Christian Lowe reports that the XM806 aka. the “Lightweight .50″ is on track for deployment in 2012 …

Talk about taking a diet – the XM806 with its specially-designed tripod weighs a little over 60 lbs. That’s compared to the current M2 Heavy Barrel which comes in at a portly 120 lbs. But the General Dynamics-made XM806’s advantages go deeper than its waistline, Army officials say.

…

It is still unclear how many weapons the Army will buy, but if all goes according to plan, the service will begin fielding the bantam-weight .50cal in late 2012.

This photo was taken in 2008. The final XM806 or M806 will likely be slightly different.

[ Many thanks to Lance for emailing me the link. ]