{"id":31100,"date":"2018-05-08T22:32:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T22:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/08\/mattis-infantry-reformer-blasts-weapons-makers-to-quit-stalling-and-make-a-better-more-lethal-rifle\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:44:24","slug":"mattis-infantry-reformer-blasts-weapons-makers-to-quit-stalling-and-make-a-better-more-lethal-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/05\/08\/mattis-infantry-reformer-blasts-weapons-makers-to-quit-stalling-and-make-a-better-more-lethal-rifle\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattis\u2019 infantry reformer blasts weapons makers to quit stalling and make a better, more lethal rifle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

INDIANAPOLIS \u2015 The lead man tasked by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis with transforming everything infantry and close combat<\/a> on Tuesday challenged industry and government leaders to put a leap-ahead rifle<\/a> in his boss\u2019 hands in less than two years \u2014 or else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Bob Scales<\/a> was a keynote speaker at the annual National Defense Industry Association Armament Systems forum here, and he didn\u2019t waste any time launching into a takedown of key components that equip the close combat infantryman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scales recounted how he\u2019d spoken at the conference three years ago, pushing industry and government procurement officials to create an intermediate caliber rifle with a piston action, polymer ammunition casing, a suppressor and digital fire controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, in 2018, does any of that sound familiar?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scales is the chairman of the Department of Defense\u2019s recently created \u201cClose Combat Lethality Task Force.\u201d The task force formed at Mattis\u2019 direction and has $2.5 billion to fundamentally transform all things close combat for Army and Marine infantry and Special Operations troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rifle he described in his opening remarks is handled under the Next Generation Squad Weapon project, headed by the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there, too, are problems, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NGSW program was aimed at making a rifle or carbine to replace the flawed M16\/M4 system, which Scales has railed against since his own experience with early versions of the M16 in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But an incredulous Scales told the audience that developers on the NGSW are now prioritizing the light machine gun in a program called the Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle to replace the Squad Automatic Weapon, with the rifle or carbine to come later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Next Generation rifle or carbine, damn it,\u201d Scales said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Soldiers from 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division wait for orders to push forward toward the objective during Exercise Combined Resolve VIII at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Grafenwoehr, Germany on April 24, 2017. The Army is seeking an interim 7.62 mm rifle to replace some of its M4s. (Spc. Javon Spence\/Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The change in focus means that under current schedules, the rifle\/carbine won\u2019t be ready until 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is not acceptable, Scales said. To either him or his boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet me tell you something, folks. It\u2019s not working,\u201d Scales said. \u201cMake the rifle by 2020. My God, folks, it\u2019s a nine-pound piece of steel. The cost isn\u2019t as much as a lug nut on a B-1 bomber.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t