The Army has issued a formal call for industry partners to send in their prototypes for the Next Generation Squad Weapon program, a major step towards finally testing out a replacement for the M4 carbine and M249 squad automatic weapon.
Sig Sauer is hoping to snag the Defense Department's contract for a new machine gun with the SLMG, the Sig Sauer Lightweight Machine Gun, which was unveiled this week at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show, the Army Times reports.
In the early 1990s, the U.S. Army and Marine Corps introduced a new weapon designed to radically boost the firepower of infantry squads. The M249 squad automatic weapon, or SAW, fired the same ammunition as the M16A2 rifle at a rapid rate of fire and was more compact than the gun it replaced. Although controversial, the M249 still serves today in the U.S. Army and U.S special operations forces worldwide.
It's official: a few lucky Marines can finally count the Mk 13 Mod 7 — the Corps' first new sniper system since the adoption of the M40 during the Vietnam War — among their arsenals, Marine Corps Times reported on Thursday.
Editor’s Note: This article by Matthew Cox originally appeared onMilitary.com, the premier source of information for the military and veteran community.
