Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier’s new commanding officer Brigadier General Anthony Potts has gotten to grips with one of PEO Soldier’s most interesting projects, Textron’s Cased Telescoped Light Machine Gun.

The Cased Telescoped Light Machine Gun (CT LMG), which fired polymer cased telescoped ammunition, is part of the Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (LSAT) program which has been running since 2004. My colleague Nathaniel has been keeping close tabs on the progress of the program and Textron’s project, you can find all his coverage here.

Brig. Gen. Potts firing Textron’s 5.56mm Cased Telescoped Light Machine Gun (US Army/PEO Soldier)

Brig. Gen. Potts took over at PEO Soldier back in January, saying that the organisation’s role was “about fielding the best equipment to the best Soldiers in the world.” Pott’s, formerly an AH-64 Apache pilot, has a long association with procurement and research and development, having previously been deputy commander at the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command and the senior commander at the Natick Soldier Systems Center.

PEO Soldier posted two photographs on their facebook page and twitter feed on 20th February showing Gen. Potts firing both the 5.56mm and 7.62mm variants of the Textron LSAT, the photos’ caption read:

Brig. Gen. Anthony “Tony” Potts, Program Executive Officer Soldier, fires the 5.56mm Cased Telescoped Light Machine Gun Feb. 14 during a visit to Textron Systems. The CT LMG with 1,000 rounds weighs 28.5 pounds vs. an M249 with 1,000 rounds weighing 48.9 pounds.

Here’s a better photo of Textron’s 5.56 variant of the CT LMG:

The Textron 5.56mm LSAT light machine gun mounted with an ACOG and custom belt bag. (Picatinny Arsenal/US Army)

While the caption of the photos doesn’t make this clear it appears Gen. Potts also got to grips with the larger 7.62mm variant of the CT LMG. Back in 2016, it was reported that the 7.62mm CT LMG weighs an impressive 14.5 lb, nearly 8 lb lighter than the 22 lb M240L.

Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts fires the 7.62 variant of Textron’s Telescoped Light Machine Gun (US Army/PEO Soldier)

Textron has also developed a 6.5mm CT LMG and a 6.5mm CT Carbine, the Textron weapons are a possible candidate for the US Army’s new Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle program.

Source: PEO Soldiers Facebook