Photo Of The Day and this image wins the Internet today. Just take a look at the heat coming out from the suppressor. Out with the 5.56 mm and in with the 6.8 mm! The image was taken during the U.S. Army Cold Regions Test Center, where a multiweek test of the Army’s [Read More…]
Strike Industries, a major player in the firearms accessories sector, turned heads at SHOT 2024 with their newly released cable management system specifically designed for Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW). The system is designed to allow thread through and conceal [Read More…]
On 19 April, the US Army announced that SIG Sauer had won the Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) competition with its 6.8mm hybrid ammunition, MCX Spear and LMG-6.8 selected to equip the US Army’s close combat forces. The Department of Defense held a Media Round [Read More…]
Yesterday, the US Army announced the selection of SIG Sauer’s weapons and 6.8 hybrid metallic cased ammunition as the Next Generation Squad Weapons System (NGSW). Read the US Army’s selection announcement and our round-up of the NGSW program in full here. [Read More…]
We, here at TFB, have been closely following the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program since it began back in 2018. Today, it has been announced that SIG Sauer have won the contract to provide both the NGSW-Rifle and NGSW-Automatic Rifle. An initial [Read More…]
The US Army is yet to officially announce the winner(s) of the Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program but we know how many weapons they’ll be ordering between October 2022 and September 2023. The US Army’s weapon system program acquisition costs for [Read More…]
The US Army has released a sources sought notice for a 6.8mm conversion kit for the M240B and M240L machine guns. The kit will convert the weapons from 7.62x51mm to the 6.8mm round which wins the Next Generation Squad Weapon program. The move is essentially market [Read More…]
Winchester has been awarded a contract to prepare to produce the ammunition for the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons. The type of the new 6.8mm ammunition manufactured at the Winchester-run Lake City Army Ammunition Plant depends on the winner of the [Read More…]
According to a number of sources, Textron may no longer be part of the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program. If this is indeed the case this would mark a significant turning point in the NGSW program, with Textron’s entry being based on [Read More…]
SIG Sauer have announced the completion of the final delivery of their Next Generation Squad Weapon System prototypes and ammunition to the U.S. Army. The delivery includes finalised weapon prototypes which have been optimised following Army feedback from the [Read More…]
In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves meets with Jason St. John of the SIG Defense Strategies Group to talk about SIG’s entry for the NGSW (“Next Generation Squad Weapon”) service rifle, the SIG MCX Spear in 6.8x51mm. In this video, we look at (and of course, shoot) the MCX Spear and talk [Read More…]
Its been a little while since we last saw Textron’s Next Generation Squad Weapon prototypes but with the 2020 Annual Meeting and Exposition coming up Textron have released a new promo video. Check out the video below: Earlier this year at SHOT Show 2020 we caught [Read More…]
The US Army is forging ahead with the evaluation of the prototype Next Generation Squad Weapon rifles and automatic rifles and it has been confirmed that U.S. Special Operations Command is both involved in the program and watching its developments closely. SOCOM has [Read More…]
With the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program pushing ahead, despite the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic, the three companies involved have shipped their prototype weapons. SIG Sauer commemorated the dispatch of their NGSW-Rifles and NGSW-Automatic Rifles [Read More…]
The US Marine Corps has recently undergone a top down doctrinal reevaluation of its future role. As part of these changes in the make up of the Corps have been planned and now a brand new initiative has also been launched – Marine Corps Systems Command’s [Read More…]
Despite the Coronavirus pandemic the US Army continues its Next Generation Squad Weapon program and has issued an OTA (or Other Transaction Authority) award to Wisconsin-based Vortex soliciting them to produce a prototype Next Generation Squad Weapon-Fire [Read More…]
From the Department of Defense’s budget justification books for the fiscal year 2021 we get an idea of the procurement scale and timescale for the winning entry/entries to the Next Generation Squad Weapon program. We also get an idea of how many Next Generation [Read More…]
This year’s SHOT Show was the first to have models representing all three of the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program prototypes. While SIG had actual prototypes on display (which TFB got our first look at back in September at DSEI 2019) both [Read More…]
TFB’s Matthew Moss did an excellent article about the RM277 – General Dynamics’ Next Generation Squad Weapon and in today’s Photo Of The Day we will follow up with some more speculations. And the photo above of course, which is the main attraction! [Read More…]
US Army Seeks Next Generation Squad Weapon for the Digital Age The United States Army is on track to select a defense contractor in 2020 for its Next Generation Squad Weapon. Defense contractors General Dynamics, SIG Sauer, and the Conglomerate Textron have been [Read More…]
General Dynamics have closely guarded their Next Generation Squad Weapon prototypes, despite my best efforts they stuck to their guns and saved the big reveal for this year’s AUSA Exposition in Washington, D.C.There have been murmurings that their submission would [Read More…]
Recently the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons program moved into its next phase, with three companies down selected, one of these was SIG Sauer. We had the pleasure of sitting down to speak with SIG Sauer’s CEO, Ron Cohen, at the 2019 Defence & [Read More…]
The first photo of AAI/Textron’s Next Generation Squad Weapon prototypes has emerged. The NGSW-Rifle and NGSW-Automatic Rifle were photographed at Fort Benning, Georgia, during the Annual Maneuver Conference at the Fort’s Maneuver Centre. The 2019 Maneuver [Read More…]
Earlier this week Textron was one of three companies down-selected by the US Army for the Next Generation Squad Weapon program. TFB had the chance to have a brief chat with Wayne Prender Textron Systems’ Senior Vice President of Applied Technologies & Advanced [Read More…]
Late last night TFB broke the news that the US Army had selected three companies to continue development of their Next Generation Squad Weapons prototypes. These companies include AAI Corporation Textron Systems, General Dynamics-OTS Inc. and SIG Sauer Inc. This [Read More…]
TFB have been closely following developments in the US Army’s Next Generation Small Arms Program and it has been a while since we heard any major developments. On the evening of the 29th August, however, the Army Contracting Command posted an award notice for the [Read More…]
Textron have announced the delivery of their first Next Generation Squad Weapon prototype to the US Army, the first of five to be delivered. It should be noted that the prototype is in fulfillment of what is now being termed the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Technology [Read More…]
The US Army has launched their official Prototype Project Opportunity Notice (PPON) inviting design submission for both the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Rifle (NGSW-R) and the Next Generation Squad Weapon-Automatic Rifle (NGSW-AR), both chambered in the Army’s [Read More…]
On the 21 December, the US Army Contracting Command released a special notice for a ‘Squad Fire Control’ optic to be used in conjunction with the Army’s Next Generation Weapons. With the effective range of the Army’s new weapons expected to far [Read More…]
At their pre-SHOT Show range day SIG Sauer have demonstrated their new light machine gun, the SLMAG. TFB reported back in October 2018, that SIG Sauer had displayed their new light machine gun at the 2018 Association of the United States Army exposition. Now, thanks to [Read More…]