The Army Says Its Next-Generation Assault Rifle Will Pack A Punch Like A Tank’s Main Gun

[rangerrebew]

The Army Says Its Next-Generation Assault Rifle Will Pack A Punch Like A Tank’s Main Gun
By Jared Keller
on February 27, 2018

The Army claims its new assault rifle will unleash a hailstorm of specially-designed shells with as much chamber pressure as a battle tank to tear through even the most advanced body armor — and if all goes according to plan, the soldiers will get them to play with sooner than they thought.

The service plans on fielding a Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle (NGSAR) — the first version in the Army’s Next-Generation Weapons System that chambers a round between 6.5mm and 6.8mm —  as a potential replacement for its 80,000 M249 SAWs starting in fiscal 2022 rather than the original target date of fiscal 2025, Col. Geoffrey A. Norman, force development division chief at Army HQ, told Task & Purpose, with two per nine-man infantry squad.

https://taskandpurpose.com/army-next-generation-squad-weapon/

[the_doc]

When did the philosophy of having a SAW for every infantry squad get started?  Was it in WWII?  (I believe it was a Browning machine gun, but what caliber was it?)

[driftdiver]

When did the philosophy of having a SAW for every infantry squad get started?  Was it in WWII?  (I believe it was a Browning machine gun, but what caliber was it?)

The maxim was the first self-powered one used by the US (WW I) and it was a .303 caliber.  After that (WW II) you had the browning (also .30 caliber) and later the M-60.   The M-60 is too heavy for most people to carry.  I think thats why they started using the m249 which shoots 5.56.    When I was in we used the M60 but had it mounted.  The m249 wasn't in wide use at that time (late 80s).   Army and marine units had the .50 cal of course.

Other countries tended to use .30 caliber machine guns as well.   

The m249 has a good rate of fire but lacks the punch & range of the bigger calibers.  I've shot it and found it pretty useless except as fire suppression.   Folks that used it in combat probably have a different opinion.

[ABX]

6.5 Grendel compared to 5.56 currently being used.

[driftdiver]

Seems like that would have a lot more stopping power and range.

[Suppressed]

When did the philosophy of having a SAW for every infantry squad get started?  Was it in WWII?  (I believe it was a Browning machine gun, but what caliber was it?)

And since when is a SAW an "assault rifle"?

[the_doc]

The maxim was the first self-powered one used by the US (WW I) and it was a .303 caliber.  After that (WW II) you had the browning (also .30 caliber) and later the M-60.   The M-60 is too heavy for most people to carry. 

Thanks for the interesting info.  I had forgotten about the Maxim.