Soldier Systems
In a surprising move, SIG exhibited their final prototype candidates for the US Army Next Generation Squad Weapon program which seeks to replace the M4 Carbine and M249 Squad Automatics Weapon with a new family of 6.8mm* Weapons which are lighter, yet feature a longer range and more lethal ammunition capable of defeating sophisticated threat body armor.
There are currently two Army efforts underway simultaneously. Both are leveraging an alternative form of procurement referred to as Other Transactional Authority, where Prototype Opportunity Notices are issued to industry and multiple candidate technologies are quickly developed and assessed. The initial round of the multi-phased, first PON to produce a Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle to replace the SAW comes to a close soon. It includes a requirement for a 20% reduction in weight over legacy brass cased ammunition, but in 6.8mm.
There are currently five companies, delivering six candidate weapons to the Army:
W15QKN-18-9-1017 – AAI Corporation Textron Systems
W15QKN-18-9-1018 – FN America LLC. (Design 1)
W15QKN-18-9-1019 – FN America LLC. (Design 2)
W15QKN-18-9-1020 – General Dynamics-OTS Inc.
W15QKN-18-9-1021 – PCP Tactical, LLC W15QKN-18-9-1022 – Sig Sauer Inc.
Senior Army leaders are expected to fire the weapons next month at Fort Benning in addition to a formal evaluation to determine which candidates move to the next phase.
It’s important to note that although the program calls for replacement of the current 5.56mm NATO M4 and M249 in the Rifle Squad of Brigade Combat Teams, this is a .30 class weapon. If everything goes as planned, the Soldier will have an improvement over not only their 5.56mm weapons, but the 7.62mm NATO ones as well such as the M240 Machine Gun.
As part of the program, SIG has also introduced a new three piece construction hybrid ammunition. It features a Brass case, Steel base and an internal clip to connect the two.
So far, they have manufactured 40,000 of their 6.8 x 51 cartridge at their plant in Arkansas and are working on an additional 60,000. Due to its construction, the hybrid ammo offers increased velocities over standard ammunition in the same caliber and can be used in all current weapon systems, unlike some next generation ammunition proposals.
More:
http://soldiersystems.net/2019/05/23/sofic-19-sig-sauer-exhibits-next-gen-squad-weapons/
