New rounds, new small arms make special operators’ firepower wish list
By Todd South
Wednesday, May 18
TAMPA, Fla. — Special operators say the next machine gun should deliver the power, range and accuracy of a .50 caliber in the size of a platoon-level M240 machine gun.
That .338 Norma Magnum Lightweight Medium Machine Gun, to put it lightly, is a “big advancement” in small arms for spec ops, one expert said.
Here’s one of the big guns competing to be SOCOM’s next lightweight medium machine gun
The .338 NM machine gun is lighter than the current M240 in 7.62mm but can shoot with some of the same effects as the .50 caliber, a much heavier platform.
By Todd South
The initiative launched back in 2017 and, in the ensuing years, two companies, Sig Sauer and General Dynamics, have primarily been vying for the contract.
A lieutenant colonel over Special Operations Forces’ lethality program for Special Operations Command shared details of this and other small arms programs during his presentation Tuesday at the SOF Industry Conference held here by the National Defense Industrial Association.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2022/05/18/new-rounds-new-small-arms-make-special-operators-firepower-wish-list/
