U.S. Army Increases Budget for NGSW Infantry Weapons

The U.S. Army increased the Fiscal Year 2025 budget to acquire M7 rifles and M250 machine guns from $132.9 million to $367.3 million. According to the new budget, 39836 units will be acquired. Within the scope of the NGSW programme, SIG Sauer’s designs chambered in the new 6.8x51 mm round will replace the main infantry weapons in the U.S. Army service. M7 rifle will replace the M4 carbine and the M16 assault rifle; the M250 machine gun will replace the M249 SAW light machine gun. M7 or XM7 is based on SIG’s MCX-SPEAR rifle. Compared to the direct impingement-operated M4/M16, M7 uses a gas piston mechanism like HK416 rifles. The rifle is meant to handle higher pressures of 6.8x51 mm rounds. M7, for the standard issue, will come with a fire control optic with a ballistic computer and a muzzle device with suppression features. The M250, despite using a full-power round, is lighter than the M240 machine gun using 7.62x51 ammunition. This can be attributed to the use of polymers, whereas the M240 heavily uses steel for the frame. 6.8x51 mm, based on .277 FURY, is stated to provide enhanced ballistic performance and penetration compared to the similarly sized 7.62x51 mm ammunition. The main concern behind developing the round was penetrating military-grade body armour and reliably outranging enemy machine gunners. The enhanced ballistics of the round are reinforced by the specifically developed optic for more accurate shots at long range. Despite all the improvements the NGSW programme offers, the excessively high costs remain an issue mainly because of the rifles and standard-issue accessories. Additionally, the extra bulk of M7 and sudden shift to a full-power round can prove to be a liability in closer-ranged encounters. This makes the idea of adopting the M7 as the only service rifle questionable. Some manufacturers, like ST Engineering of Singapore, have shown that existing ammunition and platforms can still be significantly improved with new technologies and materials. For example, the Next Generation SAR rifle has been improved both the weapon and the 5.56 ammunition. The latter is presented as 5.56 Ultra, which can penetrate 14 mm of steel at 183 meters.