The U.S. Army is moving forward with its Next Generation Squad Weapon program aimed at increasing the lethality and capability of its close-combat forces. The Army will replace the M4A1 Carbine with the XM7 Rifle and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon with the XM250 Automatic Rifle following the April contract award to Sig Sauer. These new guns will introduce a new 6.8mm family of ammunition, much larger than today’s 5.56mm rounds.
Since the award of the contract, Sig Sauer collaborated with numerous stakeholders within the Army, including PEO Soldier and JPEO Armaments & Ammunition, to ensure the new weapons meet such a high bar for performance. During Fall 2022, comprehensive technical testing was completed, together with a Soldier touch point at the Aberdeen Test Center, both with an eye toward user acceptance and integration with the XM157 Fire Control optic manufactured by Vortex Optics Inc.
Maj. Jamin D. Williamson, assistant product manager, PM Soldier Lethality said Sig Sauer demonstrated just how serious it was about that commitment by replicating the test setup at the company’s home test center in Exeter, New Hampshire. That, he said, demonstrates “clear confidence of our vendor’s commitment to results for our Soldiers.”
User feedback has been the most critical part of helping the Army fine-tune the design features of the new weapons. More than 100 technical tests have been taken, with over 1.5 million rounds of 6.8mm ammunition fired and over 20,000 hours of Soldier testing. Soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment and the National Guard tested them, delivering critical insights that drove design changes.
About the XM7, one Soldier with the 75th Ranger Regiment said, “Absolutely would take this weapon to combat in a heartbeat. It is light, functions very well has an awesome load system, and is easy to handle and engage targets with.” Another Soldier highlighted the benefits of the XM250: “This feels like a huge upgrade as far as ergonomics of controls, recoil management, and ease of manipulation over the M249.”
Doctrine, Organization, Training, materiel, Leadership and Education, Personnel, Facilities, and Policy, or DOTmLPF-P, integration efforts also continue for the NGSW program. Headley noted, “The level of emphasis and precision the Army enterprise has put into synchronizing the NGSW DOTmLPF-P domains has been nothing short of amazing.
PQT for NGSW is planned for May to July 2023. The Army will conduct an operational test to inform the conditions of the First Unit Equipped, planned tentatively for the 2nd quarter of FY24. Performance assessment of the weapons will further be conducted in air qualification and other varied scenarios in the future.
The rapid progress of the program was also spoken to by the director of the Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team, Brig. Gen. Larry Q. Burris. According to him, the Army was able to do in 27 months what would have otherwise taken eight to ten years. The first unit of Soldiers in close-quarters combat will be equipped with the new system in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Sig Sauer is currently the first producer of the new 6.8mm ammunition, but all of the ammunition will be made at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Missouri. According to Brig. Gen. William M. Boruff, program executive officer in the Joint Program Executive Office, Armaments and Ammunition, the Lake City facility will see its new building and production ramp begin around FY25/26.
The project manager for Soldier lethality, Col. Scott Madore, said he was excited about the capabilities the new weapons would offer, keying on their improved accuracy and energy on target. This puts Soldiers at the forefront of advances with major weight reduction swings, as in the case of the XM5 Rifle, about two pounds heavier than an M4, or the XM250 Automatic Rifle, about four pounds lighter than an M249.
The NGSW program represents a historic pivot in small arms for the Army where the XM157 Fire Control system is extremely important in increasing accuracy and lethality. Integration of sophisticated optics, laser range finders, ballistic computers, and other features equips the soldier with capabilities up to and above existing and emerging threats on the contemporary battlefield.