{"id":47564,"date":"2018-10-09T14:44:04","date_gmt":"2018-10-09T14:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/09\/major-changes-for-small-arms-are-on-the-way-with-the-armys-saw-replacement\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:41:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:41:22","slug":"major-changes-for-small-arms-are-on-the-way-with-the-armys-saw-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/10\/09\/major-changes-for-small-arms-are-on-the-way-with-the-armys-saw-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Major changes for small arms are on the way with the Army\u2019s SAW replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Textron Systems has created a new kind of cartridge and weapons to lighten the load and reduce recoil on machine guns and rifles. Military Times ground combat reporter Todd South breaks it down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Over the past year, there\u2019s been more movement on a replacement for the service rifle <\/a>the Army has used for the past half century than there has been in at least a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And early signs show potential for massive changes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports emerged last year of an umbrella program called the Next Generation Squad Weapon, which aims to transform the small arms<\/a> of the infantry squad in just a few short years after decades of incremental modifications to a firearm developed in the 1950s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first offering of the NGSW program has seen rapid advancement by typical government standards following industry days last year at both Fort Benning, Georgia, and Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, led to postings for prototypes and the selection of five companies to provide six samples in the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That first weapon is the Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle, a replacement for the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon that fires 5.56mm, the same round as the M4 carbine and M16 service rifle variants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weapon the Army is working on is a \u201csignificant technological advance over anything that exists today,\u201d said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a weapon that could defeat any body armor, any planned body armor that we know of in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a weapon that can go out at ranges that are unknown today. There is a target acquisition system built into this thing that is unlike anything that exists today. This is a very sophisticated weapon.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also resilient, Milley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will stand all the rigors of weather, terrain, and soldier use, and all of that kind of stuff,\u201d he said. “This is a pretty impressive gun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more coverage from the AUSA annual meeting, click here.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Milley declined to discuss specifics, he did say he expects Army testers will be able to shoot demonstration models with live munitions that meet the Army\u2019s basic specifications and requirements as early as next summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially both the NGSAR and any future carbine variant will be prioritized to about 100,000 troops serving in close combat units, mostly infantry and special operations forces. The Army will keep a substantial number of M4s in the arsenal for the rest of the troops as the program fields the new weapons and matures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the infantry, still today, that suffers 70 to 80 percent of the casualties [on the battlefield],\u201d Milley said. \u201cI want those kids to have the best, bar none, with nothing held back. We owe it to them, in my opinion. Shame on us if we don\u2019t provide it to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t