#USArmy

Earlier this year NIOA acquired Barrett Firearms and now they are looking to expand their reach in the US by taking up a tenancy at the US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal which is home to the Army’s Joint Centre of Excellence for ammunition and weapons.

Saab have been awarded a fresh order for AT4 anti-armor systems and ammunition for the Carl Gustaf Multi-purpose Anti-armor Anti-personnel Weapon System (MAAWS) worth $105 million. These systems will be utilised by the US Army, US Special Operations Command and the US Marine Corps. Building on earlier orders as part of an ‘indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity’ contract originally awarded in 2019, the latest order is for the AT4 Confined Space, Reduced Sensitivity variant of the AT4.

The US Department of Defense has ordered over $80 million worth of Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle ammunition and shoulder-launched AT4CS RS (confined space and reduced sensitivity) anti-armour weapon systems. The order was made within a 2019 Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract. The AT4CS RS variant was first procured back in 2015. The ammunition and weapons will be used by the U.S. Army, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and U.S. Marine Corps.

Lone Star Future Weapons have lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (the GAO) against the US Army’s selection of SIG Sauer’s Next Generation Squad Weapons submission.  On 19 April the US Army announced the selection of SIG’s MCX 6.8 Spear as the XM5 Rifle and the LMG-6.8 belt-fed as the XM250. SIG Sauer’s entries to the program beat out the entry from Lone Star Future Weapons, which submitted the RM277 bullpup rifle.

On 19 April the US Army announced the selection of SIG Sauer’s entries into the Next Generation Squad Weapons program. Despite an official announcement and a media event to unveil the weapons to the press, details on weight, loadout and capabilities have been scarce.

The Department of Defense has announced that Massachusetts-based FLIR Systems and Florida-based Leonardo DRS have been awarded firm fixed price contracts worth over $500 million to provide Family of Weapons Sights-Individual thermal imaging systems. FLIR have been awarded a contract worth $500,219,123 while Leonardo DRS have been awarded a $579,295,440 contract. According to US Army, the production locations and funding allocations for the FWS-I contracts will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of 27 April, 2027.

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 Table  event at the Pentagon discussing the NGSW program and how the newly selected weapon systems will be produced, procured, integrated and fielded.

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).

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 delivery order contract worth $20.4 million has been awarded. SIG’s MCX 6.8 Spear will be designated the XM5 Rifle and the LMG-6.8 belt-fed will be designated the XM250 – designations directly following on from the M4/M4A1 Carbine and M249 SAW which the new weapons will replace. SIG’s selection means that the US Army’s new 6.8mm round will be based on a hybrid metallic case, not the polymer-based design developed by True Velocity.

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 the 2023 fiscal year show that the US Army is seeking to initially procure 29,046 weapons during the period.

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 research to find vendors who might be capable of providing kits that include all necessary parts to convert the 7.62x51mm M240s to the new round. This might include barrels, gas systems, action springs and bolt assembly parts.

FN America have announced a $50 million contract with the US Army to provide M240L GPMGs and titanium receivers. The new award is in line with the June 2021 contract worth $92 million to produce M240 series general purpose machine guns. The titanium receiver is the key component which helped shave 5 lbs off the previous M240B’s 27.6 lb weight. The M240H introduced in 2004 weighed 26.3 lbs while the L weighs just over 22 lbs. The number of guns and additional receivers ordered under the contract has not been confirmed.

Vortex Optics’ submission to the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapons – Fire Control procurement program has been selected and is set to become the XM157 NGSW-FC.

Small arms ammunition has seen its fair share of ups and downs in terms of both price and availability over the last couple of years but that hasn’t stopped the insatiable appetite of our armed forces and their need for reliability and quality ammunition for training and mission duties. Winchester, the largest manufacturer of small arms ammunition for the United States Military recently announced that they have been awarded a $13 million contract for the 7.62mm cartridge (presumably M80 ball).

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 mature LSAT and CT technology which had been developed over the past couple of decades. It would leave two submissions: the LoneStar Future Weapons/True Velocity (formerly General Dynamics’ weapon) RM277 and SIG Sauer’s SPEAR and MG6.8.