Posted on 04/21/2022 9:15:16 AM PDT by PROCON
U.S. Army Reserve Soldier Sgt. Javion Siders, assigned to the 982nd Combat Camera Company (Airborne) conducts M4 Carbine marksmanship qualifications on Fort Jackson, S.C., April 9, 2022. The Army has awarded a 10-year, $20.4 million contract to Sig Sauer to replace the service’s M4 rifle with a new weapons system. (Spc. Eric Kestner/U.S. Army)
The Army has awarded a 10-year, $20.4 million contract to Sig Sauer to replace the service’s M4 rifle with a new weapons system that officials said reduces aiming errors and brings the Army a new caliber of ammunition for the first time in 65 years.
After a 27-month decision process, the Army chose Sig Sauer over two other competitors to manufacture and deliver two variations of the Next Generation Squad Weapon, the XM5 Rifle, set to replace the M4/M4A1 carbine, and the XM250 Automatic Rifle, replacing the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.
“The capability increase that these weapons provide over the M4 and the M249 is what’s really exciting. It’s significant,” said Col. Scott Madore, project manager for soldier lethality at Program Executive Office Soldier, the Army office that delivers new capabilities to soldiers. He spoke Wednesday during a news conference to discuss the contract alongside other officers who worked on acquiring the new squad rifle.
Both weapons use a 6.8 common cartridge family of ammunition, deviating from the Army’s 5.56 ammunition that has been the standard for 65 years, said Brig. Gen. William Boruff, the executive officer of the joint program for armaments and ammunition. The new ammunition comes in multiple types of tactical and training rounds to increase accuracy and
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The new XM5 Rifle is pictured here. The Army has awarded a 10-year, $20.4 million contract to Sig Sauer to replace the service’s M4 rifle with a new weapons system. (U.S. Army)
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
“spend it or lose it”
Yep.
Working for the DoD atached to the navy for 30 years I heard a lot of stories from navy retirees I worked with about throwing gear over the side on the way back from deployment to justify future funding.....some of it brand new.
If they didn’t need the money they lost it permanently......real efficient right?
SMH
“SIG Sauer, Inc, is headquartered in New Hampshire.”
I was not aware of that. Learned something new, thank you
Wonder if NATO is gonna adopt this caliber?
IMHO, it’s a stupid move, but everything about this admin is all about being “stupid” these days, especially when it comes to tax dollars and weaponry....
But, hey, there’s gotta be at least a gazillion 5.56/300BO cases out there....all for us, now.
But yeah....no American-centered manufacturers available? WTF? This sounds like a dark, smokey, backroom deal...they’re really good at that. /s
It ain’t their money.
Ammo to be manufactured in Missouri. New factory.
Tom Taylor, SIG Sauer’s chief marketing officer and executive vice president of commercial sales, succinctly summed this up: “SIG Sauer is an American company, and our firearms are 100 percent manufactured in the USA. Beyond that, and an even lesser known fact, is that SIG Sauer ammunition is made in Arkansas, while SIG Electro-Optics are made in Oregon.”
And wasn't the Beretta M9 the standard issue military sidearm in the U.S. from the mid-80's up until a few years ago? So this isn't entirely unprecedented.
“...no nation on earth builds better firearms than the USA...”
But...but...they build those awful, evil “ghost guns” that no one can see, especially libs. Better to go with our euro “friends”. “Friends” that are under “control”. /s
Took 15 replies to note this. $20 million? Pfft... drop in the bucket. Where’s the rest of the story?
XM5,,
Cause Everyone else has an AR 15 !
The new cartridge is 6.8x51, which is derived from the Army's 7.62x51 NATO cartridge case.
Sig will market the cartridge on the civilian market as the .277 Sig Fury, and will eventually offer a semi-auto version of the rifle as the Sig MCX-Spear. And you can own one for the low, low price of only $7,999.00
Apparently they want to get away from direct impingement and go to a piston but don’t want to upgrade to 7.62 that’s already available.
Wait, you mean I could just buy a different firearm and reduce my aiming errors? Hmm, I thought the usual fix for that was to use better sights, or get better training. ;-) What's the phrase? "It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools." or something like that.
I know, I've tried different firearms and better sights. I've concluded my firearms probably deserve a better marksman than I'll ever be. But hey, I maintain them well as a reward for putting up with my "modest" (ha, on a good day!) skills.
In all seriousness, this seems like a questionable call. Are the improvements in accuracy, effects, maintenance etc. really going to be any different than what could be realized by incremental improvements to existing systems? Are those improvements (via either path) significant in the big picture? Are they worth the "cost" of deviating from the standard, and the supply/logistics headaches that are sure to come? This smells like a solution looking for a problem to fix. As in "Hey, it does X and maybe Y somewhat better." so suddenly X and Y become all important as an excuse to justify something you really want for other reasons.
I read.the change is about penetrating body armour. Evidently the 6.8 does a better job.
I believe that it will be based on the M4/AR15 platform and shoot 6.8 SPC which will only require an upper and BCG change.
The purpose of the US going to 5.56 was to standardize NATO on a single rifle round.
The US taxpayer will probably foot the bill to re-equip all NATO forces with 6.8mm in the future.
“None of the new efforts will reduce the rate of production on 5.56 or 7.62 rounds, he said. “
They will be built under license and Sig will get a small fee for each one. This is a common situation in the arms industry. The Beretta 9mms were built in Connecticut IIRC. The Army had to pay a fee to Mauser because the 1903 used the Mauser action way back in the early 1900s.
Somehow, a $20 MM ten-year contract seems like not much money over a lot of time, but I am no expert in these matters. I “do” know that the 6.8 is quite the potent caliber.
20 million bucks isn’t nearly enough to replace all the 5.56s in use in the US Military. This will probably be used in dedicated units.
My neighbor (hunter) was right that the 6.8 was the more impressive round.
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