 squad automatic weapon. Both weapons offer significant improvements in accuracy, range and lethality. Lightweight, low recoil, more lethal ammunition, better barrel performance, and more effective muzzle flash suppression. Both weapons use 6.8mm general-purpose ammunition, including various types of tactical and training rounds. Compared with 5.56mm and 7.62mm caliber ammunition, 6.8mm general-purpose ammunition can improve shooting accuracy and lethality.
▲ 6.8x51mm ammunition (Source: Guns & Ammo)
The XM157 integrates many advanced technologies, including variable magnification optics (1X8), laser rangefinder , ballistic calculator, atmospheric sensor suite, compass, soldier wireless system, visible/infrared laser sighting and digital display, etc. .
▲ Includes a fully foldable stock, rear and side-mounted charging handles, M-LOK tactical rails, and quick-release muzzle suppressor.
▲ Sig Sauer NGSW-R rifle
The NGSW-AR machine gun launched by Sig Sauer adopts an AR rifle-style ergonomic design. The lightweight gun body is 40% lighter than the current US military's squad machine guns, which can reduce soldiers' fatigue. load-bearing, improve individual combat performance, and significantly reduce recoil while maintaining the traditional ammunition belt supply. At the same time, the gun is equipped with Picatinny rail , which can be installed with a quick-release semi-rigid magazine and a quick-release silencer. Compared with the current M249 squad machine gun, the performance is greatly improved.
▲Sig Sauer NGSW-AR machine gun
