M-16 replacement for the US Army?

[MAJOR_Baker]

Well,

I haven't heard much lately.  I suppose that can be good and bad.....the competition that HK won of course was suspended, partly political and partly well, for political reasoning.  I heard that the request for proposal was retendered because of the additional requirement for a light machine gun but also because other services wanted to possibly join in the procurement.  I think this is not a bad idea, because it breaks my heart to say it, but it was the USMC that worked to ensure that the M-16A2 came to fruition.  I think we learned from that.

So.....lets hope that Winchester, Remington, Colt, and others did their homework and came up with some innovative designs.  I for one am looking forward to the competition to see where the direction our new battle rifle takes..... :warstory:

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

so does this mean there will be no XM8?

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Thanks for the info....I thought H&K was a shoe in, appreciate the clarification.

 

[Britney Spears]

Does this mean that the US will be adopting a closed bolt, drum fed light machine gun? Like the Russians and Germans?

 

[Maine_Finn]

I'll be interested to see what other designs are offered up. Keep us posted!

 

[TheShepherd]

I thought that the U.S Army had already started to phase in the XM8. I could have sworn that I've seen some soldiers in Iraq with the XM8

 

[GENOMS Soilder]

I was reading in one of the gun magzines i got a hold of says that the US Military is switching to a Bushmasters AR-something or another....with a caliber of 6.8mm
correct me on this or add to my information

 

[CADPAT SOLDIER]

The 6.8x43mm SPC was conceived by a U.S. Special Operations soldier in a quest to improve the terminal ballistics of the M4 Carbine. The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit and others assisted the Spec Ops team heading the project. Although the main objective was increased lethality, the new cartridge would go far beyond that in terms of accuracy and performance.

After selecting the .30 Remington as the parent case--a decision that required only slight modification to the M16's bolt face--the case was shortened, given a new shoulder and blown out to maximum capacity for a new high-performance propellant. After testing a variety of bullets in 5.56mm, 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm and 7.62mm, a bullet of 6.8mm was selected. This .270-caliber, 115-grain projectile has a ballistic coefficient of .350, offering optimum lethality and range.

 

[tomahawk6]

As long as we have the M-16/M4 we need ammo with actual killing power. The current ammo isnt cutting it.

 

[KevinB]

I'd say that improved MARKSMANSHIP is more importantly than improved ammo.

M855 COM still does the job.  Mk262 Mod1 is better - but I'd rather see troops with Range Time.